Phonemic Awareness is the ability to hear and manipulate sounds in words. It is an essential skills in learning to read and fundamental in moving from speech to print. The ability to hear and manipulate sounds in words is a direct link to or cause of beginning reading skills.
Some students just don’t hear the individual sounds and how they go together to make up a word. One of the tasks struggling readers have difficulty with is manipulating sounds in words. Ask them to change the initial sound from one letter to another and they are lost.
Research has shown that direct instruction in recognizing that sounds are linked to printed letters and how they are blended together or segmented apart has the greatest effectiveness in improving reading skills in beginning readers.
A few years ago I created an app called SoundSwaps that directly addresses the ability to manipulate sounds in words. The app features practice in changing initial, final,and medial sounds; including consonants and vowels.
But a lot of teachers do not use or have sufficient iPads in their classrooms. So, I created the activity on paper and offer a free sample of how it works in my TPT store. Try it out with these 12 sample cards and see how students can have some fun while working on a difficult skill.
Have some fun with it. And, keep on talking – and reading!
Have some fun with it. And, keep on talking – and reading!
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