Sound It Out: The Importance of Phonemic Awareness

A child's familiarity with the sounds of words plays a significant role in the development of reading and writing. In Teaching Phonemic Awareness, Rasinski and Padak quote Keith Stanovich who claims that phonemic awareness (knowledge of speech sounds smaller than a syllable and the ability to use these sounds in words) predicts success in the development of early reading "better than anything we know of, including IQ." 

Phonemic awareness (not to be confused with phonics, but rather an important precursor to both phonics and reading development) tends to develop naturally as children engage in language through nursery rhymes, songs, and everyday conversation. Still, there are some children do not develop a level of phonemic awareness necessary for success in phonics or reading. Older students who continue to struggle with reading may have been pushed into phonics and reading before they had developed a sufficient phonemic awareness. For this reason, it is extremely important to be aware of students' phonemic awareness early on with a form of assessment such as the Yopp-Singer Test shown here.

Developing children's phonemic awareness may seem more like play than work. Using songs, word games, and chants all help to develop children's familiarity with the sounds of words. Other activities can be as simple as having children say the names of their classmates, clapping for each syllable in order to draw their attention to the individual sounds.

Reading children's books that focus heavily on rhyme and word sounds (anything by Dr. Seuss) contribute to the development of phonemic awareness. As many of these books may be below the interest level of older students who are still struggling with phonemic awareness, Rasinski and Padak suggest that these students could learn to read to younger students which would be mutually beneficial. Perhaps this in itself is a notable endorsement for the opportunities available in a multi-age classroom.

There may be some things that teachers do that inadvertently hinder students development of phonemic awareness. By rigidly demanding correct and consistent spelling from young writers, teachers may be robbing children of a useful learning activity. Rasinski and Padak note that invented or phonemic spelling gives children an opportunity to experiment and play with word sounds which helps in development of phonemic awareness.

We may take for granted that children learn these things on their own. Many children seem to pick up on the sounds of words in a way that seems almost instinctual, but we may forget how these children are surrounded with rhyming games, songs, and books. It is for this reason that we must give attention to those children who struggle to develop adequate phonemic awareness as it is so important in the development of reading and writing skills. Besides, it never hurt anyone to read a few more Dr. Seuss Books.

Literacy Dig: Reading in the Real World

By the time we have reached adulthood, most of us spend little time reflecting on how we learned to read and write as children. We forget the phonics, spelling, and grammar that was drilled into our young minds. We are too busy reading and writing. Every day, we are reading billboards, composing emails, following traffic signs, and making grocery lists. Through all of this, we lose sight of the literacy we engaged in as children and take for granted the literacy we engage in as adults.

In The Donut House: Real World Literacy in an Urban Kindergarten Classroom, Powell and Davidson describe two types of literacy; the "schooled literacy" that young students experience through textbooks and worksheets, and the "situated literacy" that occurs in real life outside of the classroom. In their article, Powell and Davidson tell of one kindergarten class who was given an opportunity to engage in real-world literature in a meaningful way by visiting a local donut shop, observing the forms of literacy that were taking place there, and then using what they had learned to open up their own donut shop in the classroom with the help of members of the community.

As we go about our daily routines, it is easy to lose track of the reading and writing that happens all around us. Unless we make an effort, we may not see the literacy that happens while we are not looking. I recently engaged in a "literacy dig" with a small group of my classmates in an effort uncover what reading and writing occurs at a typical pet store.

Upon entering the store, I was immediately presented with text. Large signs hung from the ceiling, indicated the different areas of the store. It is clear that the store is arranged so that costumers can easily find the particular thing that they are looking for.

Interestingly, each sign's text was accompanied by a graphical representation. A patron of the store would not necessarily need to be able to read the word "Cat" in order to find the aisle beneath the feline silhouette. This is likely an effort to make the shopping experience easier for everyone, particularly customers who have limited familiarity with the English language.

As I moved around the store I found that, in contrast to the straightforward nature of the signage hung from the ceiling, a great deal of the text found on shelf displays and packaging contained words that may be unfamiliar to many people. The sign shown below contains a number of complex and obscure words that would require a considerable amount of background knowledge to determine their meanings.

Other signs would require a familiarity with the particular store itself in order to understand the text. The small signs showing the prices of various items also referred to a card membership that would not be obvious to individuals who are not familiar with this type of offer.

The store also presented some opportunities in which the customer would be expected to write. A computer-based pet adoption system requires customers to enter information which also requires a familiarity with the use of computers/keyboards. A form for pet training expects customers to enter information and also compose some writing to answer a fairly open-ended question.

In all, this pet store presents patrons with both relatively basic literacy and literacy that is fairly sophisticated. In our normal experience, many of us might be unaware of the intricate forms of literacy that occur in this sort of setting. Taking the time to look shows that even a visit to a pet store contains a great degree of reading and writing.

This pet store would provide a number of literacy opportunities and challenges for young children. On the day that we visited the store, there were very few customers. While other members of my group were able to observe two children in the store, I unfortunately missed this. On the other hand, I was accompanied by a very young child who is nearly two years old. While he is a number of years away from learning to read, he was still able to engage in some literacy activities, being able to decipher the meaning of both the "Bird" and Cat" signs mentioned earlier from the accompanying images. The majority of his attention was focused on the animals themselves (and throwing dog toys). I have regularly worked with this child in what Powell and Davidson would refer to as "schooled literacy." He is currently learning to recognize the letters of the alphabet (of which he can consistently identify eight letters). But as Powell and Davidson would suggest, he is far more engaged in the real-world and authentic experiences that are demonstrated by this trip to the pet store than he is with repeatedly going over plastic letters.

Certainly, a pet store is not far removed from the donut shop described by Powell and Davidson as it presents a number of opportunities to engage children in authentic literacy. Perhaps a classroom pet store would be a good suggestion for future language arts teachers.

Using Community Writing to Teach Within Students' ZDP

As anyone who has spent time in an elementary classroom can attest, the young students invariably represent a wide range of developmental levels. Despite this fact, it is centrally important that teachers engage individual students in lessons and activities that are appropriate for them. In Catching Readers Before They Fall, Pat Johnson and Katie Keier illustrate how community writing activities can involve an entire group of students while still focusing on each student's learning needs.

First, it is important to look at Lev Vygotsky's concept of the zone of proximal development (ZPD). The central idea is that children learn most effectively when performing tasks for which they require some assistance to complete. These tasks are said to be within the child's ZPD. Tasks that the child can complete unaided and tasks that the child cannot complete even with assistance do not provide the same potential for learning as those within the child's ZPD.

As Johnson and Keier describe, a community writing activity allows for group participation in which the teacher can direct an individual student's involvement based on her knowledge of that student's developmental level. For example, one student may be asked to write a word that begins with the same letter as his first name as this task would be within his ZPD. Another student may be asked to write a word that the teacher knows she is more familiar with. In instances that involve the spelling of words that are beyond the ZPD of any of the students, the teacher can quickly write the word herself as a way to avoid slowing down the group's writing process. Throughout the activity, both the teacher and the individual students are modeling the writing process for the entire group.

Community writing provides a number of advantages both for teachers and students and could certainly be useful in any classroom.