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.