Phonemic awareness forms the foundation of phonics instruction.  Without phonemic awareness, phonics instruction doesn't make much sense.  Children who lack phonemic awareness have difficulty linking speech sounds to letters.

It helps children understand how the words they speak are represented in print.

It helps children learn to spell and write.  As young children develop spelling and writing skills they need to recognize the consonant and vowel sounds in words in order to select the appropriate letter or letters to represent these words.

It is the top predictor of reading success.  In fact, it is a better predictor of reading success than anything we know of...including IQ!  Phonemic awareness is one of the primary factors separating normal and disabled readers.

Research indicates that without direct instructional support, phonemic awareness eludes roughly 25% of middle-class first graders and substantially more of those who come from less literacy-rich backgrounds.  Furthermore, these children evidence serious difficulty in learning to read.

Become familiar with a phonological awareness continuum. (This one was created and shared by Dr. Carolyn Keasal) If a child struggles with activities at the phoneme level, back down the continuum to a place where the child is successful and work your way back up the continuum.

Say It and Move It

Elkonin boxes

Phoneme Segmentation Games and Activities

A beginning lesson for phoneme segmentation of two-phoneme words from PHONEMIC AWARENESS IN YOUNG CHILDREN by Marilyn Adams

Phonological Awareness Skills Planning Sheet

Phonemic Awareness Task Cards (Print, cut apart, and pull randomly for a fast whole group, small group, or transitional activity)

Sample ARI Phonemic Awareness lesson

ARI phonemic awareness lesson template

Word Play for planning phonemic awareness lessons with literature

Phonological Awareness Examples

4 Sample Phonological Awareness Plans

Phonological Awareness Activity Cards

Initial Sound Fluency Practice (open in Powerpoint and print--directions are on the first slide)

Yopp-singer Segmentation Test

Test of Phoneme Identities (Dr. Bruce Murray)

DIBELS Initial Sound Fluency Error Practice Study Sheet

DIBELS Phoneme Segmentation Error Pattern Study Sheet

100 Juicy Words for Parents to Segment with Their Child

Christmas Pretty Package (a book and song featuring initial sound segmentation practice)

Syllable Segmentation Cards (These picture cards can be used for having students segment a word into syllables or you could change the directions to ask students to identify the initial sound in each of the spoken words.  The pictures go along with the book "It's Pumpkin Time" but the cards can be used without the book.  Print the cards on cardstock and you're ready to begin!) Created by Shirley Anderson.