Phonemes

What is a phoneme? Its the smallest parts of spoken language that combine to form words. 

Car has 2 phoneme (kkk- arrrr), no has 2 (nnn-oooo).
Remember were talking sounds NOT LETTERS!

Phoneme Detection (Isolation) – the ability to hear the distinct individual sounds within spoken words.


• The ability to isolate phonemes is critical to reading and spelling words.
• Start with identifying the first sound in spoken words, then progress to ending sounds, and finally work on the middle sounds.


**Be very careful not to add a vowel sound, such as /uh/ after an individual phoneme!!!

Some Activities:

• Guess My Word

Look around the room (or car) and choose an object, like a lamp. Say, “I see something that starts with the sound /l/. (Say the sound/l-l-l-l/, not the letter name ‘el’.) What is it? (You may have to give hints like, “It helps us see at night.”). After you do a few, see if your child can think of something for you to guess. Later play it with ending sounds and finally, middle sounds.

Robertson, C., Salter, W. (1998) Take home phonological awareness. LinguiSystems, Inc., p. 72 (out of print)
 

• Shopping

Give your child a grocery bag and ask him/her to find small items around your home that start with the sound /_ /. When your child brings you the items, take them out of the bag and say the name of each, emphasizing the first sound. If your child brings something that doesn’t start with /_ /, say the name and ask your child to tell you what its first sound really is. Later play it with ending sounds and finally, middle sounds.
Robertson, C., Salter, W. (1998) Take home phonological awareness. LinguiSystems, Inc., p. 73 (out of print)
 

• Middle Macaroni

Choose a word with three sounds (e.g., kiss, peek, duck, top, moon, etc.). Place three pieces of macaroni in front of your child and say the individual sounds while pointing to the macaroni in the left to the right direction (your child's point of view). Then point to the middle piece of macaroni and ask, “What is this sound?” Your child should respond with the sound, not the letter name.

• Train

Draw three connecting boxes: An engine, a passenger car, and a caboose.

Explain that a word has a beginning, middle, and ending sounds, just like a train. Slowly articulate a consonant-vowel-consonant word (e.g., /p/…/i/…/g/) and point to the box corresponding to the position of each sound in the word. Repeat the word and have your child identify where he/she hears the different sounds (e.g., “Where do you hear the /g/ in ‘pig’?)
Reithaug, D. (2002) Orchestrating success in reading, Stirling Head Enterprises, p. 149.
 

• Mirror/Mirror

To identify and demonstrate the positioning of the mouth, lips, and teeth with isolated sounds, you say a word, isolating the target sound. With a mirror, have your child practice positioning his/ her mouth to say the sound you isolated. Ask, “How do you position your mouth when you say the sound /_ / (first, ending, middle) in the word ?” “Describe the position of your mouth for that sound.” Also, you could have your child place his/her hands under his/her chin while looking in a mirror to feel and see the target sound. Your child can use this technique, as well, to feel and see differences between two similar sounds (e.g., /t/ --/d/; short /e/-- short /i/).
Ellery, V. (2009) Creating strategic readers, International Reading Association, p. 42.

 

Here are some activities from my TPT store!