Tool 03
Phonemes
Objectives
Teachers will:
Define the importance of phoneme awareness
Deepen an appreciation for the phoneme’s role in word meaning, reading, and spelling
Learn the correct articulation of the consonant and vowel phonemes
Define the terms associated with phonological awareness
Apply many brief phonological and phoneme awareness activities throughout the day
Part 1: Introduction - Phoneme Awareness in Spelling and Reading
Topic 1: Phoneme Awareness is Important
This topic lays the groundwork for understanding why the phoneme is so important for meaning and for reading.
Topic 2: Articulate Consonant Phonemes Correctly
Teachers learn what consonant phonemes are and how to articulate them correctly, and why correct articulation is important.
Topic 3: Articulate Vowel Phonemes Correctly
Teachers learn what vowel phonemes are and how to articulate them correctly
Part 2: Research - Phoneme Awareness and Decoding, Spelling, and Vocabulary
This section delves into critical findings from the research on phoneme awareness.
Topic 1: Phoneme Awareness and Reading Skills
This Topic explains why it is important for students to develop awareness of phonemes.
Topic 2: Phonological Awareness—Key Terms
Key terms that are often used when talking about phonological awareness are often confused. The terms are defined and explained for teachers.
Part 3: Practice - Creating Phoneme Awareness
The classroom videos show a developmental progression of phonological awareness lessons beginning with basic phonological skills, syllables and onset-rime, and working up to more advanced phoneme awareness segmentation and blending tasks.
Topic 1: Syllable Segmenting
Topic 2: Onset-rime
Topic 3: Articulation with Mirrors
Topic 4: Initial Continuant Sounds
Topic 5: Phoneme Segmentation using Head-Waist-Toes
Topic 6: Auditory Phoneme Blending using Secret Code with Hand Drop and Kid Sounds
Topic 7: Vowel Phoneme Associations using Short Vowel Motions
Topic 8: Daily Routines 1 – Phoneme Segmentation with Story
Daily Routines 2 – Warm-up for Phonics Lesson
Daily Routines 3 – Spelling with Sounds Beads
Part 4: Planning - Add Phoneme Awareness to Daily Routines
Teachers are guided to revisit the tool content and then to plan for incorporating what they learned into their lessons.
Topic 1: Plan Daily Lessons
Teachers consider their student needs and plan phoneme awareness into their whole group activities and then reinforce and provide more attention to phonemes during small group and with individuals who need extra attention to this critical skill.
Topic 2: How to Correct Your Articulation and Your Students’ Articulation
A stand-alone video is provided that teachers can refer to when they need reminders of the correct articulation of English phonemes.
Part 5: Wrap Up
Topic 1: Summary
The content of Tool 3 is summarized to remind teachers of the importance of teaching phoneme awareness.
Topic 2: Conversation with an Expert