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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

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