Phonological

Awareness
Literacy and Language
Presented by:
Launa Kydd- Larochelle,B.A., M.Sc.
Speech-Language Pathologist
Moving Towards Phonics
Phonological Processing (speaking)

Phonol0gical Awareness ( manipulating the sounds of spoken language without

print)

Phonemic Awareness ( systematically isolating sounds of specific words or

nonsense words)

Phonics (explicitly teaching the code for sound symbol correspondence, print)
The connection between Speech/Language and Literacy
development

The way children speak ( what we may see as articulation errors ) directly impacts
the way they are hearing sounds and eventually transfer to print.

- Early intervention for speech sound errors is critical

- Early intervention for strong language skills ( expressive and receptive) are
also extremely important. ( auditory processing, listening skills, sentence
structure,
What is Phonological Processing:
There are different types of Speech Sound Disorders:

1. Articulation errors- mild and don’t generally affect speech intelligibility

2. Phonological Processing Delay- significantly impacts speech intelligibility,
patterns that young children use when their speech and language skills are
developing but generally stop using on their own. E.g Ky for sky (consonant
sequence reduction)
3. Motor Speech Disorder- apraxia, dyarthria
How does Phonological Awareness Develop?
With strong speech and language skills there can be a general continuum of complexity that children go
through to develop these skills. It is important to note that phonological awareness skills do not occur in
developmental stages. There are some SLP’s that suggest certain skills are typically developed by a
specific age.

-generally children show their earliest phonological awareness abilities when they demonstrate an
appreciation for rhyming and alliteration

-Students’ phonological awareness skills are typically assessed throughout Kindergarten and Grade 1 but
exposure to activities ( playing with sounds) can begin much earlier

-As children continue to grow it can be challenging for them to acquire complex phonemic skills without
having developed their phonological awareness skills

-Phonological Awareness and Phonemic Awareness skills are critical to reading success. Children
benefit greatly from explicit instruction in both.
What does the continuum look like?
Rhyming

Blending

Segmentation

Deletion

Isolation

Substitution
Rhyming
Rhyming and alliteration activities
Playing with sound!!!!
-as teachers you all know lots of books, songs and nursery rhymes but there are
many other ways to help young children develop their ear for rhyme
- Odd word Out, Rhyming riddles, I Spy, Scavenger Hunt, Rhyme Monster*,
Raffi’s songs (Down by the Bay)
- Alliteration- repetition of an initial consonant, Animalia e.g. Lazy Lions
lounging in the library, try this with the first sound in their name
-always start with auditory task (auditory bombardment)and then move to seeing
if they can produce
Blending
Blending helps children understand that individual sounds or parts of a word go
together to make words

-compound word picture-matching

-blending in songs- segment sounds and syllables in repetitive words

-Word Detective- talk like a robot, alien, mouse voice ( break up the word and so
if they can guess what the word is ( training the auditory system to blend)
Segmentation
This involves the skills of recognizing that sentences break down into words, words
break down into syllables and syllables break down into sounds. This is an important
skill for children as they develop their reading and writing abilities.
Hop, tap, snap, clap out. Use blocks/ legos/toy cars and stack , line up, drop in bucket as
segment
1. Sentences to words
2. Words to syllables
3. Syllables to sounds
Games: Shape Hopping, Word Counters, Snakes and Ladders, Body Tapping
Deletion
Deletion is a more complex phonological awareness skill that requires a child to take away part of a word,
either a syllable or a sound, and then determine what is left. Knowing what happens to words after a
sound or a syllable is deleted is an important skill for students to understand that all words are made of
sounds and syllables.

-Word Take-Aways- teacher asks student to say a word, then to figure out that the new word is after take
part away. E.g. “Say blueberry, now say it again without saying blue” Start with compound words

-Block Take -away- this is tricky, physically removing a block that represents a sound ( visual and tactile)

- Ask your child what their name would be without the first sound e.g. my name is Launa, if I say again
without the /l/ it is auna

-Read a favourite book and delete a sound or syllable from a known word and see if they are aware
Isolation
Sound or phoneme isolation is a higher level of phonological awareness that
involves identifying; where a sound appears in a word ( beginning, middle , end)
and then what sound appears in that position. Again, remember phonological
awareness is all about sounds not letters.

-Games: Sound Matching, Guess the Sound, Listening for Sounds

- Dog visual

- Sound baskets
Substitution
Substitution is a phonemic awareness skill involving a child’s ability to change a
word into a new word by switching letters/sounds. Manipulating sounds in
words.

- Song or Story Substitution

- Block Substitution
- Letter substitution
Auditory skills
Auditory skills are not fully developed at birth. By targeting Phonological awareness we
are developing the below skills which are essential to speech /language and literacy
development. E.g. remembering and following directions
Auditory Processing-ability to hear what is said and understand
Auditory Sequencing-ability to remember a series of words or sounds in order
Auditory Memory-ability to remember what is said (echo/ imitate)
Auditory Descrimination/ perception-ability to hear difference between sounds and
words
Auditory Bombardment -presentation of a series of words or sounds ( exaggeration)
Other:
- Add visual, kinesthetic cues when talking about sounds e.g. visual phonics,
Animated Literacy, Jolly Phonics
- Talk about how sounds are made, ask you SLP if need help with placement,
manner cues **** important when child has speech sound disorder so they
aren’t perceiving the way they say the sound
- Phonological Awareness is a better predictor of reading success then IQ
scores
- Children with good phonological awareness skills become the better readers
in the early grades
- Children with speech/language difficulties are at a much greater risk of
having reading difficulties