Phonemic Awareness and Letter Sounds

Questions and Answers

Why should students be taught lower case letters before upper case letters?

Because the majority of letters in words are lower case letters, enabling students to decode many words.

What is a regular word?

A regular word is one in which each letter represents its most common sound.

What do the students do when sounding out a word?

Students sound out words by saying the sound represented by each letter and then translate the blended sounds into a word at a normal rate.

Why would students be taught to read words like mad, fit, and sat before words like tip, cat, and hot?

Because decoding words beginning with continuous sounds can be easier than decoding words beginning with stop sounds. Signup and view all the answers

What is phonological awareness?

Phonological awareness is the broader category which includes awareness of the larger and smaller parts of spoken language. Signup and view all the answers

What is phonemic awareness?

Phonemic awareness is a subcategory of phonological awareness focused on identifying and manipulating individual sounds within words. Signup and view all the answers

What does phonemic awareness instruction teach?

Phonemic awareness instruction teaches blending and segmenting of sounds in spoken words. Signup and view all the answers

What does phonics instruction teach?

Phonics instruction teaches the relationships between letters of written language and individual sounds of spoken language. Signup and view all the answers

Define graphemes and phonemes.

Graphemes are the letters of written language; phonemes are the individual sounds of spoken language. Signup and view all the answers

What is the 'alphabetic principle'?

The alphabetic principle refers to the understanding that written letters correspond to spoken sounds in a systematic way. Signup and view all the answers

What is a continuous sound? What is a stop sound?

A continuous sound can be said for several seconds without distortion; a stop sound can only be said for an instant. Signup and view all the answers

What is the difference between regular words and irregular (exception) words?

Regular words have letters that represent their most common sounds, while irregular words have one or more letters that do not. Signup and view all the answers

Give an example of each of the following: consonant blend, consonant digraph, diphthong.

Consonant blends: bl, st; consonant digraphs: ch, sh; diphthongs: oi, oo. Signup and view all the answers

What is the difference between sounding out and sight word reading?

In sight reading, students do not sound out words, but say them at a normal rate. Signup and view all the answers

In the word abnormal, normal is a ________ which means typical.

base word Signup and view all the answers

The syllable approach for advanced word reading is most appropriate for students who:

have no problems in oral language. Signup and view all the answers

What are the 5 big ideas of reading?

Phonological Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary, Comprehension. Signup and view all the answers

What is onset and rime?

The onset is the beginning sound and the rime is the vowel and all that follows. Signup and view all the answers

What are the phonological awareness steps?

Word awareness, rhyme awareness, compound words, syllable awareness, alliteration, onset and rime, and phonemic awareness. Signup and view all the answers

What is a diphthong?

A diphthong is the blending of vowels. Signup and view all the answers

What are the stages of reading?

Emergent, Beginning, Transitional, Intermediate, Advanced. Signup and view all the answers

Readers are fluent in which stages?

Transitional, Intermediate, Advanced. Signup and view all the answers

What is an emergent reader?

An emergent reader is a preschool child who is learning about reading. Signup and view all the answers

What is a beginning reader?

A beginning reader has an understanding of the alphabet and words. Signup and view all the answers

What is a transitional reader?

A transitional reader recognizes and manipulates differences within words. Signup and view all the answers

What is an intermediate reader?

An intermediate reader demonstrates fluency and problem-solving about meaning. Signup and view all the answers

What is an advanced reader?

An advanced reader is one who reads to learn. Signup and view all the answers

What is emergent literacy?

Emergent literacy is about reading and writing developing simultaneously. Signup and view all the answers

Level one of phonological awareness includes:

Word awareness, rhyme awareness, and segmenting syllables. Signup and view all the answers

Level two of phonological awareness includes:

Awareness of initial consonant, alliteration awareness, segment onset-rime. Signup and view all the answers

Level three of phonological awareness includes:

Segmenting phonemes, blending phonemes, phoneme manipulations. Signup and view all the answers

What are voiced sounds?

Voiced sounds occur when the vocal cords vibrate. Signup and view all the answers

What happens in the Pre-alphabetic phase?

Students read words by memorizing their visual features or guessing from context. Signup and view all the answers

What happens in the Partial-alphabetic phase?

Students recognize some letters and can use context to remember words. Signup and view all the answers

What happens in the Full-alphabetic phase?

Readers can decode unfamiliar words and store sight words in memory. Signup and view all the answers

What happens in the Consolidated-alphabetic phase?

Students consolidate their knowledge of grapheme-phoneme blends into larger units. Signup and view all the answers

What are the 4 stages of Ehri's model of reading development?

Pre-alphabetic phase, Partial-alphabetic phase, Full-alphabetic phase, Consolidated-alphabetic phase. Signup and view all the answers

What are the three approaches to teaching phonics instruction?

Embedded, analytic, synthetic. Signup and view all the answers

What is embedded phonics instruction?

Phonics skills are learned by embedding phonics instruction in the text. Signup and view all the answers

What is analytic phonics instruction?

Students analyze letter-sound relations in known words to detect patterns. Signup and view all the answers

What is synthetic phonics instruction?

Students learn all sounds, then letters, and then blend sounds to form words. Signup and view all the answers

What are the goals of phonics instruction?

To help children learn the alphabetic principle, recognize familiar words, and decode new words. Signup and view all the answers

What is a syllable?

A unit of spoken language that consists of one or more vowel sounds. Signup and view all the answers

What is a morpheme?

The smallest unit of language that has meaning. Signup and view all the answers

What are base words?

Words that do not have a prefix or suffix and stand alone. Signup and view all the answers

What are roots?

Parts of words taken from other languages. Signup and view all the answers

What are affixes?

Attachments to a root or base word. Signup and view all the answers

What are the two approaches to teaching advanced word reading skills?

Morphological units, phonological units. Signup and view all the answers

What is the importance of identifying non-decodable words?

It is an important teaching skill to help students recognize words they cannot decode. Signup and view all the answers

How can you indicate why a student cannot decode a word?

You write letters for the explanation: Letter (L), Word Type (WT), Not regular (NR). Signup and view all the answers

How do we support students' transition to the Consolidated-alphabetic phase?

By teaching advanced phonics skills such as decoding base-word/ending, word families, and compound words. Signup and view all the answers

How do we help students transition to Partial-alphabetic phase?

By learning letter names and grasping the alphabetic principle. Signup and view all the answers

How do we help students transition to Full-alphabetic phase?

By teaching phonemic awareness, letter sounds, and systematic decoding. Signup and view all the answers

How do we support students' transition to Consolidated-alphabetic phase?

By teaching advanced phonics skills such as decoding base-word/ending, word families, and compound words. Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Teaching Lower Case Letters

Teaching lower case letters enables decoding of a majority of words, while upper case letters have limited utility for decoding.

Regular Words

A regular word is defined as a word where each letter represents its most common sound, e.g., "cat" and "mud."

Sounding Out Words

Students pronounce the sound of each letter and blend them to form words spoken at a regular pace.

Continuous vs Stop Sounds

Continuous sounds (e.g., mad, fit, sat) are easier for students to decode than stop sounds (e.g., tip, cat, hot).

Phonological Awareness

A broader skill encompassing awareness of larger parts of spoken language and smaller parts, including phonemes and elements like rhyming and intonation.

Phonemic Awareness

A narrower focus within phonological awareness that involves identifying and manipulating individual sounds within words.

Phonemic Awareness Instruction

Teaches students to blend and segment sounds, isolating and manipulating individual phonemes in spoken language.

Phonics Instruction

Focuses on the relationship between letters (graphemes) and sounds (phonemes), and how to use this knowledge for reading and writing.

Graphemes and Phonemes

Graphemes are written language letters, while phonemes represent the smallest spoken sounds.

Alphabetic Principle

Understanding that written letters correspond to spoken sounds systematically and predictably.

Continuous vs Stop Sounds Defined

Continuous sounds can be prolonged, while stop sounds are brief and cannot be held without distortion.

Regular vs Irregular Words

Regular words have letters that represent their usual sounds. Irregular words, like "was," contain one or more letters that deviate from common sounds.

Examples of Phonetic Structures

Consonant blends: bl, st, scr
Consonant digraphs: ch, sh, th
Diphthongs: oi, oo, ea

Reading Skills Order

Skills should be taught progressively, starting from segmenting individual sounds to blending them into words.

Sight Reading

In sight reading, students do not sound out words but recognize them instantly during normal speech.

Emergent Reader

Typically a preschooler who begins to understand the concepts of letters and words.

Beginning Reader

Demonstrates basic understanding of the alphabet and print concepts.

Transitional Reader

Recognizes differences within words and begins to manipulate them.

Intermediate Reader

Focuses on fluency and understanding the meaning of the text.

Advanced Reader

Engages in reading to learn new information.

Emergent Literacy

Integrates reading and writing learning through active engagement and exploration of written language.

Phonological Awareness Levels

Level 1: Word awareness, rhyme awareness.
Level 2: Initial consonant awareness, onset-rime segmentation.
Level 3: Phoneme blending and manipulation.

Voiced Sounds

Produced when vocal cords vibrate during sound articulation.

Ehri's Model of Reading Development

Consists of four stages: Pre-alphabetic, Partial-alphabetic, Full-alphabetic, and Consolidated-alphabetic phases.

Phonics Instruction Approaches

Embedded: Phonics integrated within context.
Analytic: Analyzing known words to find letter-sound patterns.
Synthetic: Teaching sounds and blending them to form words.

Goals of Phonics Instruction

Facilitate understanding of the alphabetic principle.
Promote accurate and automatic word recognition.
Aid in decoding novel words.

Syllable Definition

A unit of spoken language with one or more vowel sounds.

Morpheme Definition

The smallest meaningful unit in language.

Parts of Words

Roots: Components derived from other languages.
Base words: Standalone words without prefixes or suffixes.
Affixes: Added to roots or base words to create new meanings.

Teaching Advanced Word Reading Skills

Approaches include focusing on morphological and phonological units.

Decoding Words

Identifying which words students may struggle with decoding based on known sounds and word types.

Supporting Reading Development

Encourage transitions between phases of reading by reinforcing phonics and decoding strategies.

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Description

This quiz explores the fundamentals of phonemic awareness, including the teaching of lower case letters and the distinction between continuous and stop sounds. Understanding these concepts is crucial for effective reading instruction and for helping students decode regular words. Test your knowledge on phonological skills and their importance in early literacy development.