What is a phoneme? Do individuals really know what phonemic awareness is? How does one teach a child how to read using such things as phonemic awareness and word patterns? I can honestly say that to this day I still get confused when trying to answer my first two questions. I do not remember learning these things in school but I'm sure that I did. I recall using programs such as "Hooked on Phonics" which basically focused on teaching children how to use such things as phonics, phonemes, and phonemic awareness in order to learn how to read. I think that the concepts of phonemes and phonemic awareness can be difficult to understand especially for people that have never heard the terms before. The readings discuss several ideas of what phonemic awareness is, along with how to help students develop phonemic awareness and how to use techniques that they have already learned. The book goes into great detail explaining various games that teachers can use to help their students establish this concept of phonemic awareness in order to figure out unknown words and increase their reading ability. According to the article Supporting phonemic awareness development in the classroom by Hallie Yopp and Ruth Yopp, "Phonemic awareness is the awareness that the speech stream consists of a sequence of sounds- specifically phonemes, the smallest unit of sound that makes a difference in communication" (Yopp p. 130). Even this definition may sound complicated to some. In chapter three the book describes phonemic awareness as, "the ability to recognize that words are made up of a discrete set of sounds and to manipulate those sounds is phonemic awareness" (Allington p. 33). These two definitions basically explain that phonemic awareness is knowing that ever word is made up of certain sounds and the ability to manipulate these sounds in order to make other words. Being able to teach phonics, spelling patterns, and phonemic awareness to children is obviously a key part to helping a child learn how to read.
So where does a teacher even begin to teach these concepts to his or her students in the classroom? In chapter five of Classrooms That Work, Allington and Cunningham give tons of ideas on teaching phonics along with spelling patterns. Clark also gives some examples of how to teach word recognition in her article, What can I say besides "sound it out"? Coaching word recognition in beginning reading. Each give great ideas and techniques for teaching young or new readers how to recognize words and spelling patterns along with learning phonics that will help young children learn to become better readers. Learning how to read can be very difficult for many young children and having various techniques and games to encourage them will not only increase their reading abilities but it will also keep them interested in reading. Clark says that "coaching" young readers is a great way to help children learn word recognition. She explains that teachers should use "cues" if a student doesn't know a word when reading. These include: general cues that provoke thought (using questions like, how can you figure that word out?), and cues that would promote a specific action (these would provide detailed information about the task). This is just one way that Clark suggests for helping children learn word recognition. Allington discusses several ideas but a few that I thought would be great to use in my future classroom include the technique of Using Words You Know, the Nifty-Thrifty-Fifty, and the Wheel. I love the fact the techniques Using the Words You Know really does show students how to take the words they already know and change or add one or two letters to make a lot more words. I think that that would be a great way for them to realize that they can take one word and make ten new words and it would be fun for them to make the chart and see who can make the most words. The Wheel also seems like a fun interactive way to teach students spelling patterns. I think that they would actually enjoy these types of activities and they would learn while having fun.
So when we talk about phonemic awareness it always takes me a minute to remember exactly what it is but after reading these articles and learning techniques on how to help children use phonics and phonemic awareness to read better, I have a better understanding of what phonemic awareness is and how to teach it in my future classroom. Overall, the articles and the book gave some great ideas that I will hopefully have the opportunity to try in my own classroom one day. I probably never would have thought about using some of the games and activities listed in order to teach phonemic awareness, word recognition, and spelling patterns.
Brooke, I also get confused when trying to answer these questions. It has been a really long time since I was a child and learning how to read seems distant from me, I can't really think of a time when I didn't know how to read, but i know that there was. I don't even remember learning except that we've dicussed the hooked on phonics which is phonics based. I mean i feel like i can read well now so it must have worked, however, i remember hating it as a child just because i was made to do it and i would have rather been outside playing. I agree that these concepts of phoneme and phonemic awareness can be confusing and they are even more confusing from a childs perspective. They just want to be able to understand what they are doing, what it is for, and then eventually being able to read and understand. These things are important to teach students how to read so we as teachers must understand the difference and be able to reach students in the best way that they will learn. Just like we dicsussed in class, some students will learn from this way but then some students will need more support and a different program to learn how to read so we need to be able to provide multiple ways of learning how to read and not just focus on phonics. I agree that teachers should include games and songs to encourage students when learning letters and words. I have always been able to remember things better when it is put in a song so I will probably use songs to go along with letters, sounds, and words in my classroom in hopes that this will reach some children, but i will also include fun interactive games that will engage those others that may get bored doing worksheets and group reading. I also discussed the multiple activities provided in the articles and I also agree that this will be great for students when learning how to read. I'm glad to see that you have a better understanding of the terms and have also learned some technigues to integrate in your classroom. I feel like we are learning a lot of things that will benefit us as future teachers!
ReplyDeleteI think these terms can be confusing for even the most veteran teachers! Brooke, I love that you are thinking critically about the activities you are reading about and whether or not you will use them in the future. Great teachers always beg, borrow, and steal good ideas!
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