DR 2: Children are effective learners
⇣ Indicator: LIT—Children demonstrate emerging literacy skills
⇣ Measure 37: Phonological Awareness—
Child shows awareness of sounds that make up language, including the segmentation of sounds in words, and recognition of word rhyming and alliteration

	Descriptors	Examples
9	Segments parts of words	Segments syllables from words (removes “ball” from “baseball” to get “base”). Segments sounds off of words (removes the /c/ from “cat” to get “at”).
8	Blends part of words	Blends two or more syllables into multi-syllable words (e.g., pic-nic or hot-dog). Blends sounds together to form words (m + at or m + a + t to make “mat”).
7	Identifies sounds at the beginning of words	“Cat and car sound alike in the beginning.” When asked, “Whose name starts with the /t/ sound?” Tonya raises her hand. Participates in songs and games that involve matching words with initial sounds.
6	Identifies words that rhyme	Identifies words that rhyme with “cat.” Can identify pairs of words that rhyme and pairs of words that don’t rhyme.
5	Shows awareness of words and syllables as units of sound	Claps along or pats knees to break “elephant” into e-le-phant or “pancake” into pan-cake. Claps out each word in “I am Matt” in a name game. After hearing the “B” book by Dr. Seuss, uses the words, “big,” “blue,” and “bull” in play.
4	Engages in play with sounds in words and songs	Claps, stomps, or sings to nursery rhymes. Repeats the order of two or three sounds in the environment (repeats a pattern of two claps followed by one stomp). Repeats words playfully, “Banana fana,” or “Funny Bunny.”
3	Imitates novel sounds	Child says, “ba-ba-ba.” Adult says, “da-da-da.” Child says, “da-da-da.”
2	Produces repetitive sounds	Babbles. Produces consonant-vowel sounds.
1	Reacts to sounds in the environment	Cries when hears loud noise. Responds differently to different sounds, i.e., settles down when he hears a familiar sound.

Measure 37 — LIT 4

Phonological Awareness

Child shows awareness of sounds that make up language, including the segmentation of sounds in words, and recognition of word rhyming and alliteration

Phonological awareness refers to sensitivity to the sounds used in speech and the ability to manipulate speech sounds. To read and write in languages that use an alphabet, children need to be able to associate sounds in words with letters. Generally children are sensitive to larger units of speech sounds (words and syllables) before they become aware of smaller units of sound inside syllables, such as onsets (the initial sound of a word; /b/ in “big,” for example) and rimes (the end part of a word, as /ig/ in “big”). Gradually they learn to manipulate these different sound units by deliberately changing, adding, or deleting sounds in words. There are four basic sets of phonological awareness skills: rhyming (identifying and manipulating rimes or endings in words), alliteration (identifying and manipulating initial sounds), blending (putting together sounds to form words), and segmenting (separating words into smaller units of sound).

Infants are interested in speech sounds from birth. They respond differently to different sounds and can discriminate among the various sounds of oral language; /b/ from /p/, for example. They coo, babble, engage in vocal play, and imitate familiar sounds. By six months of age, many infants repeat strings of speech sounds with rhythms and cadences similar to the language they hear spoken around them.

Toddlers enjoy listening to songs and rhymes. They participate in finger plays (such as “Pat-A-Cake”) and turn-taking games and can repeat parts of songs and nursery rhymes. They can also imitate novel words and sounds. Older toddlers play intentionally with the sounds of words, for example clapping along to songs or rhymes or changing sounds to invent new words (“silly pilly,” for example, or “purple durple”).

Young preschoolers begin to show interest not only in the meaning of words but also in how the words sound. As they learn new words, they become increasingly aware of differences and similarities of the sounds of words and begin to recognize units of sound. They clap out words in a sentence, clap out syllables in words, and enjoy repeating alliterative phrases (such as “purple pig’s picnic”). They can recite familiar nursery rhymes and songs, and many preschoolers can indicate whether or not two words rhyme. For example, a child could answer correctly if the adult asks “Do Fuzzie and Wuzzie rhyme?”

Older Preschoolers begin to listen carefully to sounds in words. They begin to enjoy tongue twisters, poetry, and jokes. They also are able to identify words that rhyme; for example, if asked what rhymes with “cat,” the child might respond with “bat.” Older Preschoolers begin to notice words that start with the same first sound (“Don” and “Dave”) and play games with words. For example, they might enjoy guessing words that start with the same sound. Preschoolers also can combine elements to make compound words (such as “pea” with “nut” and “rain” with “bow”) and can combine syllables into words (“la-dy”). Some preschoolers are also able to manipulate smaller units of sounds within words, blending phonemes to form words (“c,” “a,” and “t” to get “cat”). Preschoolers also become able to segment words into syllables (“table” becomes “ta-” plus “-ble”) and remove sounds from words (removing /b/ from “bug” to get “ug”).

References

Byrne, B., & Fielding-Barnsley, R. (1991). Evaluation of a program to teach phonemic awareness to young children. Journal of Educational Psychology, 83, 451-455.

Dickinson, D.K., & Neuman, S.B. (Eds.) (2006). Handbook of early literacy research Vol.2. New York: Guilford Press.

Lonigan, C. (2006). Phonological skills in prereaders. In D. Dickinson & S. Neuman (Eds.), Handbook of early literacy research Vol.2 (pp. 77-89). New York: Guilford Press.

Maclean, M., Bryant, P., & Bradley, L. (1987). Rhymes, nursery rhymes, and reading in early childhood. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 33, 255-281.

National Early Literacy Panel. (2004). Report on a synthesis of early predictors of reading. Louisville, KY: National Center for Family Literacy.

Snow, C. (2006). What counts as literacy in early childhood? In K. McCartney & D. Phillips (Eds.), Blackwell handbook of early childhood development (pp. 274-294). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.

Yopp, H. K., & Yopp, R. H. (2000). Supporting phonemic awareness development in the classroom. The Reading Teacher, 54(2), 130-143.

Additional Resources

There are no additional resources for this Measure at this time. Please see the corresponding Indicator for general resources.