WEBVTT

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[Music] Welcome to the overview

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on teaching phonological
awareness in preschool.

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Ms. Johnson teaches 4-year-olds
at a preschool in an urban area

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where over 80 percent

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of families are living
at the poverty level.

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She knows her students are at
risk for becoming poor readers,

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so she focuses on
teaching the alphabet

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and on reading storybooks.

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That's why Ms. Johnson was
surprised to learn that many

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of her "graduated"
students are now struggling

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with reading in elementary
school.

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What went wrong?

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She knew her students
were eager to learn,

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and she understood they
needed a strong foundation--

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but she didn't realized
the importance

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of teaching core literacy
skills at the pre-school level.

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That's when students need to
develop phonological awareness--

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the ability to recognize and
manipulate the separate sounds,

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or phonemes, in spoken words.

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Ms. Johnson's school
hired a team

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of early reading professionals

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to help her teachers build
phonological awareness among

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their students.

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The coaches worked side-by-side
with teachers each week

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to model instruction, observe
teachers practicing what they

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learned, and help teachers
reflect on their new knowledge

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and teaching strategies.

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As a result, Ms. Johnson learned
how children develop language

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skills from the moment
they're born, and she began

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to utilize similar
sound recognition skills

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in her reading time.

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For example, after reading
a story about farm animals,

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she asked the children
to recall the names

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of animals in the story.

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When one student recalled a cow,
Ms. J. said, "Listen carefully

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to the word: /k/ /ow/.

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What's the first sound
you hear in /k/ /ow/?"

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The students answered back, /k/.

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Another student mentioned
the pig.

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Ms. J. asked, "What sound
does pig begin with?"

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When one student said /b/,
Ms. Johnson responded:

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"Listen again, /p/ /ig/.

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When you say /p/ - feel
the air on your hand.

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Put your hand up and say
it with me, /p/ /ig/.

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Can you can feel the /p/ sound?"

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Her reading coach congratulated
Ms. Johnson on the lesson.

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she had just taught phonological
awareness to her students--

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a skill that is essential
to learning how to read.

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What is phonological awareness?

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Words are made up of syllables

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and individual sounds--
or phonemes.

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Children are better prepared
for reading instruction

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if they are able to focus on the
sounds that make up language.

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students with solid
phonological awareness can:

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break words apart
into syllables, detect

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and produce rhyme, detect
and isolate sounds in a word,

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and blend and segment sounds
in words. Four-year-olds,

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especially those at risk for
developing reading difficulties,

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need instruction and practice

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to develop phonological
awareness before they get

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to kindergarten.

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Yet, at least one-third

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of all four-year olds
don't have these skills.

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And children who enter first
grade as poor readers often:

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- Have problems

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with phonological
processing, - enter first grade

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with little phonemic awareness,
and - have an 88% probability

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of remaining poor readers
at the end of fourth grade.

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We also know that by first
grade good readers can combine

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different sounds to make
words, and break words

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into distinct parts,
or segments.

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Children need to know that
words are made up of sounds,

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and they need to blend

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and segment these sounds before
they can learn the relationship

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between sounds and
letters in print.

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When developing phonological
awareness with preschoolers,

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it's important to think
in terms of a continuum,

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from simple to more
advanced skills.

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Students should move from:
Syllable Segmenting and Blending

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to Onset-Rime Segmenting
and Blending

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to Phoneme Segmenting,
Blending and Manipulation.

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The first of these skills
involves recognition

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that words are made
up of syllables,

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and that the syllable
sounds blend together

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when reading words, as in:
to-day, or, news-pa-per.

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"Onset" refers to the initial
consonant or consonant cluster,

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where "Rime" is the vowel and
all the sounds that follow,

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as in /l/ /ef/ or /k/ /at/.

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4-year olds need to learn how
to segment and blend these

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"sub-syllable" building blocks.

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Phonemes are even more
granular Äîthey are the

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individual sounds made by
each letter, or combination

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of letters, as in: /b/ /i/ /g/.

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Children learn that
words change even

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when only one phoneme changes.

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They learn that a cat is not
a bat, and a box is not a fox.

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As children can learn to connect
sounds with letter symbols,

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they take an important
step toward forming

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and reading words.

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Let's take a look at
some practical ways

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to put phonological
awareness into action.

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First, remember that teaching
phonological awareness should

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be fun!

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Ms. Johnson always knew
that children like to play

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with sounds, but her coach
helped her understand how

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to use sound play
to build awareness

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of the ways sounds make words.

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Now, Ms. J helps her
students recognize syllables,

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onsets and rimes, and
phonemes throughout the day--

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at story time, during
transitions,

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and even on the playground.

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In fact, it's a good idea to
separate playing with sounds

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from working with
letters or printed text.

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That way, students see sound
awareness as a natural part

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of language before they
begin to decode text.

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It's also important to
scaffold instruction.

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Early on, students will need
help recognizing the various

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sound forms-- from
syllables to phonemes.

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But, as they progress and gain
confidence, students will begin

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to recognize these building
blocks on their own.

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This is a good time to
stretch their vocabularies

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with new words made up of
combinations of familiar sounds.

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It's also a good time
to introduce new words

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with multiple syllables,
such as bas-ket-ball.

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Here are a few more tips for
teaching phonological awareness:

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- Plan phonological awareness
lessons and activities

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in your daily schedule, - use
informal phonological awareness

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instruction as part
of the daily routine--

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whenever you have
the chance to point

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out word sounds, keep lessons
brief-- just 5 or 10 minutes.

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And - small groups are best
for listening to each child.

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Many teachers were
never formally taught

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about phonological awareness

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and may feel awkward
teaching these skills.

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That's why coaching
and other types

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of teacher supports
are so important.

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When teaching these skills
to teachers, keep these tips

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in mind: First, modeling
for teachers is a great way

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to build phonological
teaching skills.

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Second, practice
builds confidence.

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And third, reflection about what
they've learned helps teachers

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reinforce their new skills.

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Modeling provides
the foundation.

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Early on, teachers might not
see how these skills connect

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to learning to read.

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But, when they see the coach
working with the class,

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and as students have fun
learning to recognize sounds,

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it all begins to make sense.

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When modeling is
combined with practice--

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guided and supported by
coaches and colleagues--

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that's when teachers learn how
to integrate skill practice

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into the daily routine.

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Finally, reflection helps
teachers place phonological

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awareness teaching skills
into the larger context

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of their overall
instructional approach.

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Ms. Johnson has come to
understand that students need

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to develop phonological
awareness skills even before

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they reach kindergarten, and
that most children can benefit

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from phonological
training regardless

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of their developmental level.

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Now that phonological
awareness is a part

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of her preschool
classroom, Ms. J. has heard

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that her former students are
among the strongest readers

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in kindergarten!

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To learn more about teaching
Phonological Awareness

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in Preschool, please explore
the additional resources

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on the Doing What Works website.