Next up in this series is rhyme and alliteration! Before we dive in, let's talk about phonological awareness and how rhyme and alliteration fit in to the larger phonological awareness continuum of skills.
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What is phonological awareness?
Phonological awareness is the ability to think about, recognize, and manipulate the sounds in spoken language. Phonological awareness activities work with rhymes, words, syllables, and onset rimes--all without the use of print. The last stage of phonological awareness is actually phoneme awareness: blending, segmenting, and manipulating phonemes (sounds). Phonological awareness skills generally develop along a continuum ranging from simple to more complex.
Why is phonological awareness important?
Research suggests that phonemic awareness is the single best predictor of reading success. But because these skills develop along a continuum, we can't just start with phonemes (or individual sounds in words)! We must start at the beginning, ensuring children have a solid foundation in all phonological awareness skills.
How do you teach phonological awareness?
I've found the key to building phonological awareness skills in your little scholars and making them stick is to use kinesthetic motions and pictures--this way they are hearing, seeing, and moving! I also gradually release responsibility with the "I do, we do, you do" model, giving my little scholars lots of opportunities to practice and receive feedback.
Now, let's talk about rhyme and alliteration.
Now, let's talk about rhyme and alliteration.
Rhyme
Rhyming is a complex skill and it is a skill that benefits from being constantly spiraled back to. It begins with your little scholars simply enjoying and imitating rhymes and moves on to recognizing rhymes, then finally producing rhymes.
