Home / Educators / Professional Development (3 - 5 YEARS) / Having Fun with Phonemic Awareness
- phonemic awareness: the ability to recognize that spoken words are made up of separate sounds (phonemes, the smallest units of sound), and to manipulate those sounds in speech
- phonics: the understanding that letters represent the sounds in words
- phonemes: the smallest units of sound
- phonological awareness: the ability to recognize that words are made up of a variety of sound units
- nonsense words: made-up words, used for the phonemic principle being taught
- sound matching: the ability to match words that begin or end with the same sound
Try It
It’s time to practice what you’ve learned. In this activity, you’ll apply the strategies and techniques you’ve learned to your program’s learning environment.
Mystery Sound Games
Design games to teach phonemic awareness. Download and print Mystery Sound Games (PDF).
Imagine that you have been given three envelopes, each one containing materials to teach phonemic awareness. No instructions have been given with the envelopes.
- Based on the materials in the envelopes, design three unique phonemic awareness games that teach a beginning phonemic awareness skill: rhyme, sound matching, or syllable counting.
- Write directions and note the learning goals for each game.
- Envelope #1 contains 9 index cards. Each card contains a picture of a common item: lamp, lollipop, lion, mitten, money, map, socks, snake, sun.
- Envelope #2 contains 10 index cards. Each card contains a picture: cat, hat, bat, dog, log, frog, hair, bear, chair, school bus.
- Envelope #3 contains 10 blank index cards.