Phonics: Phonemic Awareness In Spoken Language

Phonemic Awareness/Phonics:
Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds in words. More specifically, a phoneme is the smallest part of spoken language that makes a difference in the meaning of a word. For example the sound /s/ changes the meaning of a word when it is at the end of a word, commonly creating a plural meaning. Phonemic instruction always occurs in spoken form, which means that all students can benefit from instruction, regardless of their ability to read or write. Phonological awareness is the ability to separate sentences into words and separate words into syllables. Phonics instruction frequently helps students with word recognition and should be about learning words rather than rules. …show more content…
I did not explicitly plan phonemic awareness or phonics instruction in my teach day lessons, however in my writing center prompt, students came across times where they practiced phonemic awareness and phonics. For example, students worked with writing about a map they have created. Many of the students had trouble spelling map vocabulary and I worked with them to sound out words. With my strugglers, I really saw them using the rules they have learned in years up to second grade when they were deciding how to spell words. I would say a letter sound and they would match it with the symbol as they wrote. For my more advanced students, they enjoyed helping others sound words out and they took larger words such as “direction” and broke it down into syllables. Assessment was informal for this topic area, as students were not expected to complete direct instruction, as phonemic awareness instruction should not be direct …show more content…
Writing first begins with basic phonemic awareness and students practice inventive spelling, or spelling phonemically. As they grow both developmentally and academically, spelling and writing becomes more flawless and creative. Writing is the act of taking words and creating sentences that provide a meaning and purpose. To write, students need to spell. To spell, students need basic phonological and phonemic skills. Also to write, students need comprehension and a vocabulary suitable to what their topic