How to Help Your
Struggling Reader
Phonological
Awareness Activities
Part 4:
Sounds
I
have just returned from the CHEA Homeschooling Convention held in Pasadena
Utilizing blending and segmenting
Phonological Awareness activities, as mentioned in earlier blogs, has
enabled our students to learn to read quickly, effectively and efficiently.
A
little instructional background... Phonemes
(sounds) are the smallest unit of sound in a word. For instance, "zoo"
has three letters, but just 2
phonemes "z.....oo" and
"ship" has 4 letters, but just 3 phonemes
"sh.....i.....p." Blending and segmenting tasks are an abstract
concept, which requires listening and memory skills. Many children need
some type of marker (beans or blocks) to connect the sounds with a tangible
object. The tangible objects or picture cue cards make this concept more
concrete, understandable, and fun.
Phonological
Awareness Level 4 – Sounds (Phonemes)
Concept
– Understanding
phonemes can be blended into words and words can be segmented into phonemes.
Questions – Can your child blend and segment
words with phonemes easily?
Activity
Materials – Markers
or picture cue cards and a list of words with two, three, four and five
phonemes.
Blending
Directions Without Markers:
This
is the most abstract and difficult way to teach phoneme blending. None of
my students at the reading center have learned phoneme blending using this
method, but perhaps this technique may work for your child.
Hint: The longer you pause between each phoneme,
the more the student’s memory has to be used. Memory development is
a much-needed skill for most struggling readers. Pause between each sound
for several seconds.
The
parent faces the child and says, “m....e....l....t” The child
blends the phonemes together into “melt.”
Blending
Directions Using Markers:
The parent faces the child (so that the child can watch the
parent’s mouth – if needed). The parent lines up four markers and starts
from the child’s left, moving to the right (the direction we read) stating, “m”
pausing for several seconds and then moves the first marker slightly, then
states “e” and moves the second marker slightly, then states “l”
and moves the marker slightly, the states "t" moving the
marker slightly. The child then verbally blends the phonemes into “melt”
and uses his/her finger to make a sweeping movement (underlining) from left to
right under the markers as the word is spoken.
Insight:
Years ago, educational professionals thought that children with letter
and word reversals had visual issues. However, now professionals
think these difficulties may reflect “left-right orientation” challenge.
In simple language this means when a child reads, he/she doesn’t continually
“sweep” from left to right, instead the child looks at the letter or word
without directionality. It is no wonder that letters are
flipped and words are read backwards. For more information regarding
researched-based information regarding Struggling Readers, visit the
International Dyslexia Association. http://www.interdys.org/InsInt.htm
Blending
Phonemes Using Picture Cue Cards:
Students at
the reading center learn to blend phonemes together using our picture cue
cards, see picture above. Using the side of the cue card with just the
boxes, the parent says "m.....e.....l.....t" using one tile for each
sound. The student then responds, "melt" and turns the card over
to reveal the picture.
Insight:
When using the picture cueing cards, even my most
cognitively challenged Struggling Readers have learned blending and segmenting
skills.
Segmenting Directions Without Markers:
The parent faces the child and says, “melt.” The
child segments the phonemes into “m…..e…..l....t” and sweeps his/her
finger from left to right.
Segmenting Directions Using Markers:
The parent faces the child (so that the child can
watch the parent’s mouth – if needed). The parent lines up four markers
in front of the child and states, “melt.” The child
touches each tile and starts from his/her left and moves the first marker
slightly and says “m,” then then states “e” and moves the second
marker slightly, then states “l” and
moves the third marker slightly, then states "t." The word has
been segmented! The child then uses his/her finger to make a sweeping
movement (underlining) from left to right under the cards as the word is spoken.
Segmenting Using Picture Cue Cards:
The parent places cue card picture facing up in
front of the child. The child looks at the pictures and the parent
states ”melt." The child then moves the first tile into the
first box on the left and says the sound "m," then moves the
second tile and says the sound "e" using a different color to
identify the vowel sound “e.” (see picture above) The child then moves
the third tile and says the sound "l" and then the final tile
is moved and the child makes the 't' sound. The child then
uses his/her finger to make a sweeping movement (underlining) from left to
right under the cards as the word is spoken. The word has been segmented.
Hint: At the conference and at the reading center, I
repeatedly see children using their non-dominant hand when moving the tiles or
switching hands when practicing these activities. Some children even
start moving the tiles backwards from a right to left motion. Make sure
your child uses his/her dominant hand and sweeps from left to right...this is a
critical skills for some Struggling Readers to learn to read effectively.
Now you have the strategies to teach blending and
segmenting of phonemes with style.
To order your own Solutions for Struggling Readers
- Blending and Segmenting Cards click the link below and start having fun!
Phoneme word
list:
Two Phonemes:
Three Phonemes
Four Phonemes (Beginning Blends)
zoo
lip
flat
bow
hot
dress
me
ship (sh...i...p)
grass
Four Phonemes (Ending Blends)
Five Phonemes
sand
blond
jump
trend
help
spent
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