Phonological Awareness: Part 2

How to Help Your Struggling Reader:

Phonological Awareness Activities

 Part 2: Compound Words

One of my favorite lessons to teach at the reading center is blending and segmenting of compound words.  It is easy to teach and very effective!  Often students come to the center after years of classroom instruction, but unfortunately without the ability to sound out words effectively.  Within three sessions or less, these Struggling Readers understand the concept of blending and segmenting and begin to apply their new learning towards reading words.

While instructing Struggling Readers, the use of your hands as “markers” will be helpful for learning to blend and segment compound words.  More challenged Struggling Readers may experience better success by using picture cue cards to help with this abstract concept.  Whether you make your own picture cue cards or purchase ours, this teaching technique provides a visually concrete way of teaching an abstract concept.

Phonological Awareness Level 2 – Compound Words

Concept – Understanding compound words can be blended and segmented.

Question - Can your child blend and segment compound words?  

Activity Materials – A parent’s hands or picture cue cards and the list of compound words.

Blending Directions:

    The parent faces the child and holds up his/her right hand and says “butter.”   Then the parent holds up their left hand and says “fly.”  The parent then puts their two hands together and child blends the words together and says, “butterfly.”  The word has been blended!

Insight:  The longer the pause between the two words, “butter” and “fly,” the more difficult the task becomes as the child must hold each word in his/her memory to figure out the word…an important skill!   If your child is unable to blend the two words together, repeat the words again more quickly, using your hands as “markers.”

Eventually, you will be able remove your hands and your child will be able to hold the words in his/her memory, blending the two words together with ease.

More Insight:  For students with special needs, this oral activity may be too abstract.  At the reading center, we use our picture cue cards to represent each word.  Each word is a puzzle piece with a picture on the front…the two pictures fit together and when flipped over, shows the new meaning of the compound word.


For example:                                                                          © Skills for Success

Front puzzle piece

Back of puzzle
(meaning)

Front puzzle piece

As a parent, you can make the picture cue cards for your child, or you can purchase ready-made cards from the Skills for Success Reading Center website:  http://www.skills-for-success.com/intervention.html

Segmenting Directions: This activity will be the opposite of blending.  Your child is going to pull apart the compound words.  The parent faces the student, with both hands together and says, “butterfly.”  The student then says, “butter” and the parent pulls the right hand away to the right (segmenting) and then the student says, “fly” and the parent moves the left hand to the left.   The word has been segmented!

Insight:  Again, for students with special needs, this oral activity may be too abstract, so I recommend using pictures cue cards.  The same cards used for blending can be used for segmenting.  Show your child the complete picture of the “butterfly,” then have your child segment the word, saying “butter” while turning over the first piece, then the child says, “fly”  turning over the second piece.  The word has been segmented!

Have fun with this Level 2 Phonological Awareness activities!!

Compound Word List:

paintbrush              toothbrush              noontime

steamboat               cookbook                 fishhook

playmate                 footprints               downtown

snowflake               countdown               seesaw

groundhog               sundown                   jigsaw

southwest               cowboy                    bedspread

rooftop                  headlight                 mailbox

raindrop                 pigtail                    soapsuds

broomstick             Sunday                    toenail

seaside                        teammate                beehive

airplane                  baseball                  campfire

chalkboard             touchdown               sailboat

playground             notebook                 lighthouse

downstairs             crosswalk                 bookstore

birthday                birdhouse                bathroom

sandpaper              sunshine                   eggshell

windshield              wallpaper                 headlight

sunbeam                 understand               Superman

flashlight               waterfall                  bluejay

Next Blog… Level 3 Phonological Awareness Activities