Phoneme Awareness Test

I recently discovered The Reading Genie. I found a phoneme awareness test from the Reading Genie to find out if a child can hear the separate sounds in words.

Ready, Set, Read  posted a fun sound matching idea to develop phonological awareness in young children.

Hearing separate sounds is words is a skill needed to read and write. This skill can be practiced and improved. Here's another post I wrote that might help. Teaching a Child to Separate Sounds in Words

Phoneme Awareness Test

Phonological Awareness Posts

Please check out these posts I found.

Deirdre Smith
http://www.jdaniel4smom.com/2010/09/finding-beat-and-sounds-in-words.html

Jackie Higgins
http://readysetread2me.blogspot.com/2010/12/sounds-of-season-promoting-phonological.html

Teachmama - Amy
http://teachmama.com/category/phonological-awareness

Julie
http://theadventuresofbear.blogspot.com/2010/01/sensory-tub-beginning-sound-sort.html
http://theadventuresofbear.blogspot.com/2009/11/rhyming-box.html

Phonological Awareness Posts

Songs to Teach Phonological Awareness

Songs for Teaching has free music clips to teach some phonological awareness skills. You may choose to buy from the site, but I thought a person could use the free clips as an introduction to different skills. You don't get the whole song. I think part of a song might be enough to introduce a skill. I'm providing links to my favorite clips and an activity you could try after listening to the clip.

Clapping Syllables
Clap the syllables in other words.

Long and Short Words
Look for long and short words in books you read.

Listen for Rhymes
Listen for rhymes in books you read.

Clap if you hear words that rhyme and shake your head if the words don't rhyme.
Try this with your own word combinations.

Rhyming Words
Make your own lists of rhyming words.

Segmenting Phonemes
Separate the phonemes in other words.

Phoneme Deletion
Another Phoneme Deletion
Take away a sound in other words to make new words.

Phoneme Manipulation
Play with your own words. Magnetic letters might be fun to use.

Songs to Teach Phonological Awareness

Syllables in Words

This post will focus on the basic skill of hearing syllables in words.
Hearing syllables is part of a larger skill set called phonological awareness.

Syllables in Songs, Poems, and Stories:
Syllables are the beat of words. You can show your child the beat of words by clapping syllables in songs, poems, and favorite books you read to your child. You don't always have to clap. Be creative. You can use a musical instrument, nod your head, tap your fingers, or stomp your feet. Your child will eventually join you and do it on his or her own in time.

Syllables in the World:
You can practice hearing syllables anytime with your child. Sneak in clapping, tapping, nodding or stomping syllables in words at different times of the day until you know your child understands syllables. You can practice syllables of family names, objects in the room, names of stores, or places you've visited.

Syllables in Words

Phonological Awareness Is an Often Overlooked Reading Skill

Phonological Awareness is the ability to hear, say, and manipulate the sounds in language. Phonological Awareness: Instructional and Assessment Guidelines 

Most of my research outlines the skills of phonological awareness as: rhyming songs, sentence segmentation, syllable segmentation and blending, onset-rime blending and segmentation, and blending and segmenting individual phonemes. The skills are listed in order of easy to more difficult.

This video I found on YouTube may help you make more sense of phonological awareness.


Here are some printable activities.

If you want to practice rhyming, try reading nursery rhymes and other books with rhyme.

Try this fun online reading game to practice phonological awareness with a child:
Pumpkin Patch

Be sure to check out this resource page to learn more about phonological awareness.

Phonological Awareness Is an Often Overlooked Reading Skill

Phonemic Awareness Games

Here are some games to help a child become aware of sounds in words.

Separating Sounds - Ask for things or say some words in everyday conversations with a pause between each sound. For example: “Can you get a (t)…(ow)…(el)? Did you remember your (l)…(u)…(n)…(ch)?”


Change Beginning Sounds - Be silly and make a different sound for the beginning sounds of some words while talking to a child. For example: “Let’s take the pog for a walk. Can you hand me that fencil, so I can make a grocery list? If the child doesn't notice, tell the child you said one word wrong. Repeat the sentence and see if the child can correct you.

Guessing Game - Choose a category: Farm Animals, Food, Pets, etc.
Examples- You say “I’m thinking of a farm animal.” Then separate the sounds. (c)…(ow) Leave some time between the sounds to make it more difficult.

Farm Animals- (h)…(or)…(se), (d)…(u)…(ck), (sh)…(ee)…(p), (ch)…(i)…(ck)…(e)…(n)

Food- (c)…(or)…(n), (p)…(i)…(ck)…(le), (h)…(a)…(m)

Pets- (d)…(o)…(g), (b)…(ir)…(d), (p)…(ar)…(o)…(t), (f)...(r)…(o)…(g)

If this is difficult, have the child stretch sounds with you. Say, “Let’s make the sounds together.” Stretch the sounds without leaving space between the sounds. hhhhh-orrrrr-sssssse, d-uuuuuuu-ck, ssshhhh-eeeeeeee-p, ch-iiiiiiii-ck-eeeee-nnnnn, c-orrrrrrrr-nnnnnnn, p-iiiiiiiii-ck-lllllllle, hhhhhhhhaaaaaaammmmmm, d-ooooooooo-g, b-irrrrrr-d, p-arrrrrrrr-ooooo-t, fffff-rrrrr-ooooo-g

Some sounds are fast sounds and will not be stretched. (t,d,b,k,g,p)

Let the child separate sounds and make you guess. When a child can guess words with the sounds separated and can separate individual sounds in words and make you guess, the child has developed a sense of phonemic awareness.

Phonemic Awareness Games