In language and reading development, Phonemes are the smallest units of sound that contain meaning. I strongly believe that in order to properly help a child learn how to read, the concept of phonemic awareness must be taken into account. All three of the articles that we read for today stress the importance of focusing on the smaller units of sounds within a word. In the Allington chapter, it states the importance of the Nifty-Thrifty-Fifty words. All of these words contain common word beginnings, and ends that can be easily broken down into chunks. The chapter suggests placing these words up on a wall a few at a time and making them available for the children to observe and compare other words. The idea in the Clark article about how to coach reading was wonderful. The idea of sounding out words may work on some occasions, but on many others it may not. For example, the word bow in the sentence, "The ballerina took a bow after her performance." If a child reads the word bow, like the word snow, the word takes on a completely different meaning that is not correctly matched with this sentence. Providing context clues in coaching helps children decide the meaning of the word in a more appropriate manner. It allows them to think of other scenarios and provides other forms of knowledge than the ones already in their minds. I loved the idea of the game, "Teacher May We," in the Yopp and Yopp article. It is a perfect way for children to hear the breakdown in syllables in a word, and also gets them moving their bodies and releasing some built up energy. So forget the old way of sounding out words, bring on the coaching style of teaching children how to read!
Monday, February 20, 2012
The Importance of Phonemic Awareness
In language and reading development, Phonemes are the smallest units of sound that contain meaning. I strongly believe that in order to properly help a child learn how to read, the concept of phonemic awareness must be taken into account. All three of the articles that we read for today stress the importance of focusing on the smaller units of sounds within a word. In the Allington chapter, it states the importance of the Nifty-Thrifty-Fifty words. All of these words contain common word beginnings, and ends that can be easily broken down into chunks. The chapter suggests placing these words up on a wall a few at a time and making them available for the children to observe and compare other words. The idea in the Clark article about how to coach reading was wonderful. The idea of sounding out words may work on some occasions, but on many others it may not. For example, the word bow in the sentence, "The ballerina took a bow after her performance." If a child reads the word bow, like the word snow, the word takes on a completely different meaning that is not correctly matched with this sentence. Providing context clues in coaching helps children decide the meaning of the word in a more appropriate manner. It allows them to think of other scenarios and provides other forms of knowledge than the ones already in their minds. I loved the idea of the game, "Teacher May We," in the Yopp and Yopp article. It is a perfect way for children to hear the breakdown in syllables in a word, and also gets them moving their bodies and releasing some built up energy. So forget the old way of sounding out words, bring on the coaching style of teaching children how to read!
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I really liked the "Teacher May We" game too. It's always good to get the kids up and moving . I know I always understand things better when I have to do some kind of activity, especially one that requires the whole body.
ReplyDeleteI like how easily we can get children to learn and figure out meaning of new words just by showing a little enthusiasm for reading and singing. I love adding words in the classroom to help children learn the nifty-fifty-thrifty
ReplyDeleteI was especially interested in the coaching aspect of the Clark article also. You always want to initially say to a child "Sound it out." But sometimes, that will not direct them to properly reading the word. Help the student find chunks within the word that they might already know, and then ask them to identify the remaining consonants and vowels. This will take practice to master, but I believe it is an effective strategy I want to use in my classroom.
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