Maine Reading First Course Session #7 Phonological and Phonemic Awareness Research and Assessment Maine Department of Education 2005 Maine Department of Education 2005

Maine Department of Education 2005 Key Learning Goals Session 2 Phonological and Phonemic Awareness Research and Assessment To provide theoretical understanding of the research supporting development of phonological and phonemic awareness in children, including: knowing the progression of phonological skill development (rhyme, syllable, onset-rime, phoneme) understanding the difference between speech sounds (phonemes) and letters/letter combinations (graphemes) that represent them understanding English speech sounds (consonant and vowel phoneme systems). To enable class participants to use scientifically based assessments to determine a student’s development in phonological and phonemic awareness. To enable class participants to use assessment data to inform instruction that meets the diverse needs of students. Maine Department of Education 2005

Think-Ink-Pair-Share Rate your general familiarity with phonemic awareness by placing an X on the continuum and completing the Knowledge Rating Chart Grapheme Onset and rime Phoneme Phonemic awareness Phoneme blending Phoneme categorization Phoneme isolation Phoneme segmenting Maine Department of Education 2005

Changing Emphasis of Five Essential Elements Maine Department of Education 2005

Critical Components of Reading Alphabetics Fluency Comprehension Phonological Awareness Rate Vocabulary -Words -Syllables Accuracy Text Comprehension -Rhymes -Onsets and Rimes Expression -Phonemic Awareness Sound Isolation Discrimination Segmenting & Blending Manipulation Phonics -Letter Sound Correspondence -Decoding -Encoding (LINKS 2002) Maine Department of Education 2005

What Makes the English Language an Alphabetic System? It uses…. written characters or symbols (graphemes) to represent sounds (phonemes). However, written English is not just a phonetic system. It is also…. an orthographic or spelling system that often reflects meaning rather than sound. (LINKS 2002) Maine Department of Education 2005

What is Phonological Awareness? The term that describes the awareness of sounds in oral language. Phonological awareness includes the understanding and skills of rhyming, segmenting, blending and manipulating at the word, syllable, and phoneme levels. (LINKS 2002) Maine Department of Education 2005

What is phonemic awareness? Phonemic awareness is the ability to recognize and manipulate phonemes or speech sounds. Children who are phonemically aware can: Segment the word hat into its 3 sounds: /h/ /a/ /t/ Blend the 3 sounds /d/ /o/ /g/ into the word dog Delete the last sound of cart and make the word car (NRP 2000, Armbruster, Lehr, & Osborn, 2001) Maine Department of Education 2005

Maine Department of Education 2005 What is phonics? Phonics is the relationship between printed letters and spoken sounds. Phonics involves the visual aspects of print, as well as the auditory aspects of spoken language. Children who know phonics skills can: Tell you which letter makes the first sound in bat Tell you which letter makes the last sound in car (IRA’s Position Statement on PA, 1998) Maine Department of Education 2005

How are Phonemic Awareness and Phonics Different? Brainstorm your answers to this question with a partner. Maine Department of Education 2005

Maine Department of Education 2005 “Woof! Woof!” This is how many children respond when asked to tell the sounds they hear in the word dog. Though many children enter school with a substantial vocabulary, adequate syntax, and clear speech, few are phonemically aware. Maine Department of Education 2005

What Does Research Tell Us About Phonemic Awareness? Phonemic Awareness does not constitute a complete reading program, however it is a key component and critical foundational piece of the complex literacy process. Generally, 20 hours of instruction in a year is sufficient. Phonemic Awareness instruction helps all children improve their reading and spelling. Phonemic Awareness instruction for most students should be accomplished by the end of first grade. Teachers need to be aware that English Language Learners categorize phonemes in their first language. (NRP, 2000) Maine Department of Education 2005

What Does Research Tell Us about Phonemic Awareness Instruction? Phonemic Awareness instruction is most effective when: Instruction is explicit and focused on one or two PA skills at a time (segmenting and blending are two most critical skills); Children are taught to manipulate phonemes with letters; Children are taught in small groups; Single sessions last no more than 30 minutes; Sounds, letters, and letter names are over-learned so children can work with them automatically to read and spell words; and Instruction is based on student needs identified through assessment. (NRP, 2000) Maine Department of Education 2005

Levels of Phonological Awareness Type of Tasks Levels Rhyme & Alliteration Word Level Discrimination Tasks Segmentation Sentence, syllable, onset/rime, & phoneme levels Blending Manipulation Deletion Substitution Maine Department of Education 2005

Explicit Teaching How To Let’s Do You Do (Model) (Guided Practice with Feedback) You Do (Independent Application) Maine Department of Education 2005

Rhyme and Alliteration Tasks Detection: Do the words cat/bat rhyme? Do the words mug/fin rhyme? Production: What word rhymes with snake? Alliteration Detection: Do the words bat, bear, balloon sound have the same beginning sound? Production: What is a word that begins with the same sound as cat does? Maine Department of Education 2005

Maine Department of Education 2005 Discrimination Tasks Identify Rhyming Words Which word does not rhyme….goat/coat/door? Identify Words with Same Initial Sounds Which word does not sound the same at the beginning…pig/tub/pen? Identify Words with Same Final Sounds Which word does not sound the same at the end…snake/like/dog? Identify Words with Same Medial Sounds Which word does not sound the same in the middle….road/gate/bake? Maine Department of Education 2005

Maine Department of Education 2005 Segmentation Tasks Words in a Sentence Tell me the words you hear in this sentence: The cat went home. Syllables in a Word Tell me the syllables you hear in this word: pretty pret-ty Onset/Rime Tell me sound that begins this word and then the rest of this word: bug /b/-ug Phonemes in Words Tell me the sounds you hear in the word: hat /h/ /a/ /t/ Maine Department of Education 2005

Maine Department of Education 2005 Blending Tasks Words in a Sentence Listen to these words. Tell me the sentence: The -- cat – walks. Syllables in a Word Listen to the parts of this word. Tell me the word: hap—py happy Onset/Rime /n/ et net Phonemes in Words Listen to the sounds in this word. Tell me the word: /l/ /a/ /p/ lap Maine Department of Education 2005

Manipulation Tasks Deletion Words in a Sentence Listen to this sentence: The black cat went home. Tell me the sentence without the word black: The cat went home. Syllables in a Word Listen to this word: table Tell me the word without ta-: -ble Phonemes in Words (initial, medial, or final sounds) Listen to this word: pat Tell me the word without /t/: pa- Maine Department of Education 2005

Manipulation Tasks Substitution Words in a Sentence Listen to this sentence: The black cat went home. Change the word black to white. Tell me the new sentence: The white cat went home. Syllables in a Word Listen to this word: happy Change –py to pen. Tell me the new word: happen Phonemes in Words (initial, medial, or final sounds) Listen to this word: stop Change /o/ to /e/. Tell me the word: step Maine Department of Education 2005

Skill Mastery (Straight Talk About Reading, Hall & Moats) Age 3 Recitation of rhymes Rhyming by pattern Alliteration Age 6 Initial consonant matching Blending 2-3 phonemes Counting phonemes (70% of children by age 6) Rhyme identification Onset-rime division Age 4 Syllable counting (50% of children by age 4) Age 7 Blending 3 phonemes Segmentation of 3-4 phonemes (blends) Phonetic spelling Phoneme deletion Age 5 Syllable counting (90% of children by age 5) Age 8 Consonant cluster segmentation Deletion within clusters Maine Department of Education 2005

Why do We Assess Early Literacy Skills? To ensure that children have the necessary early literacy skills so that reading instruction can establish a trajectory of satisfactory literacy acquisition. Maine Department of Education 2005

What are the purposes of Early Literacy Assessment? Focuses attention on critical reading skills strongly predictive of future reading growth and development. Helps inform classroom instruction for all students. Helps identify children at risk of reading failure who need additional support. Helps monitor student achievement over time to insure that adequate progress is being made. Maine Department of Education 2005

How do We Assess Phonemic Awareness? Usually 1:1 Recommended to assess by mid kindergarten year Focus on assessing blending and segmenting phonemes Use information to make data driven decisions for instruction Maine Department of Education 2005

Maine Department of Education 2005 What are Some Methods of Assessing Phonological and Phonemic Awareness? Kirwan Assessment (6 Subtests) Blending (onset-rime and phonemes) Sound Identification (initial and final) Segmenting phonemes Initial letter-sound identification Yopp-Singer Test of Phoneme Segmentation DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) Initial Sound Fluency Phoneme Segmentation Fluency Maine Department of Education 2005

Maine Department of Education 2005 Kirwan Assessment Oral Blending of Onset-Rime (s….eem) Oral Blending of Phonemes (b..a..ck) Identifying Initial Consonant Sounds (/m/ is the first sound in meet) Identifying Final Consonant Sounds (/s/ is the final sound in base) Phoneme Segmentation (the phonemes in get are /g/../e/../t/ Linking Letters to Sounds (point to the letter that says the sound you hear at the beginning of frog: n, t, f ) Maine Department of Education 2005

Yopp-Singer Test of Phoneme Segmentation Students are individually asked to segment the sounds in a list of 22 common words. Examples: dog /d/…/o/…/g/ grew /g/…/r/…/ew/ Maine Department of Education 2005

The Importance of Fluency Automaticity means the less effort students devote to sound/word identification, the more attention they have available to devote to meaning. Students who lack fluency may not easily acquire more complex skills; this holds true in other academic areas as well. It is a worthwhile measure for judging the effectiveness of instruction. Maine Department of Education 2005

Maine Department of Education 2005 Research Says... Shaw, R. & Shaw, D. (2002). DIBELS Oral Reading Fluency-Based Indicators of Third Grade Reading Skills for Colorado State Assessment Program (CSAP). (Technical Report) Eugene, OR: University of Oregon. Buck, J. & Torgesen, J. (2003). The Relationship Between Performance on a Measure of Oral Reading Fluency and Performance on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. (FCRR Technical Report #1) Tallahassee, FL: Florida Center for Reading Research. Barger, J. (2003). Comparing the DIBELS Oral Reading Fluency indicator and the North Carolina end of grade reading assessment. (Technical Report). Asheville, NC: North Carolina Teacher Academy. Maine Department of Education 2005

DIBELS Measures – Grades K-3 Letter Naming Fluency – Predictor of later reading skills, taps into letter knowledge and rapid naming ability. One-minute timed task. Initial Sounds Fluency – Taps into emerging phonological awareness with beginning sound identification tasks. About 3 minutes to administer. Phoneme Segmentation Fluency – Measures a child’s skills in breaking short words into individual phonemes, or sounds. One-minute timed task. Nonsense Word Fluency – Taps into alphabetic principle skills by measuring letter-sound correspondence skills as well as decoding skills. One-minute timed task. Oral Reading Fluency – Measures a child’s skills in reading connected text accurately and fluently. One-minute timed task. Retell Fluency – Measures a child’s basic skills in comprehending connected text. One-minute timed task. Word Use Fluency – Measures a child’s vocabulary knowledge and expressive language skills. One-minute timed task. Maine Department of Education 2005

DIBELS Assessment Schedule Maine Department of Education 2005

DIBELS Initial Sound Fluency (K) This is tomato, bear, plate, and jail. Which picture begins with /t/? What sound does “bear” begin with? Maine Department of Education 2005

DIBELS Phoneme Segmentation Fluency (K-1) Maine Department of Education 2005

Phonological and Phonemic Awareness Assessment Hands-On Activity Examine the samples of Amy’s Yopp-Singer and Kirwan Assessments and make notes about the following….. What phonological and phonemic awareness knowledge/skills does the student demonstrate control of? What phonological and phonemic awareness knowledge/skills does the student need more practice with? What phonological and phonemic awareness knowledge/skills might be good next teaching steps? Maine Department of Education 2005

Maine Department of Education 2005 In Summary…… Phoneme awareness is necessary, but not sufficient. Phoneme awareness can be directly taught. Phoneme awareness does not require extensive teaching time. Phoneme awareness should be assessed in kindergarten and first grade. Focus majority of instruction on blending and segmenting sounds, and connect sounds to visual letters. Maine Department of Education 2005

Maine Department of Education 2005 3—2—1 3—things worth remembering 2—things to learn more about 1—burning question Maine Department of Education 2005