1. What is phonological awareness? Being aware of the sounds that make up words. 1

2. Why is phonological awareness important? Children entering school who are weak in phonological awareness:  Can have difficulty "cracking the code" of written language  Tend to rely too much on guessing  Struggle to read independently 2

3. When children learn how to "listen to language", they are also learning to connect the spoken word with the written word. Once they hear, know, and are able to manipulate sounds, they begin to realize how words work. 3

4. Researchers have found that all children benefit from practice in these important skills. 4

5. Aspects of Phonological Awareness Development 5

6. To recognise that sentences are made up of words and how many words are in sentences. The elephant is purple and black After listening to this sentence some children may tell you there are 9 words in this sentence. The el – e – phant is pur – ple and black. 6

7. To be able to determine if words rhyme and then make their own rhyming words. 7 they day

8. To identify words that begin with the same sound – then be able to say words that start with a given sound. 8 b f

9. To identify words that end with the same sound – then be able to say words that end with a given sound. Ten – pin hose – please shout – meat jump – rope look – tuck world - bud 9

10. To identify words that have the same medial sound(s) – then to be able to say words that have a given sound. Which word does not have the same middle sound: take, lake, feet? feet Which two words have the same middle sound: top, cat, pan? (can, pan) Which two words have the same middle sound: kitten, missing, lesson? (missing, lesson) 10

11. To be aware that words can be broken down into syllables. 2 syllable words table, carrot, window, brother 3 syllable words computer, radio, grandmother, elephant 4 syllable words television, rhinoceros, electrical, operation 11

12. Everyone can hear and make sounds When learning to read and write children need to understand that words are made up of sounds. Sounds + letters = reading and writing Teaching children how sounds and letters go together makes it easier for them to learn how to read and write 12

13. By the time your child arrives at school it is expected that they will be able to: Recognise how many words are in a sentence Break words into syllables Understand the concept of rhyming Isolate beginning and end sounds in words 13

14. Encouraging children to explore sounds helps them to discover how sounds and letters work. Games Sound hunt – give your child a sound and ask them to find an item in the house that starts with the sound Play I spy – rhymes with, with 2 syllables, starts with ? Ends with ? Going on a picnic – rhyming or initial sound Andrea brings apples, Rosanna brings bananas, Susan brings salad, Fred brings bread 14

15. Beginning Writing When children first start to write they use their own knowledge of sounds and match the sounds with the letters they know. 15 This child is using marks to show his ideas.

16. Some letters may be obvious, showing an awareness of letters and the sounds they make 16

17. Using more letters, writing matches the story 17

18. Listening and writing some sounds correctly 18

19. Starting to write some high frequency words correctly, able to hear more sounds 19

20. Hearing most beginning and end sounds and some middle sounds. 20

21. In class we spend time observing children writing so that we know what stage a child is at and what to do to move them onto the next stage. we give children time to experiment and explore writing we teach children how to hold a pen correctly we allow them time to practice writing letters we teach sound/letter relationships we teach high frequency words we explain punctuation 21

22. What can you do to help at home? Children need time to experiment and explore with writing Assist them with holding pens and crayons correctly Provide plenty of writing tools – felts, whiteboard markers, chalk, water and brushes etc 22

23. Play games that explore sound/letter relationships, I spy, going on a picnic etc Model writing – show it has a purpose – grocery lists, cards, notes etc Help them learn to spell high-frequency words Give plenty of encouragement 23

24. Pre Reading Pretending to read, using the pictures and telling the story No 1-1 correspondence Awareness that print holds a message Most children starting school know the difference between the words and the pictures 24

25. Beginning Reading Learning 1-1 pointing Learning some high-frequency words – I, am, can, is, my, mum Able to remember the structure of the text Mum is ………, Mum is ………., Mum is ……… Knowing some sound/letter relationships 25

26. In the classroom we spend time listening and watching the children read, we: Give children time to discover books independently Give them opportunities to listen to stories Allow them time to practice alphabet skills Allow them time to practice reading familiar books Guide them to the next stage of reading 26

27. What can you do to help at home? Children need time to discover books Encourage them to read books at home – join the library, buy kids magazines etc Read stories to your children Model reading to your children 27

28. Help them learn the high frequency words quick recognition Listen to their home reading every night Ask them to tell you about the story Ask questions to check your child fully understands the text and can relate to it. Encourage your child’s efforts Support the school – picture walk, reading to, finding letters/words etc 28