Phonemic Awareness is the conscious understanding of the phonological segments (sounds) in language that make up words. It provides students with the ability to recognize and discriminate between different units of sound. It is the foundation of a child's reading skills -- if a child can't hear the individual sounds in a word, they will struggle to figure out the letters and sounds and later pronunciation and reading of a word.
Use of kinesthetic instruction (movements or motions) for an effective and engaging way to help students learn and solidify the ability to distinguish between sounds. The more students move around the more their brains retain the material
Use of a mirror to teach students the distinct roles their mouth plays in the pronunciation of a sound including tongue placement, lip placement, how wide open one’s mouth is, and any role the teeth play in making the sound. It can be easier for a student to feel the difference at first or to see the difference in your mouth when you say a sound than it is for them to hear the difference
Pictures are the first symbols children interact with, use of them can help with students who struggle with letters. Picture cards for example, can helps students remember the image of a word used to remember sounds and shapes of the alphabet
There is a difference between letters and phonemes. It is important to teach both phonological awareness skills and letter knowledge.
5 important mastery phonemic skills to increase awareness of sounds:
Identification & Isolation
Blending
Segmenting
Addition & Subtraction
Substitution