So far in this course, we've been focused explicitly on phoneme awareness. But there's another skill set that you need to help develop in every reading lesson throughout the day — speaking and listening.
Naturally, children bring their speaking and listening skills with them to school every morning! Talking with children about the meaning of words during phoneme awareness lessons is an effective way to build upon and leverage their knowledge and understanding of language.
Throughout this course, the video demonstrations show how we can intentionally connect a word to its meaning during phoneme instruction. You may have noticed the simple ways the teachers build on their students’ speaking and listening skills by linking what they know to the new learning.
Here are two teaching strategies that build oral language skills within a phoneme lesson.
1. Talk about word meanings to build listening skills
Phonemes help us figure out the meaning of a word when we read or hear it spoken.
Technically speaking, our brains perceive a spoken word as as a single sound — but we know that words are actually composed of multiple sounds (phonemes). And, these phonemes determine word meaning.
Help your students listen closely for how changes in the sounds of a word also bring a change in meaning. In your lessons, you can focus your students’ attention briefly on that change in meaning.
For example, when you say the word bell, your students may think of a ringing instrument or a school bell ringing for the end of recess. If you change the /ĕ/ phoneme to an /ŏ/ phoneme, they will hear the word ball, and may now think of a toy that bounces or can be used for different games!
Talking about word meanings can be done quickly and within the phoneme lesson. For example, after segmenting the phonemes in the word jog, you might say,
When you jog you run slowly. Jogging is good exercise. I might jog around the playground at recess today.
Say jog.
/j/, /ŏ/, /g/
Jog.
Repeat.
Students repeat:
Jog.
/j/, /ŏ/, /g/
Jog.
2. Talk about pronunciation to build speaking skills
Word pronunciation can help students learn to read, spell, and understand written words more easily. When working one-on-one or with small groups of students, you can draw their attention to the way phonemes influence word pronunciation. When you notice students pronounce words differently, consider the following:
If students pronounce words with a different phoneme structure — like saying pasgetti for spaghetti or aminal for animal — ask them to listen to how you say the word. Point out the difference, and then say the word correctly. Let them know that saying animal instead of aminal will make it easier for them to read and spell the word.
If students pronounce words differently because of variations in their first languages, cultures, or regions — like saying ten for tent or boy for boys — point out the differences without saying one way is better than the other. Always use the words in sentences and encourage students to do the same.
To help each of your students build their speaking and listening skills, you’ll also want to think about how their home languages influence their learning. On the next page, you’ll hear from an expert on this important topic.
