Welcome! Parent Child Literacy Workshop Session One: Phonological Awareness Getting Ready to Read and Write

What is phonological awareness? and Why is it so important for my child? In kindergarten, your child will be immersed in phonological awareness instruction. This is teaching children to notice, think about, and work with (manipulate) sounds in spoken language. Research shows that daily phonological awareness instruction & practice helps children to read and write more fluently.

Counting Words in a Sentence Say: “I like to read.” Practice pushing a counter for each spoken word: Encourage your child to push the counters up in the reading direction (left-to-right). Then have your child repeat the sentence pointing to each counter as he/she says each word. You can also try movements instead of counters. Try clapping or jumping each time you hear a word instead of moving a counter. Just make sure to do only one motion per word.

Playing with Syllables: Syllables: A syllable is a part of a word that contains one vowel sound. For example, September = 1) Sep- 2) -tem 3) -ber Playing with Syllables: Can your child clap and count how many syllables are in a word? For example: Say…butterfly. Your child should clap it back in syllables…but (clap) ter (clap) fly (clap). Butterfly has 3 syllables! Can your child identify the first and last syllable? For example: Say…doghouse. Ask …First syllable? (dog) Last syllable? (house). Use 2 syllable words for practice. Can your child add syllables to the end or beginning of a word? For example: Say…sand, add box to the end. What is the new word? (sandbox) Say…house, add dog to the beginning. What is the new word? (doghouse) Can your child take away syllables to make new words? For example: Say…rainbow, take away bow. What is the new word? (rain) Say… sunrise, take away sun. What is the new word? (rise) Can your child change syllables to make new words? Say baseball, change base to foot. What is the new word? (football) Remember this is all done verbally. There should be no print in front of your child.

Phonemic Awareness Games These games are great for playing at home Phonemic Awareness Games These games are great for playing at home. They require no preparation, and many of them can be played anytime and anywhere—in the car, in line at the supermarket, ect. I Want a Rhyme Say, “I want a rhyme in mighty quick time, and the word I choose is….red!” See how many words your child can come up with that rhyme with red. Since the purpose of the game is to develop your child’s ear for rhyme, nonsense words count too. I want a rhyme in mighty quick time, and the word I choose is …….red. I want a rhyme in mighty quick time, and the word I choose is …….hat. I want a rhyme in mighty quick time, and the word I choose is …….moon. I want a rhyme in mighty quick time, and the word I choose is …….tree. Feed the Bear In this game, you will challenge your child to come up with words that all begin with the same beginning sound. Say: “If I caught a bear I’d feed him pizza.” Be sure to emphasize the /p/ at the beginning of pizza. Ask: “What sound do you hear at the start of the word pizza?” Ask: “What else could we feed the bear that begins with the sound /p/?” Challenge your child to come up with as many words that begin with that sound as he/she can. Pizza (popcorn, pudding, potatoes, peas, pineapple, pumpkin, pickle, peppers) Beans (butter, bananas, berries, bacon, broccoli, brownies, bread) Soup (sandwich, spaghetti, sausage, syrup, sushi, steak, squash)

Let’s go to Letterland!

Developing a Love of Reading Reading aloud is the key to instilling a love of reading in young children. As they listen, they enter into the world of the story, imaginatively participating in the characters’ adventures. They build a strong, positive relationship with books that motivates them to learn to read. Reading aloud also builds listening comprehension. Children learn to identify with characters, follow story development, and make predictions about what will happen next. The listening comprehension children develop now translates directly into strong reading comprehension when they learn to read.

Thank You for Supporting Your Child’s Reading Success!