Now that you’ve had a chance to learn about phonemes, let’s see if you are able to do the following exercise!
Listening for phonemes
How many phonemes do you hear when I say the words below? Click the audio play arrow to hear it spoken, think about how many phonemes you hear, then see if you heard the correct number.
Example: book
Audio file
Answer: 3
/b/-/oo/-/k/
Example: day
Audio file
Answer: 2
/d/-/ay/
Example: can
Audio file
Answer: 3
/c/-/a/-/n/
Example: sand
Audio file
Answer: 4
/s/-/a/-/n/-/d/
Example: at
Audio file
Answer: 2
/a/-/t/
Example: bat
Audio file
Answer: 3
/b/-/a/-/t/
Example: by
Audio file
Answer: 2
/b/-/y/
Example: bath
Audio file
Answer: 3
/b/-/a/-/th/
Example: tight
Audio file
Answer: 3
/t/-/igh/-/t/
Challenge Question: (You can do this one!)
Example: hopeful
Audio file
Answer: 6
/h/-/o/-/pe/-/f/-/u/-/l/
Practice blending phonemes into words
Let’s practice blending phonemes. We’ll use the phonemes from assignment #1, so that you get additional practice with the same sounds.
| book |
Audio file
| ||
| day |
Audio file
| bat |
Audio file
|
| can |
Audio file
| by |
Audio file
|
| sand |
Audio file
| bath |
Audio file
|
| at |
Audio file
| tight |
Audio file
|
| hopeful |
Audio file
|
Read
Phonemic Activities for the Preschool or Elementary Classroom
Activities that stimulate phonemic awareness in preschool and elementary school children are one sure way to get a child ready for reading! Here are eight of them from experts Marilyn J. Adams, Barbara Foorman, Ingvar Lundberg, and Terri Beeler.
Play
Plan some fun phonemic awareness activities to play with your students. Here are a few resources to help you get started:
- How Now Brown Cow: Phoneme Awareness Activities
- Elkonin Boxes
- Tips for Teaching Your Child About Phonemes
Deep dive: teaching phonological and phonemic awareness
Learn more about teaching phonological and phonemic awareness in these in-depth skill explainers. You’ll find classroom videos, lesson plans, student practice activities, and more. (From our sister project, Reading Universe)
Certificate of completion
Reading Rockets does not offer CEUs for this self-study course. After successfully answering the post-test questions, you’ll be able to download a certificate of completion.