Phonological Awareness & Story Time Planning

San Jose State University – School of Library and Information Science

Mr. Richie PartingtonLIBR 262A-10

October 1st, 2010Christina JaimeDaphne McKinney Deborah Takahashi

Tina Katz

Presented by 262A-Group 2

When preparing a child to read it is important to set a foundation in order to teach them to understand sounds, words, and the syllables and phonemes of each individual word. Developing an understanding of early literacy requires the child to understand that spoken words can be divided into syllables and then into phonemes. A phoneme is the smallest sound in a word. It is also important to be able to identify the different sounds that make up the words and associate them when they see written words. The ability to identify these sounds is called Phonological Awareness. The most common problem with early learning reading is the inability to understand language phonologically. Both Phonological Awareness and Phonemic Awareness focus on the sound part of spoken words.

Introduction to Phonological Awareness

Phonemic Awareness is an understanding that the sounds in words can be made into different words. It enables children to recognize that spoken words are composed of individual sounds. Once a child understands what Phonemic Awareness is, they will be able to acknowledge the individual sounds of the letters and associate them with individual words. This will allow them to match the sounds of the letters within words and have an easier time reading and writing words.

According to Fisher (2008), “It is sufficient to recognize that phonemic awareness is important in the process of learning to read and write because it is hard to assign a sound to a symbol unless one can hear it as a separate sound in a word” (p.8).

What is Phonemic Awareness?

One of the easiest activities for teaching Phonological Awareness is to create a Sound in a Bag or Box where one can gather some items that all start with a certain letter. As you pull the items out of the bag or box you can ask the children what it is. You then repeat the word while emphasizing the sound of the word. For example, you can include items for the letter P such as Pencil, Pretzel, and Pajama. Activities such as these will enable a child to place the picture of the item with the sound and have fun while doing it.

Phonological Awareness Activities for Babies & Toddlers

It is important to teach babies and toddlers basic listening skills at an early age. There are many fun activities to engage in with a child when teaching them phonemic awareness. These activities include playing games, singing songs, reading books, or creating rhythmic sounds by either clapping your hands together, or tapping a rhythmic beat on a table.

Librarians can include phonemic awareness activities in their story times by singing nursery rhymes to their young audience and encouraging them to repeat the nursery rhyme after them. In addition to nursery rhymes, reading rhyming books and alliteration books during story time is a great activity. The use of rhyming books and alliteration books during story time will help children to focus on the end part of the word with rhyming books and also focus on each sound of the word with alliteration books.

Phonemic Awareness Activities for Babies & Toddlers

Early Childhood Training Phonemic Awareness DVD produced by Larry Walcoff Publication info: Chicago, IL : Magna Systems, c2003.

Early Childhood Training Phonemic Awareness. Sound Manipulation DVD produced by Larry Walcoff Publication info: Chicago, IL : Magna Systems, c2003.

Early Childhood Training Phonemic Awareness. Phonemes and Phonics DVD produced by Larry Walcoff Publication info: Chicago, IL : Magna Systems, c2003.

Go Diego go! Phonics Reading Program Author: Quinlan B. LeePublisher: Scholastic/ Viacom International Inc.,Publication Date: 2008ISBN: 9780545034180

Early Literacy Training: Additional Books & DVDs for preparing for Phonological Awareness and Phonemic Awareness Story times.

Story TimeStory Time:•Create a structured story time including an introduction that addresses the Early Literacy Skill of the month for parents and caregivers•Choose books rich in language (rhymes,words,alliteration) and sounds (onsets and rhymes)•Incorporate songs, finger plays, movement exercises, and nursery rhymes that focus on the sounds and/or the letter of the week•Show parents and caregivers how to read and play with the books

Family ProgramsFamily Programs:•Coordinate Early Literacy Days, with the library Literacy Department, where families with young children can come together and practice with one another.•“Play with Me” program that teaches parents how to play with their children, while reading. For example, point to words while baby chews on books; be really silly with the books by tickling your baby as you read; engage the child by really putting on a performance with them

Programs that Support Phonological Awareness

Parent ProgramsParent Programs:•Invite Literacy professionals, authors, and  educators to come and speak at the library about Early Literacy•Sponsor monthly Literacy workshops that goes beyond baby, toddler, and preschool story time; these workshops will provide in-depth looks into the monthly skill

Provide Early Literacy LiteratureProvide Early Literacy Literature:•Create brochures and handouts focusing on Early Literacy Skills•Contact the American Library Association, “Every Child Ready to Read Division”, to order or print out brochures on “Every Child Ready to Read” at: http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/ecrr/ecrrinpractice/translations/languages.cfm or http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/ecrr/ecrrinpractice/storytimeapplications/storytimeapplications.cfm•Add more literacy books to the Parenting Collection so parents and caregivers have something to borrow

Programs that Support Phonological Awareness

Story Time and Phonological Awareness

Library Story times that engage children and their caregivers are important for achieving pre-literacy skills. What follows are four weeks of story times that highlight letters of the alphabet which are key for achieving phonetic goals. For more information on the materials found here, please click on the links to our website.https://sites.google.com/site/project2libr262/

STORY TIME outline: The Letter STORY TIME outline: The Letter “A”“A”

Introduction Song: “Come Along and Sing With Me”Finger Play: “Mix a Pancake” Big Book: Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See? By Bill Martin and Eric CarleSong: “Baa, Baa, Black Sheep” Book: LMNO Peas by Keith BakerFinger Play: “Two Little Blackbirds Sitting on a Hill” Book: Moo, Baa, La, La, La by Sandra BoyntonSong & Activity: “Apples and Bananas” (with Bells)Closing Song: "Now It's Time to Say Goodbye"Craft: Toilet Paper Tube Alligators

STORY TIME outline: The Letter STORY TIME outline: The Letter “I”“I”

Introduction Song: “Hello Everybody, Yes, Indeed” Finger Play: “Itsy Bitsy Spider” Book: I Know a Rhino by Charles FugeFlannel Board: “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” Book: If You give a Pig a PancakeIf You give a Pig a Pancake by Laura Joffe NumeroffSong: “Open, Shut Them”Book: Hippos Go Berserk! by Sandra BoyntonFinger Play: “Five Little SeaShells” Book: Is Your Mama a Llama? by Deborah GuarinoClosing Song: “The More We Get Together”Craft: Animal coloring sheets

STORY TIME outline: The Letter STORY TIME outline: The Letter “L”“L”

Introduction Song: “The Hello Song” from Music TogetherFinger Play: “Leaves”Book: Zoo-Looking by Mem FoxSong: “Going On a Lion Hunt”Felt Board Poem: “Lollipop” Book: How Loud is a Lion? by Clare BeatonPoem: “Lazy Jane” by Shel SilversteinBook: Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin By Lloyd MossPoem: “Lawn Mower" by Dorothy BarouchBook: : Llama Llama, Mad at Mama by Anna DewdneySong: “Lavender’s Blue”Closing Song: “Lazy Mary Will You Get Up?” Craft: Paper Leaves

Introduction Song: “If You’re Happy and You Know It”Finger Play: “The Itsy-Bitsy Spider”Book: Some Smug Slug by Pamela EdwardsSong: “Shake Your Sillies Out” by RaffiWord Apron: Sun, ship, sail, snake, slug, spider, supper, shaker, shadowSong: “The Alphabet Song “Poem: “I Saw A Ship A-sailing” from Mother GooseBook: Dr Seuss ABC’s by Dr. SeussSong: “Skip to My Lou”Book: Slithery Jake by Rose ProvencherFinger Play: “Wheels on the Bus”Book: Snappy Sounds Circus by Beth Harwood Craft: Make a spiral snakeClosing Song: “The Hokey Pokey”

STORY TIME outline: The Letter STORY TIME outline: The Letter “S”“S”

Phonological and Phonemic Awareness are important developmental steps in a child’s path to reading. Without them, the goals of reading and comprehension will be significantly delayed. According to Arnold (2003),“the most significant research to impact library programming is the clear evidence that phonological sensitivity and letter-knowledge skills are highly predictive of later reading success. Although children need direct instruction to gain these skills, the skills are not reached through drills, but by engaging them in fun, interactive, age-appropriate activities.” It is the goal of most libraries who wish to serve as literacy centers to provide their patrons with experiences that will help them to achieve these skills through appropriate story times and other literacy programs, thereby preparing them to become life long readers.

Conclusions

References

Arnold, R. (2003). Public Libraries and Early Literacy: Raising a Reader. American Libraries, 34(8), 48, 50-1. Retrieved from Library Lit & Inf Full Text database