A considerable body of research over the past several years has emphasized the importance of the development of phonological
processing abilities as both pre-cursors of reading acquisition and facilitators
of reading acquisition. Research has shown that children who perform well on phonological-awareness tasks become skilled readers. Furthermore, specific training and instruction in phonological
processing, particularly phoneme segmentation, results in more accurate and faster reading. Direct instruction in segmentation (separating the sounds in a string of sounds), sound blending (joining sounds without stopping between them), and letter-
sound correspondence, has been found to facilitate reading acquisition. These skills should be introduced through a variety of oral language exercises.
1. Sound Imitation
This is an oral exercise. Students say the same sound the teacher says. Begin with whole words, then continuant sounds (e. g. r, f, l sounds that allow the continuous passage of breath), then stop sounds (e.g., c,t,d—sounds that can’t be sustained).
Some children who have articulation
problems in speech may not be able to produce an exact replica of the sound, and teachers should not be too exacting in this case. Sound imitation will improve with practice, which comes from sounding out and later training as part of reading instruction. The exercises should be done orally, so there is no need to display the symbol for the sound until later in the process. The following generic
format can be used to introduce whole words, and then individual sounds. Bold type indicates what the teacher says. Italics indicate the student's response.
Normal text indicates what the teacher does. Pre-requisite skills: students
can copy a modeled sound (e.g., / m/, /s/, /f/); students can respond to signal.
- Listen. You're going to say a word. When I hold up my finger, say (pause) fun. Get ready. Signal. fun.
- Next word. Say (pause) cap. Get ready. Signal. cap.
- Good saying the words. Now, you're going to say a sound. When I hold up my finger, say (pause) mmm. Get ready. Signal. mmm.
- Next sound. Say (pause) shshsh. Get ready. Signal. shshsh. Good saying the sounds.
Repeat until firm*. Include new sounds.
2. Rhyming
Rhyming patterns can be introduced through songs, poems, and rhymes. Children rhymes from memory. Games and activities
can be developed around rhymes that increase appreciation for rhyming patterns and the rhythm of language. Re-searchers have found that early knowledge of nursery rhymes is strongly and specifically related to the development of more abstract phonological skills and emergent reading abilities. One way to introduce rhyming is through an activity that involves teacher model-ling. Here is a suggested script.
- Listen. I'll say a word that rhymes with at.
- What am I going to rhyme with? Signal. at. Yes, at.
- Here I go. mmmat.
- My turn again. Get ready. Signal. mmmat.
- Let's do it together. We'll say a word that rhymes with at.
- What will we rhyme with? at. Yes, at.
- First we'll say mmm. Then we'll say at.
- What will we say first? Signal mmm. Yes, mmm.
- That will we say next? at. Yes, at.
- Get ready. Signal. mmmat. Good.
- Now, all by yourselves. Say mmm and rhyme with at. Get ready. Signal.
mmmat. Good rhyming.
- Repeat for sssat, fffat, bat (note: /b/ is a stop sound so don't try to sustain the sound; begin with words that start with continuant sounds, then insert words that begin with stop sounds).
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