What Are Phonemic Awareness Skills and Why Are They Important?

Which of the following are examples of phonemic (sound) awareness skills?

1)    Identifying the first sound in a word (e.g., “mmm” is the first sound in “map”)
2)    Identifying the last sound in a word (e.g., “sss” is the last sound in “bus”)
3)    Blending individual sounds into words (e.g., f – a – n -> “fan”)
4)    Breaking words into individual sounds (e.g., “moon” -> m – oo - n)
5)    Substituting one sound for another (e.g., changing “hhh” in “hat” to “mmm” -> “mat”)
6)    Letter recognition
 

Answer: #1-5

​Phonemic awareness is the ability to recognize and manipulate sounds. It’s important to distinguish between sounds (spoken) and letters (written). The letter “s” makes the “sss” sound. Sometimes 2 letters make a single sound (e.g., “ch”, “th”). Both phonemic awareness and letter recognition are important skills for literacy development. Children with speech sound disorders are more likely to have difficulty learning to read and write.  

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