1st Term Week 1 English Lesson Note: Pre-Reading Skills: Phonemic Awareness (Identifying Sounds) for Primary 1

 




Subject: English Language / Early Literacy

Class: Nursery / Kindergarten / Lower Basic 1

Topic: Phonemic Awareness: Production & Recognition of Individual Sounds

Duration: 40 Minutes

Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson, learners should be able to:

  1. Produce the individual sounds (phonemes) of select letters of the alphabet correctly.

  2. Define and demonstrate phonemic awareness concepts: sounds, segmentation, and blending.

  3. Recognize and isolate individual sounds at the beginning of words.

  4. Explain the concept of phoneme-grapheme correspondence (the relationship between a letter and its sound).

1. Production of Individual Sounds

Before children learn to read printed words, they must hear and produce the distinct spoken sounds of the language.

  • Phoneme: The smallest individual unit of sound in a spoken word.

  • The Rule of Sounds: We teach children to produce the pure sound of a letter rather than adding an extra "uh" sound at the end. For example, the letter M says /m/ (like a hum), not "muh".

Teacher's Guide to Pure Sound Production:

  • a = /æ/ (as in apple)

  • b = /b/ (as in bat - a short, crisp sound)

  • c = /k/ (as in cat)

  • d = /d/ (as in dog)

  • s = /s/ (as in snake - a continuous hissing sound)

  • t = /t/ (as in top - a sharp, unvoiced puff of air)

2. Core Phonemic Awareness Concepts

Phonemic awareness is entirely auditory (listening) and oral (speaking). It involves three core skills:

  • Sounds (Isolation): Recognizing individual sounds in a word.

    • Example: "What is the first sound you hear in the word Sun?"/s/.

  • Segmentation: Breaking a spoken word down into its individual separate sounds.

    • Example: The teacher says the word "Cat". The learners stretch it out into its parts: /k/ - /æ/ - /t/.

  • Blending: Putting individual sounds together to form a complete word.

    • Example: The teacher says the separate sounds /b/ - /æ/ - /t/. The learners push the sounds together to say "Bat".

3. Recognition of Individual Sounds (Guided Activity)

To help learners recognize individual sounds, use targeted listening games:

  • Activity: "I Spy a Sound"

    • The teacher points to objects around the room or pictures on a chart.

    • "I spy something on the floor that starts with the sound /m/"  Mat.

  • Activity: Sound Matching

    • Ask learners to identify which word does not belong based on the starting sound:

    • Bag, Ball, Cup, Boy. (Cup does not belong because it starts with /k/, not /b/).

4. Introduction to Phoneme-Grapheme Correspondence

Once learners can hear and speak the sounds, introduce Phoneme-Grapheme Correspondence—which is simply the connection between the spoken sound (phoneme) and the written letter symbol (grapheme).

Key Concept: Letters are like pictures of sounds. When we see a letter, it tells our mouth which sound to make.

Examples for the Board:

  • Written Letter c  Makes the spoken sound /k/ (as in Cup)

  • Written Letter f  Makes the spoken sound /f/ (as in Fish)

  • Written Letter m Makes the spoken sound /m/ (as in Man)

  • Written Letter t Makes the spoken sound /t/ (as in Tap)

Class Evaluation / Practice

  1. Sound Isolation: What is the first sound you hear when I say the word Dog?

  2. Blending Test: Listen to these sounds and tell me what word they make: /s/ - /æ/ - /t/. (Answer: Sat)

  3. Segmentation Test: Let's clap out the individual sounds in the word Pin. How many sounds do you hear? (Answer: Three sounds: /p/ - /ɪ/ - /n/)

  4. Letter-Sound Match: What sound does the written letter c make? Give an example of a word that starts with that sound.

Instructional Materials to Bring to Class

  • Flashcards showing a letter on one side (e.g., c) and an object matching its sound on the back (e.g., a picture of a cat).

  • Sound boxes (Elkonin boxes) drawn on the chalkboard to visually map out sound segmentation.

Comments

Post a Comment