Integrating Phonemic Awareness Into Daily Classroom Routines

Phonemic Awareness is my favorite skill to teach in my kindergarten classroom! It is such an important building block to grow successful readers. I try to incorporate phonemic awareness skills into my daily routines as much as I can. Here are ## ways that you can help your students practice phonemic awareness skills throughout your day.

1. Circle Time: Circle time, is my students favorite part of the day! During circle time, engage students in phonemic awareness activities. Incorporate rhyming games, such as “I Spy Rhymes” or “Rhyme Time,” where students take turns identifying words that rhyme with a given word. Give students a subject food, cartoon characters, animals, etc and have them name things that start with a certain letter in that category. Ask students what there favorite thing in a category is and have them say it but change the first sound, and allow other students to guess what their favorite is. Students have fun doing these activities while learning important phonemic awareness skills!
2. Transition Songs: Utilize transition songs or chants that focus on phonemic awareness. Music is a great way to help students learn. Use songs or chants that focus on a certain beginning sound or include rhyme.
3. Word of the Day: Introduce a “Word of the Day” that emphasizes a specific sound. Throughout the day, encourage students to listen for and identify words containing the same sound. Have the students use the “Word of the Day” or words that start as the same sound as a password to enter or exit the classroom.
4. Story Time: Select books that provide ample opportunities for phonemic awareness practice for example, rhyming books. Pause while reading to ask students to identify words that rhyme or share the same initial sound. Engage them in discussions about how changing sounds can create new words. Here is a list of books that can be used when teaching phonemic awareness skills. 25 Books That Reinforce Phonemic Awareness Skills
5. Rhyme Everything!: My students get the biggest kick out of using rhyming words throughout the day! There are a few easy ways to incorporate this activity. Dismiss groups from the carpet or from their table by saying a rhyming word that rhymes with the group name. You can also have them give you a word that rhymes with their group name to transition. You can also do this with student names. You or other students can say a word , real or nonsense, that rhymes with a students name for dismissal or for calling on a student for participation. Other students can also come up with more words that rhyme with a students name.
6. Letter Sound Exercises: Include quick letter sound exercises throughout the day. For example, call out a letter, and have students respond by producing the corresponding sound. Randomly, have students name the beginning, middle, or ending sounds in words.
7. Focused Daily Phonemic Awareness Instruction:Focused phonemic awareness instruction can be taught quickly in a kindergarten classroom. It takes me only 5-10 minutes a day to give my students solid phonemic awareness practice by using Daily Phonemic Awareness Slides. The slides focus on the same three phonemic awareness skills for a week and build in complexity throughout the year. The slides have really helped my students become more engaged in my phonemic awareness lessons and I have seen improvement in my classes phonemic awareness knowledge since I began implementing this daily a few years ago.

I hope you find these ideas helpful! Let me know if you try any of these activities by commenting below.