Whole Language Teacher
You attended college in a state that emphasized the whole language approach to reading instruction. You have filled your classroom with wonderful children's literature, and have set up a variety of centers where children may explore print. While a number of students seem to flourish in this environment as evidenced by the number of books that they have read and the stories that they have written, 15-20% of your students appear to be making little or no progress in learning to read. To find an answer to this puzzle, you volunteer for the task force to look into beginning reading instruction. Through your investigation, you encounter the term Phonemic Awareness. You ask: What does Phonemic Awareness mean? Why is it so important? How does it fit into a whole language classroom? How do I measure it?
Your Task
Highlight the questions below. Select Copy from the Edit Menu. Open a MS Word document, and then choose Paste from the Edit Menu. As you read, look for the answers the questions below. Record your answers on your word processing document.
What is Phonemic Awareness?
Why is Phonemic Awareness important?
How does Phonemic Awareness fit into a whole language classroom?
What types of Phonemic Awareness activities are consistent with a whole language philosophy?
How do I determine the level of phonemic awareness of my students?
Print answers and share the results of your investigation with your group.
Resources
- Summary of the International Reading Association's position on Phonemic Awareness.
- Phonemic Awareness: An Important Early Step in Learning to Read see the section entitled Relation to the Great Reading Wars.
- Best of Both Worlds
- What's Basic in Beginning Reading? Finding Common Ground by Dorothy Strickland
- Phonemic Awareness, Reading and Spelling
Project
Meet with members of your group and share the results of your investigations. Develop a PowerPoint presentation that summarizes and sythesizes the findings of all members of the group. Be sure to address the following points:
- Define Phonemic Awareness
- Explain why it is important
- Describe how it affects reading instruction in early primary classrooms
- Identify the tasks/abilities associated with Phonemic Awareness
- Describe how to assess Phonemic Awareness
- Suggest activities for parents and teachers to use to develop Phonemic Awareness in children