Phonological awareness is the foundational building block for reading success. If you are unfamiliar with the term phonological or phonemic awareness, please read my blog post on the first reading component. In short, phonological awareness is the awareness that spoken language, or sounds, make up words. It is a crucial foundational skill needed for reading success. Phonemic awareness is the most advanced component of phonological awareness. Phonemic awareness is the ability to recognize and manipulate the smallest unit of sounds found in words.
Language-based problems, such as dyslexia, are directly associated with phonological awareness processing delays. When students struggle with sounds and have a hard time manipulating spoken words, then phonological awareness practice activities may be beneficial. One of the hardest things about teaching and tutoring is creating content that works! I've attached some free phonological awareness assessments that you can use with your children to help them close achievement gaps.
All of the resources provided below are from the Cox Campus website. I use these resources to drive some of my instruction. They also have great instructional courses on the Cox Campus website if you want to learn more about reading.
Level 1: Words
Level 2: Syllable
Level 3: Phoneme
*2022 Update: Guided Readers now has a phonological awareness section on the website! This is the same PA program that is sometimes used here at Holmes Tutoring for the ongoing classes that meet once a week. Feel free to sign up for the subscription on the Guided Readers website or you can sign up for my ongoing class and jump in and out based on students learning needs.