Enhancing Phonemic Awareness Skills in Emergent Readers

by | Jul 1, 2024 | Nursing

 

Lack of phonemic awareness skills is the leading cause of reading problems in 1st grade.Some of you are working with young children who are at the emergent reading stage and are not reading, yet. Here is a video that discusses Phonemic/Phonological Awareness. You will learn more about it in later chapters, but I want you to have some understanding now, in case it may help some of you who are working with children who are at the very early stages. Skills in phonemic awareness come before phonics developmentally. If they do not have a good foundation in phonemic awareness, phonics and other areas of reading will be difficult. Sometimes children have problems with phonics because their phonemic awareness skills have not yet developed fully, and they need instruction and/or practice in this area.Phonemic awareness has to do with children being able to HEAR the various parts of the word (beginning, middle, end) and “manipulate” themWITHOUT ANY PRINT being used. Pictures can be used, but not letters or words. For instance, if you ask a child what rhymes with cat, and he says sat, mat, or pat, then you are working on phonemic awareness. Another example would be when the child sees a picture and can tell you the beginning, middle, or ending sound of what is in the picture. The child sees a picture of a pig and can make the beginning sound /p/, or the middle sound /i/, or the ending sound /g/ when you ask for it. Then you may want them to choose another picture that starts with the same sound (not letter) as pig (a picture of a princess). There are tons of ways to practice without words or letters! Double-check to see if the child you are working with is able to complete those tasks.Watch the following videos.Which was your favorite activity? If you see a way to adapt it somewhat and still focus on phonemic awareness, how would you do it? Also, please share any other activities you know about or have used. Remember, this is not phonics. No letters or words are used in phonemic/phonological awareness activities. It is hearing/speaking only. (Remember, children who are just learning to read, or who are struggling to read at the beginning levels, are the only ones who would benefit from phonemic awareness activities–reading on a 1st grade level and below.) Think about phonics (sounds of letters and sounds). If a child has trouble with phonics and sounding out words, many times the reason is the child does not have strong phonemic skills already in place. Why do you think this is true? www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyWzM9g5C8M www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtfVMiVTcCc

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Dante Alighieri played a critical role in the literature world through his poem Divine Comedy that was written in the 14th century. The poem contains Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. The Inferno is a description of the nine circles of torment that are found on the earth. It depicts the realms of the people that have gone against the spiritual values and who, instead, have chosen bestial appetite, violence, or fraud and malice. The nine circles of hell are limbo, lust, gluttony, greed and wrath. Others are heresy, violence, fraud, and treachery. The purpose of this paper is to examine the Dante’s Inferno in the perspective of its portrayal of God’s image and the justification of hell. 

In this epic poem, God is portrayed as a super being guilty of multiple weaknesses including being egotistic, unjust, and hypocritical. Dante, in this poem, depicts God as being more human than divine by challenging God’s omnipotence. Additionally, the manner in which Dante describes Hell is in full contradiction to the morals of God as written in the Bible. When god arranges Hell to flatter Himself, He commits egotism, a sin that is common among human beings (Cheney, 2016). The weakness is depicted in Limbo and on the Gate of Hell where, for instance, God sends those who do not worship Him to Hell. This implies that failure to worship Him is a sin.


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God is also depicted as lacking justice in His actions thus removing the godly image. The injustice is portrayed by the manner in which the sodomites and opportunists are treated. The opportunists are subjected to banner chasing in their lives after death followed by being stung by insects and maggots. They are known to having done neither good nor bad during their lifetimes and, therefore, justice could have demanded that they be granted a neutral punishment having lived a neutral life. The sodomites are also punished unfairly by God when Brunetto Lattini is condemned to hell despite being a good leader (Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). While he commited sodomy, God chooses to ignore all the other good deeds that Brunetto did.

Finally, God is also portrayed as being hypocritical in His actions, a sin that further diminishes His godliness and makes Him more human. A case in point is when God condemns the sin of egotism and goes ahead to commit it repeatedly. Proverbs 29:23 states that “arrogance will bring your downfall, but if you are humble, you will be respected.” When Slattery condemns Dante’s human state as being weak, doubtful, and limited, he is proving God’s hypocrisy because He is also human (Verdicchio, 2015). The actions of God in Hell as portrayed by Dante are inconsistent with the Biblical literature. Both Dante and God are prone to making mistakes, something common among human beings thus making God more human.

To wrap it up, Dante portrays God is more human since He commits the same sins that humans commit: egotism, hypocrisy, and injustice. Hell is justified as being a destination for victims of the mistakes committed by God. The Hell is presented as being a totally different place as compared to what is written about it in the Bible. As a result, reading through the text gives an image of God who is prone to the very mistakes common to humans thus ripping Him off His lofty status of divine and, instead, making Him a mere human. Whether or not Dante did it intentionally is subject to debate but one thing is clear in the poem: the misconstrued notion of God is revealed to future generations.

 

References

Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). Dante’s inferno: Seven deadly sins in scientific publishing and how to avoid them. Addiction Science: A Guide for the Perplexed, 267.

Cheney, L. D. G. (2016). Illustrations for Dante’s Inferno: A Comparative Study of Sandro Botticelli, Giovanni Stradano, and Federico Zuccaro. Cultural and Religious Studies, 4(8), 487.

Verdicchio, M. (2015). Irony and Desire in Dante’s” Inferno” 27. Italica, 285-297.

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Enhancing Phonemic Awareness Skills in Emergent Readers

Introduction

Phonemic awareness plays a crucial role in laying the foundation for reading success, especially for young children at the emergent reading stage. Understanding and manipulating the individual sounds in spoken language are essential skills that precede phonics development and support overall reading proficiency. In this discussion, we explore the significance of phonemic awareness and various activities to strengthen these skills in young learners.

Importance of Phonemic Awareness

Phonemic awareness is the ability to identify and manipulate individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words without relying on printed text. Developing phonemic awareness helps children recognize sound patterns, distinguish between sounds, and understand how sounds blend together to form words. Strong phonemic awareness skills enable emergent readers to grasp the fundamental building blocks of language, which are essential for successful decoding and comprehension.

Favorite Activity and Adaptation

Among the provided videos, the activity that stood out as particularly engaging was segmenting compound words into individual sounds. To adapt this activity while staying focused on phonemic awareness, I would introduce a variation using pictures instead of written words. For instance, I would show a picture of a sunflower and ask the child to identify and verbally segment the sounds within the word “sunflower” (/s/ /u/ /n/ /fl/ /ow/ /er/). This visual representation combined with auditory segmentation reinforces phonemic awareness without the use of letters or written text.

Additional Activities for Phonemic Awareness

1. Sound Matching Game: Prepare a set of picture cards representing various objects or animals. Ask the child to match objects with similar beginning, middle, or ending sounds.

2. Sound Scavenger Hunt: Encourage the child to find objects in their environment that begin with a specific sound. For example, find objects that start with the /m/ sound.

3. Rhyming Words: Engage in rhyming activities where the child identifies words that rhyme with given words or generates rhyming words themselves.

4. Syllable Clap: Have the child clap out the number of syllables in different words to develop an understanding of word segmentation.

Significance of Phonemic Awareness for Phonics Success

Phonemic awareness serves as a prerequisite for effective phonics instruction and word decoding. When children lack strong phonemic skills, they may struggle with recognizing letter-sound relationships and blending sounds to form words. By honing their ability to manipulate and segment sounds in spoken language, children develop a solid foundation that facilitates the transition to phonics-based reading instruction. Phonemic awareness acts as a scaffolding skill that supports phonics acquisition and overall reading fluency.

In conclusion, nurturing phonemic awareness skills in emergent readers is paramount for building a strong literacy foundation. Through engaging activities that focus on sound manipulation and recognition, young learners can enhance their pre-reading abilities and pave the way for successful reading development. Phonemic awareness activities provide essential groundwork for phonics instruction and empower children to become proficient readers with confidence and fluency.

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