Conclusion
Congratulations, you've gained the knowledge necessary to create a "parking lot" of sounds in a child's brain! You are now prepared to apply this knowledge to the next crucial aspect of reading - phonics. It's important to remember that sound awareness and phonics instruction go hand in hand. When a child is ready to learn phonics, it's beneficial to connect their sound awareness activities to the specific phonics’ skill being taught. For example, if you're introducing the letter Aa, focus on helping the child identify the short /ǎ/ sound in their sound awareness activities. Watch this video to see how sound awareness supports phonics instruction.
Sample Lesson
This is a sound activity because it focuses on how the sound is formed.
This is a sound activity because it asks the child to find the picture that begins with the /a/ sound.
This activity combines sound awareness and phonics as children identify pictures starting with the /a/ sound and write the corresponding letter.
This lesson teaches the letter Aa and its sound. Children learn how to produce the sound, identify words with the sound, and write the letter that spells the sound. Sound awareness and phonics activities are aligned to increase the learning effectiveness. Notice how the lesson strategically progresses from sound activities done in isolation to doing an activity that combines sound awareness and phonics.