Phonemic Awareness Materials (Phonological Awareness Materials)
for Special Needs Students
Children with special learning needs often have deficits in phonological awareness, making it difficult for them to identify and manipulate sounds within words. Some of the most common difficulties observed are the following
- Unable to identify specific sounds within words. (What is the first sound in ball?)
- Unable to add specific sounds to syllables. (Add the sound /s/ to the beginning of "at".)
- Unable to delete specific sounds fro words. (Say the word sit without the first sound)
- Unable to blend sounds to create words ( Combine these sounds to make a word: /r/ - /a/ - /t/.)
- Unable to rhyme words (Think of a word that rhymes with ball.)
- Unable to distinguish between voiced and voiceless sounds (i.e., difficulty distinguishing between /p/ and /b/
Most children acquire phonological awareness quickly during early reading instruction. Some children, however, need help acquiring these skills. Deficits if phonological awareness are common among children with speech sound disorders.
Academic Communication Associates offers a variety of practical products that can be used to facilitate the development of phonological awareness in special needs students. Here are a few of the most popular publications:
- Phonemic Awareness - Sound by Sound
- Phonological Awareness in Words and Sentences
- Phonological Awareness Word and Sentence Game
- Picture-Based Phonological Awareness Resource
- Sound Awareness Workouts
The products can be viewed at acawebsite.com Some of these products are now available in a downloadable format.