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Phonological Awareness: What is it and how does it relate to phonemic awareness?

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Phonological Awareness: What is it and how does it relate to phonemic awareness?

Phonological Awareness is the ability to recognize that spoken words are made up of individual sound parts.

Word Level Rhyming

  • bat
  • cat
  • hat

Alliteration

Bold big brown bear

Sentence Segmentation

I / see / the / dog = 4 words

Syllable Level

ba-by = 2 syllables
ex-er-cise = 3 syllables

Phonological Awareness is like an umbrella. Phonemic Awareness and other skills exist under this umbrella.

Onset & Rime Level

Onset = map
Rime = map

Phonemic Awareness Level

/m/ /oo/ /n/ moon = 3 phonemes
Phonemic awareness is the most advanced skill of phonological awareness.

Suggested Citation

National Center on Improving Literacy (2022). Phonological Awareness: What Is It and How Does It Relate To Phonemic Awareness. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Office of Special Education Programs, National Center on Improving Literacy. Retrieved from http://improvingliteracy.org.