• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Course
    • Teaching Every Reader
  • Subscriber Freebies
  • About
  • Contact
  • Shop
  • Member Login

The Measured Mom

Education resources for parents and teachers

  • Alphabet
  • Reading
    • Structured literacy
    • Printable Books
    • Pre-Reading
    • Phonics
    • Sight Words
    • Comprehension
    • Fluency
    • Vocabulary
  • Writing
    • Grammar
    • Handwriting
    • Spelling
    • Writing in Pre-K
    • Writing in K-3
  • Math
    • Counting
    • Number Recognition
    • Addition & Subtraction
    • Colors, Shapes & Patterns
    • Visual Discrimination
    • Time, Money & Measurement
    • Place Value
    • Graphs
    • Multiplication & Division
    • Fractions
    • Problem Solving
  • Book Lists
    • Letter of the Week
    • Early Childhood Themes
    • Pre-Reading Skills
    • Math Concepts
    • Writing Mentor Texts
    • Versions of Familiar Tales
    • Holidays and Seasonal
    • History
    • Leveled Book Lists
  • Join Membership
Home
  • Shop
  • Blog
    • Alphabet
    • Reading
    • Writing
    • Math
    • Book Lists
  • Podcast
  • Courses
    • Teaching Every Reader
    • Teaching Every Writer
  • Subscriber Freebies
  • About
  • Membership
  • Contact

PSPKK1238 Comments

What did the National Reading Panel say about phonemic awareness?

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Sharing is caring!

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

TRT Podcast#3: What did the National Reading Panel say about phonemic awareness?

What does the research have to say about phonemic awareness? In today’s episode we’ll look closely at what the NRP learned through its meta-analysis.

Listen to the full episode

Full episode transcript

Transcript
Email Download New Tab

It seems that whenever we're looking for a new program or resource, we find the magic words "research-based." It's kind of like the "All Natural" stamp on a box of organic Oreos. Rather than trust what everyone else says is research-based, it's smart to acquaint ourselves with the research itself.

One of the easiest ways to do this is to read the results and recommendations from the National Reading Panel, a group that spent two years studying the research surrounding the teaching of reading. Today we're finding out exactly what the National Reading Panel had to say about phonemic awareness.

Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear and manipulate individual sounds in words. For example, the word "cat" has three phonemes, /k/, /ă/, /t/. The word "ship" also has three phonemes even though it has four letters, /sh/, /ĭ/, /p/.

There are four phonemic awareness tasks: isolating sounds, blending, segmenting, and manipulating. Manipulating can include substituting, adding, or deleting sounds.

Phonemic awareness and phonics are not the same thing. Phonemic awareness has to do with the ability to hear and manipulate sounds. Phonemic awareness training may include letters, but the use of letters doesn't define it.

In contrast, phonics refers to how letters and sounds correspond to each other, and how this knowledge could help a person decode words.

As long as we're talking about words, let's talk about phonological awareness. Phonological awareness is an umbrella term that includes phonemic awareness, in addition to other skills such as syllables and rhyme.

The National Reading Panel zeroed in on phonemic awareness and that's what we're focusing on today. Their big question was, "Can you teach phonemic awareness and does it help children read more easily?"

The panel found that "phonemic awareness training was very effective in teaching phonemic awareness to students. There were large effect sizes immediately after the training and over the long term."

But that doesn't really tell us much does it? It just means that teaching phonemic awareness means that they learned phonemic awareness. So what?

Well, phonemic awareness training improved students' ability to read and spell over the long term as well. In fact, "tests of word reading, non-word reading, and reading comprehension all yielded statistically significant effect sizes." In other words, phonemic awareness training is very important for future success in MULTIPLE areas of reading.

This is the key finding of the National Reading Panel and therefore all beginning teachers of reading need to include phonemic awareness in their instruction!

When looking more closely at those studies, here's what else the panel found. Programs that focused on one to two skills yield larger effects on phonemic awareness learning than those that teach two or three skills. Instruction that taught phonemic awareness with letters helped children acquire better phonemic awareness skills than those without letters. Those students also did better with spelling. Teaching in small groups produced larger effect sizes than teaching children individually or in whole groups. Also good to know, low SES (socioeconomic status) children can benefit as much from training in phonemic awareness as middle to high SES children, despite being phonologically or culturally different.

I'd like to highlight an important note from this report. "It is important to note that acquiring phonemic awareness is a means rather than an end. Phonemic awareness is not acquired for its own sake, but rather for its value in helping children understand and use the alphabetic system to read and write. This is why including letters in the process of teaching children to manipulate phonemes is important."

A lot of times we hear that phonemic awareness is only that which can be done in the dark, that it doesn't include any print, but phonemic awareness can and often should include print so that children can make the connection to the alphabetic principle.

Now, what does the panel's meta-analysis not tell us? It does not tell us exactly how phonemic awareness instruction should be taught. It doesn't tell us exactly how much time to spend on it. It also doesn't answer some of the current questions in the science of reading community: Should we only do phonemic awareness with letters? How much time do we need to spend on advanced phonemic awareness skills like phoneme manipulation? Do we need to jump right past syllables and rhyming and go straight to phonemic awareness in kindergarten?

These are all points of debate in the science of reading community and they won't be settled until a robust body of evidence has been established. For now, keep in mind this summary from Timothy Shanahan referenced in the show notes: "Beginning readers benefit from instruction that teaches them to hear the sounds within words. This instruction prepares them for making the link between letters and sounds and should be kept simple, brief, and enjoyable. Phonemic awareness is taught through language, songs, games, and other activities that encourage students to listen for the sounds within words. Students will have successfully accomplished learning phonemic awareness when they can fully segment words with ease. For most children, this can be accomplished during kindergarten or first grade."

I'll be sure to share Shanahan's article, as well as the National Reading Panel report, and a link to an excellent phonemic awareness curriculum that incorporates letters called Road To The Code. You can find the show notes at themeasuredmom.com/episode3.

Scroll back to top

Sign up to receive email updates

Enter your name and email address below and I'll send you periodic updates about the podcast.

powered by

Related links

  • The National Reading Panel Report: Practical Advice for Teachers, by Timothy Shanahan
  • National Reading Panel’s report
  • Road to the Code phonemic awareness program

Phonemic Awareness Games & Activities

$24.00

This bundle includes activities perfect for tutoring sessions, small group teaching, and whole class instruction!

Buy Now

SUBSCRIBE AND REVIEW IN ITUNES

Are you subscribed to my podcast? If you’re not, I want to encourage you to do that today. I don’t want you to miss an episode!  Click here to subscribe in iTunes!

Now if you have an extra minute, I would be really grateful if you left me a review over on iTunes , too. Those reviews help other people find my podcast, and they’re also fun for me to go in and read. Just click here to review. You’ll need to click to “Listen on Apple Podcasts” and “write a review.”  Let me know what you appreciate about the podcast. Thank you!

Listen and Subscribe On:

Love Freebies?

Subscribing to our email newsletter is completely free. And when you do, you'll get access to our library of subscriber freebies! Sign up below to get access to a wonderful variety of math and literacy resources.

Sharing is caring!

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Filed Under: Podcast, Science of reading, Structured literacy Tagged With: third grade, kindergarten, Pre-K, first grade, second grade

You May Also Enjoy These Episodes:

What was the National Reading Panel? What makes a high quality decodable book? What does research tell us about the Big 5?
What was the National Reading Panel?
What did the National Reading Panel say about teaching phonics?

Reader Interactions

8 Comments

  1. Sheri

    August 26, 2022 at 9:35 am

    Anna,

    I’m wondering your thoughts on “Road to the Code” vs Heggerty’s “Bridge the Gap” for use in a private one-to-one tutoring setting?

    Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      August 26, 2022 at 9:36 am

      I believe Road to the Code incorporates letters, while I know that Heggerty does not. So if I had to choose one, I would pick Road to the Code.

      Reply to this comment
  2. Jacqui

    March 19, 2020 at 9:40 am

    Hi Anna, I just found your website and I love the resources that you share. My K is in a homeschool-classroom hybrid school, so we do a decent amount of work at home and these activities fit really well with the curriculum the school uses. I was wondering if you had a list of resources/blogs, etc. with engaging activities like these for older students (Grades 3-6th)? My nephew is struggling with several subjects and I think he would be served better with more active learning strategies, so I’m trying to find some resources to use with him. Thanks!

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna G

      March 19, 2020 at 2:43 pm

      Not currently, I’m sorry! But I’m working on a blog post with online resources that I hope will help.

      Reply to this comment
  3. Maria Elena

    March 15, 2020 at 8:37 pm

    Great, sometimes we under estimate the students’ capacity nevertheless they have the potential to become great writers. As teachers we just need to guide the students. I like the idea of allowing preschoolers to add on to their illustrations during the reviewing.

    Thanks for sharing valuable information.

    Reply to this comment
  4. Sharon

    February 22, 2020 at 5:30 pm

    Thank you, your tips are very informative and will be implemented. Thanks for the information about sharing I am no longer going to avoid it.

    Reply to this comment
  5. Lucrece

    February 18, 2020 at 10:10 pm

    I really enjoyed listening to episode 3 because i realized when I was teaching kg, I was actually using most of these strategies you highlighted. Listening to your podcast has helped me to consciously reflect more on my teaching. Thank you for all you do to help your fellow educators.

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna G

      February 22, 2020 at 7:00 am

      Thank you so much, Lucrece – this is wonderful to hear!

      Reply to this comment

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Grade Level Key

  • PS Preschool (ages 2-3 years)
  • PK Pre-K (ages 4-5 years)
  • K Kindergarten
  • 1 1st grade
  • 2 2nd grade
  • 3 3rd grade

Hello, I’m Anna!

Welcome to The Measured Mom. I’m so glad you’re here!

Meet Our Team

Love Freebies?

Subscribing to our email newsletter is completely free. And when you do, you'll get access to our library of subscriber freebies! Sign up below to get access to a wonderful variety of math and literacy resources.

Shop Our Newest Resources

At The Measured Mom®, our mission is to share high quality educational resources that are engaging for students and easy for educators.

Fluency Centers – MEGA BUNDLE

$39.00

Phonics Centers – MEGA BUNDLE

$49.00

A-Z Letter Cards & More

$12.00

Shop All Resources

Members get more!

The Measured Mom Plus is the perfect online membership for Pre-K to third grade educators.

Learn More

Love Freebies?

Subscribing to our email newsletter is completely free. And when you do, you'll get access to our library of subscriber freebies! Sign up below to get access to a wonderful variety of math and literacy resources.

Join our online course and get the tools you need to teach every learner in K-2!

Confidently teach every reader in your classroom. Still have time to live your life.

Learn More

Listen and subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and Stitcher

Check out these recent podcast episodes:

  • What does the research say about alphabet instruction? with Dr. Shayne Piasta
  • What is set for variability? A conversation with Dr. Marnie Ginsberg
  • How to help students improve language comprehension – a conversation with Dr. Karen Dudek-Brannan
More Episodes

Check out these FREE email courses...

Get strategies and tools to teach a particular topic with a free 5-day email series! Just click an image to sign up. We recommend signing up for just one at a time.

For Pre-K Educators

How to teach phonological & phonemic awareness

How to teach phonological & phonemic awareness

Learn how to develop this important pre-reading skill with a free 5-day email series!

How to teach preschool math

How to teach preschool math

Learn exactly what to teach your preschoolers in this free 5-day series!

For Kinder & 1st Grade Educators

How to teach kids to sound out words

How to teach kids to sound out words

Learn my top strategies for teaching kids to "sound it out"

How to teach sight words

How to teach sight words

Get strategies and tools for teaching sight words to young learners!

Tips for teaching phonics

Tips for teaching phonics

Sign up for our free 5-day email series to learn what phonics skills to teach and how to structure your phonics lessons!

For 2nd & 3rd Grade Educators

How to build reading fluency

How to build reading fluency

Learn smart strategies for helping your learners become fluent readers with this free 5-day series!

How to build reading comprehension

How to build reading comprehension

Discover the essential reading comprehension strategies for 2nd & 3rd grade and how to teach them!

“Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” –Matthew 6:33

Copyright © 2023 The Measured Mom •  All rights reserved  •  Privacy & Disclosure Statement  •  Site Design by Emily White Designs