Edl 301/501 - Chapter 5

Taylor DiPasquale

EDL 301/501

September 25, 2015

Chapter 5 Questions

1. Two ideas that were new information  

1. Phonemic Awareness was information that I previously thought I understood the correct definition of. However, after reading the chapter I learned that there was more to phonemic awareness than I thought. According to the text, Phonemic awareness is, “… conceptually, is defined as an understanding that spoken language and words are made up of individual sounds. In terms of performance, phonemic awareness is defined as the ability to pick out and manipulate sounds in spoken words and language.” (pg. 134). This allows students to hear, identify, and manipulate sounds in order to differentiate meaning. This does not only help students learn to read, but also aids in improving students word meaning and comprehension. The text says, “So when speaking of phonemic awareness, simple awareness is not enough!” (pg. 134). This is telling readers that it is important to truly be able to manipulate the sounds, and not just understand the definition to fully demonstrate phonemic awareness.  
2. Assessing Alphabetic Principle Knowledge is an assessment category that was new information, which I learned about in this chapter. This is a learning concept which helps develop phonemic awareness. The text gives a specific example, Alphabet Awareness Talk, which assesses word knowledge. The text states the purpose of this task being, “… to determine whether children can in some way identify the concept of an alphabet in written and spoken language.” (pg. 144). This is used to help the teacher understand the child’s alphabetic awareness by asking simple questions regarding letters and recognition. The text says this is important because, “Simple awareness that alphabet exists is necessary for understanding any alphabetic language system.” (pg. 144). In order to successfully learn to read and write, a child must understand the basic building blocks of the language, which is the letters that make up the words of that language.

1. An idea that confused me

This chapter consisted of a lot of teaching methods and ideas to help educators find a way to teach their students about phonemic awareness. The text did a good job of explaining most of the teaching strategies, however one that I found to be a little bit confusing was the Same-Different Word Pair Task. This task was designed to, “… measure children’s development of syllable, onset and rime, and phoneme awareness.” (pg. 141). I understood that the purpose of this task is to have students identify word pairs and if different words or pictures use the same syllables and sounds as others. However, I felt as if the description of how to administer the activity could have been a little more descriptive. Also, the text talks about making a record, it says, “Make a record of how well the child does directly on a copy of the word list.” (pg. 141). I think it would help to provide an example in the text to show how exactly teachers are to mark for mistakes, or mark which ones are correct. As I mentioned earlier, I understand the goal of this task, however, I think if there were more clarification it would help me to understand.

1. Based on you own experiences, discuss which ideas you strongly agree and/or disagree with

Playing with the alphabet is an idea that I strongly agree with based on my own personal experiences. This is a suggestive teaching strategy to help children learn the alphabetic principle. The text says, “Providing relaxed and game like learning opportunities can often spark the desire to learn the letters and sounds.” (pg. 152). This method of teaching includes a number of different activities such as alphabet puzzles, magnetic or sandpaper letters, letter stencils, dry-erase boards, and so on. This allows children to become familiar with the different letters and start to recognize them in different situations. The text talks about using animal crackers, alphabet soup, and alphabet cereal as a way to engage the students in participating and wanting to learn about the letters. I strongly agree that this is a successful method of teaching children, because when I babysit, they have magnetic letters on the fridge that can also be placed in a LeapFrog board. When the letters are placed in the board, the devise says the letter aloud, along with a word that is associated with the letter. This gives the children an opportunity to see what letter they choose, and then hear it repeated back to them. I’ve noticed that children begin to recognize letters that have similar sounds as their name, and they tend to grab those letters more frequently than others. I think it is a great idea to get students involved and make lesson plans fun that way they will want to participate, and also it provides them with a different way to learn and remember certain knowledge. The text says, “The playful interaction increases children’s awareness of letters, sounds, and alphabetical order.” (pg. 155).