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"MISS BINDER! MISS BINDER! I HAVE ANOTHER WAY! LISTEN! Old MacDonald had a farm, Me Mi Me Mi Mo!" Four-year-old Josh and his peers burst into giggles as he sings his version of "Old McDonald's Farm." Then Therese offers "Le Li Le Li Lo," and the group boisterously sings the modified song yet again. Miss Binder smiles and encourages other children to create their own versions.
In the room next door, children enthusiastically participate as their teacher reads aloud The Hungry Thing by Jan Slepian and Ann Seidler (1967). When Ms. Mahalingam reads the Hungry Thing's request for "featloaf," the children chorus, "Meatloaf! Meatioaf! The Hungry Thing wants meatloaf!" When she reads that the Hungry Thing wants to be served "Gollipops," the children interrupt the reading to cry, "Lollipops!" Ms. Mahalingam follows the book experiences by helping the children notice that the Hungry Thing replaces initial sounds in words with different sounds, and she extends their learning by inviting them to experiment with substituting the initial sounds in other words.
Both Miss Binder and Ms. Mahalingam had thoughtfully planned these experiences to engage the children in activities that stimulate interest in and experimentation with the sounds of language. They are supporting phonological awareness, a crucial part of reading development.
What is phonological awareness?
Phonological awareness is sensitivity to the sound structure of language. It demands the ability to turn one's attention to sounds in spoken language while temporarily shifting away from its meaning. When asked if the word caterpillar is longer than the word train, a child who answers that the word caterpillar is longer is demonstrating the ability to separate words from their meanings. A child who says the word train is longer has not separated the two; a train is obviously much longer than a caterpillar!
Children who can detect and manipulate sounds in speech are phonologically aware. The children who added a sound to E-I-E-I-O demonstrated some phonological awareness, as did the children who substituted one sound for another when listening to The Hungry Thing. While several children were unable to detect and engage in these sound manipulations, they were delighted with the activities nonetheless and benefited from exposure to such language play.
Phonological awareness has two dimensions and progresses from holistic...