Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Praxis


Will providing phonological awareness intervention to Kindergarten students improve literacy skills?

According to research found in in the article, Development of Phonological Awareness, phonological awareness is critical for learning to read in alphabetic languages like English. Phonological awareness is the ability to recognize, discriminate, and manipulate the sounds in words.  This exact research led me to perform an action research project in my classroom that involved kindergarten students who had not reached proficiency in the area of phonological awareness.  I found this project to be of utmost importance due to the research I read in the article, The Importance of Phonemic Awareness in Learning to Read, which states that phonemic awareness is a critical skill for learning to read.  Phonemic awareness is a prerequisite for learning to read, and if the young reader fails to acquire it, they will struggle with reading throughout their years of educational learning.  Consequently, I set out to see if I could bring my kindergarten students up to benchmark before the year concluded.  I found this intervention plan to be effective and I will definitely continue the practice next fall. 

2 comments:

  1. Beth~
    I am excited to hear more about your action research project and if you have any insight on strategies that support students who are not in Kindergarten (like my 4th graders) who might be lacking some of those phonemic awareness skills or are English Language Learners and what the best interventions might be for them? Thanks for sharing!

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    Replies
    1. HI Emily,

      I do have an assessment called the CELF that could be used with the kids you mention. I did do some assessing with 3rd graders but chose to focus on Kindergarten for my AR. The CELF is 85 questions and more in depth than just AIMSweb. You might like it. If I have a copy at home I will bring it on Saturday.

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