Phonological Awareness Exercises
Beth Ellen Nash
wingstosoaronline@gmail.com
The point of all of the following phonological awareness activities is to have the
student focusing on and manipulating the sounds within words, NOT reading the
letters, symbols, or words. This skill is all oral and auditory.
Daily practice with these kinds of exercises at the preschool and kindergarten level
and for any older student who is not yet strong in these skills is very important.
Phonological awareness is one of the best predictors of reading success and
therefore of success in school.
Rhyming
 Say a word and have the student repeat it.
Then ask the student to say a word that rhymes with it.
 Say a pair of words and ask the student whether or not the two words rhyme.
Sound Providing
 Say a word and ask the student what sound they hear at the beginning of it.
 Say a word and ask the student what sound they hear at the end of it.
 Say a word and ask the student what sound they hear in the middle of it.
Sound Categorization
 Ask, “Do you hear /specific sound/ in (specific word)?”
 Ask, “Which word begins with /specific sound/: in (2 specific words)?”
 Say (target word) and have the student repeat it.
Ask, “Which one of these words has the same beginning sound as (target
word): (word 1, word 2)?”
After the student has mastered two choices, proceed to giving three choices.
 (Say (target word) and have the student repeat it.
Ask, “Which one of these words has the same ending sound as (target
word): (word 1, word 2)?”
After the student has mastered two choices, proceed to giving three choices.
 Say (target word) and have the student repeat it.
Ask, “Which one of these words does not begin the same as (target word):
(word 1, word 2, word 3)?”
After the student has mastered two choices, proceed to giving three choices.
 When the student has become good at the previous variation, use the
following: “I will say three words.
Tell me which of these words has a different beginning sound.
Wait until you hear all of the words before you tell me which word does not
begin the same as the others.”
 Say (target word) and have the student repeat it.
Ask, “Which one of these words does not end the same as (target word):
(word 1, word 2, word 3)?”
After the student has mastered two choices, proceed to giving three choices.
 When the student has become good at the previous variation, use the
following: “I will say three words.
 Tell me which of these words has a different ending sound.
Wait until you hear all of the words before you tell me which word does not
end the same as the others.”
Blending
For these exercises, the student will need small manipulatives such as colored
blocks, felt circles or squares, beans, or bingo chips.
You will need 6 different colors and two of at least one or two colors.
Eventually, they should do these types of blending exercises without needing the
manipulatives, however, the manipulatives are very helpful in the early stages.
Compound Words
Say each pair of compound word segments (such as cup * cake), pausing between
them.
Then have the student repeat the segments, using a manipulative to represent each
one.
Have the student blend the segments by pushing the manipulatives together and
saying the word as a whole.
Syllables
Say each pair of syllables (such as pic * nic), pausing between them.
Then have the student repeat the segments, using a manipulative to represent each
one.
Have the student blend the segments by pushing the manipulatives together and
saying the word as a whole.
Onset and Rime
Say each onset and rime pair (such as r * at), pausing between them.
Then have the student repeat tapping a block for the onset and tapping again for the
rime.
Have the student blend the segments by pushing the manipulatives together and
saying the word as a whole.
Segmentation
Sentences
Note: For this exercise, the student will need a piece of paper and pencil or
whiteboard and marker.
Dictate a 3 to 5 word simple sentence, such as
“The man sat.”
“Dan has a fat cat.”
Ask the student to make a dash for each word.
Syllables
Say each word and ask the student to repeat it, clapping and counting the syllables.
If they have trouble hearing the syllables, have them put their hand beneath their
chin and count how many times it drops as they repeat the word. The jaw will drop
with each vowel sound and each syllable has only one vowel sound.
Phonemes
Say each word and ask the student to repeat it, tapping and counting the sounds,
and then saying the word slowly, sound by sound.
Deletion
Compound Words
Say (target compound word) and have the student repeat it.
Then say, “Say (target compound word) again, but don’t say (either first or second
half). For example, ‘hotdog’, but don’t say ‘dog’. The student should say ‘hot.’
Syllables
Say (target 2 syllable word) and have the student repeat it.
Then say, “Say (target 2 syllable word) again, but don’t say (either first or second
half). For example, ‘pumpkin’, but don’t say /kin/. The student should say ‘pump.’
Phonemes
Say (target 3-5 letter word) and have the student repeat it.
Then say, “Say (target word) again, but don’t say /single sound/. For example,
‘ham’ don’t say /m/, student should say /ha/ with short a sound. A more
complicated example would be ‘stand’, don’t say /t/, student should say ‘sand.’
Substitution
Compound Words
Say (target compound word) and have the student repeat it.
Then say, “Say (target compound word) again, but don’t instead of (either first or
second half), say (replacement word part that makes another compound word).
For example, ‘pancake; don’t say ‘pan’, say ‘cup’, Student should say ‘cupcake.’
Syllables
Say (target 2 syllable word) and have the student repeat it.
Then say, “Say (target 2 syllable word) again, but don’t instead of (either first or
second half), say (replacement word part that makes another 2 syllable word).
For example, ‘mitten’; don’t say ‘mit’, say ‘kit’, Student should say ‘kitten.’
Initial Sounds (Phonemes)
Say (target 3-5 letter word) and have the student repeat it.
Then say, “Say (target word) again, but instead of /single sound/, say /another
single sound that makes a real word/.
For example, “Say ‘bag’, but instead of /b/, say /t/. Student should say ‘tag’.
Final Sounds (Phonemes)
Say (target 3-5 letter word) and have the student repeat it.
Then say, “Say (target word) again, but instead of /single sound/, say /another
single sound that makes a real word/.
For example, “Say ham, but instead of /m/, say /d/. Student should say ‘had’.
Mixed Practice
Place three blocks or chips of different colors on the table.
Say the first word to the student and have them repeat it.
Then say, “I want you to change (first word) to (second word with only sound
change).
Have the student change one block to another color to show which sound in the
word has changed and then say the new word.
Here’s one example sequence to work through: ant, ants, pants, pant, plant.