Implementation of the
Phonemic Awareness Program
Olmsted Falls City Schools
Olmsted Falls, Ohio
May, 2011
Techniques Included In:

Phonemic Awareness: The Skills They Need
To Help Them Succeed,
Michael Heggerty, Ed.D.
Common Cueing Techniques
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Chopping
Elkonin Boxes
Letter Cheer
Punch It Out
Roller Coaster
Phonemic Awareness: The Skills They Need To Help Them Succeed
Michael Heggerty, Ed. D.
Chopping
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Technique for segmenting sounds
Students place hands together and “chop” the
individual phonemes in words.
Make sure students are chopping from THEIR left to
right
but
the teacher chops right to left when facing students
(mirror image).
Students should be sitting or standing in lines facing
the teacher, not in a circle.
Chopping
Click on the word
Video
for a demonstration
of the Chopping Technique.
(You may have to click twice.)
Video
Elkonin Boxes
(class set provided)
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Technique for segmenting and blending
Can be used as a visual example for deleting
phonemes
Teacher says the words.
Students repeat the word and slide each
sound into the appropriate box with chips or
pennies.
Also can be used to teach compound words
or syllables
Elkonin Boxes
Each class will have
a set of Elkonin Boxes
provided for your use.
Elkonin Boxes
Click on the word
Video
to see a demonstration of
techniques that use Elkonin Boxes.
(You may have to click twice.)
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Video
Letter Cheer
Use with sight words or words with letter sounds that need
review.
 Teacher says the letter then writes the letter.
Then, students name the letter.
At the end of the word, they all read the word together.
 Teacher: “The word is the.” Students: “the”
Teacher: “Give me a t.” Students: “t”
Teacher: “Give me an h.” Students: “h”
Teacher: “Give me an e.” Students: “e”
Teacher: “What’s that spell?” Students: “the.”
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Letter Cheer
Click on the word
Video
for a demonstration
of the Letter Cheer Technique.
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(You may have to click twice.)
Video
Punch It Out
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Technique for medial and final sound isolation.
Students raise their fists in the air when they
enunciate the requested sound.
Use one arm for the final sound isolation.
Student puts right fist in the air and moves fist right
to left across midline.
Two fists are used for the middle sound
Students head will be in the middle of two raised
arms
Punch It Out
 Click
on the word
video
for a demonstration of
The Punch It Out Technique
(You may have to click twice.)
Video
Roller Coaster
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Technique used for blending and stretching sounds
Only used with 3 sound words
Teacher says the word.
Students repeat the word,
then do a roller coaster action with their hands to
stress the sounds.
The beginning and ending sounds are “on the ground”.
The medial sound is stressed in the “rise” of the action.
Student action moves left to right.
Teachers right to left
Roller Coaster
Click on the word
Video
For a demonstration of
The Roller Coaster Technique
(You may have to click twice.)
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Video
Implementation Checklist
One of the goals
of the English Language Arts Study
is to implement quality instruction
with fidelity and consistency
within and between grade levels.
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Implementation Checklist
Refer to
The Implementation Checklist
for a description of
what will be included
in the instruction and practice of
Phonemic Awareness
in every classroom.
Implementation Checklist
Note:
Phonemic Awareness instruction will occur mostly in
Kindergarten and First Grade Classrooms.
Rhyming is addressed in Second Grade Classrooms.
Third Grade teachers must be aware of the checklist and
vocabulary used in previous grades.
Techniques demonstrated will be used K-3.
Implementation Checklist
Click on the word
Checklist
To view
The Implementation Checklist.
Checklist
Further Information
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Please refer to preface of
Phonemic Awareness: The Skills They Need
To Help Them Succeed
Michael Heggerty, Ed.
for more detailed definitions of terms and the research
basis.
Brought to you by:
The Phonemic Awareness Committee
Dr. Jim Lloyd, Assistant Superintendent
Mary Pat Burk
Tami Doyle
Julie Kemper
Dr. Karen Kolozvary
Angela Kostraba
Mary Mariotti
Karen Megery
Diane Metzger
Neil Roseberry
Karen Strawser
The End