Supporting Beginning Readers
Improving phonological awareness skills in kindergarten
Action Plan
G O A L S
1. Provide students with phonological awareness strategies to increase
understanding of blending and segmenting words.
2. Purposefully design small reading groups that are tailored to the
developmentally appropriate needs of students.
3. Utilize small group time to differentiate and individualize instruction.
WHAT DO
SMALL READING GROUPS
LOOK LIKE?
The purpose of small reading groups is to allow students more individualized learning time to meet their developmental needs.
A typical small reading group consists of 4-5 students that are around the same developmental level.
Depending on the group of students, the structure of a small reading group lesson will typically stay the same.
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First, each small group lesson begins with a warm up. A warm up could consist of reviewing letters and sounds, matching letters to pictures that have the same beginning sound, high frequency word review, or a quick practice with decoding words.
Next, a phonological awareness activity is implemented. This may include isolating the individual sounds in words, practice with syllables, or blending sounds together to decode and read words.
Finally, students will read a book. They will use reading strategies to predict, make observations, and retell the story. They will discuss the book as a group, take turns reading, and ask questions.
C A L E N D A R
In order to provide sufficient opportunities for students to practice, learn, and grow with their reading skills, instruction was not always limited to only small reading groups.
Check out the full calendar to find the time frame of when data was collected, how often I met with students, and a brief overview of the lessons each time we met in small groups.
Phonological Awareness
S T R A T E G I E S
The following strategies were intentionally chosen to support students in their growth of understanding phonological and phonemic awareness skills that will lead to the development of the necessary skills a successful beginning reader requires.
Based on research found in my Literature Review, these strategies and activities support the phonological awareness skills of letter recognition, blending, segmenting, and decoding that students need to understand in order to be successful beginning readers. According to research, practicing and understanding these skills will help students create a solid foundation that will assist them in sounding out words, decoding words, reading words faster and with more confidence, as well as show consistent growth (Werfel & Schuele, 2012).
say & squish cards
WHAT : Blending activity
HOW : Students use play-doh to help sound out each letter in the word. First, place a ball of play-doh in the box and say each letter. Next, squish each ball of play-doh when you say each letter send. Last, blend the sounds together to say the word.
say & slide cards
WHAT : Blending activity
HOW : Students use chips to help sound out each letter in the word. First, place a chip on each letter while saying the letter name. Next, slide each chip into the box when you say each letter sound. Last, blend the sounds together to say the word.
Read & Reveal Cards
WHAT : Blending & Decoding activity
HOW : Students use the Read & Reveal cards to blend sounds and read words. First, say the letter sound as you tap each dot. Next, slide finger across the arrow as you blend the sounds together. Last, Say the word and unclip the card to reveal the matching picture.
segment sort
WHAT : Segmenting activity
HOW: Students will sort picture cards based on how many sounds they have. First, students will sound out each word and segment the sounds. Next, students will count how many each word has and sort it accordingly.
say & Segment
WHAT : Segmenting activity
HOW: By using the clipped CVC word and picture cards, students will practice their segmenting skills. First, students will look at the picture on the card and say the first sound. Next, students will say the missing sounds by using the picture and practicing their segmenting skills. Last, students will unclip the card to reveal the hidden sounds.
Write & Wipe
WHAT : Blending & Segmenting activity
HOW: Using the cards and a dry erase marker, students will look at the picture. In each box, students will write down each sound they hear to sound out and form the matching word.
Reading strategies
Students are able to refer to the reading strategies while they read books in small groups. Referring to these strategies while reading helps students grow in their comprehension skills.
Additionally, each strategy is on a popsicle stick to hold up while reading a book. This visual cue allows for students to become familiar with the picture and name of the strategy when they get stuck.
As stated in the Literature Review...
"Creating an individualized approach for teaching phonological awareness skills is important for each student's success in and out of the classroom. Utilizing instruction methods of varying intensity, such as small group instruction, allows the students to use the information they have learned independently and apply it within a group setting.
(Olszewski, 2017)."
culturally responsive teaching
To ensure each child is getting the appropriate instruction they need, time management is a top priority. When planning for small groups and during small groups, I was aware of my time management by using a timer to track my lessons and activities. Every kindergarten student in the classroom was intentionally placed in a small group that is meeting their specific needs at their individual developmental level. Each student got the opportunity to meet in a smaller setting with other students and myself to practice phonological awareness skills through specific strategies and activities that allowed them to grow as beginning readers.
Based on research found from MAP scores from Fall 2020 and Winter 2020, data from the kindergarten baseline assessment and the individual language arts assessments, I was able to know where each student best fits among their peers to form intentional small reading groups. This evidence along with observations from small groups, observations of how each student learns best in an individualized manner, and student background was also taken into consideration when planning for instruction. I was able to include best practices into instruction based on this data.