ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT

Action Research Project: Fall 2015

ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT

Initial Meeting with Teacher

Students Chosen
Student So This student was chosen to be a part of the action research plan by Mrs.
Robinson because of her delayed development in reading. As a kindergartener this student is on
level Pre A, meaning they have no yet begun to read. This student struggles with associating
sounds to specific letters and blending words as a whole. For example, in a pre assessment this
student pronounced me as /m/-/e/-/e/ instead of /m/-/e/. As a result of this issue, Mrs.
Robinson feels this student should improve phonemic awareness and expression skills during the
early stages of reading.

Student St This student was chosen because of her lower reading level and inability
to connect letters and their sounds. This student often confuses letters such as p and q and
sounds such as the d sound and b sound. Mrs. Robinson believes the struggle with
phonemic awareness is a result of the students blending skills. To improve these areas the
teacher feels that more one-on-one intervention on the manner is necessary.

Student H This student was chosen by Mrs. Robinson because she is slightly below
the level A reading for kindergarten. She struggles pronouncing syllables and sounds in a word
and as a result has a hard time blending large syllabic words. The student can recognize letters,
upper and lower case, but can not pair the sound associated to the letter. For example, the o
sound often times reflects a u sound in her pronunciation. More one-on-one intervention
should improve this students expression, phonemic awareness, and blending skills. Mrs.
Robinson feels she is very close to being a level A reading, but just needs an extra push.

ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT

The Question
After determining the children for the action research project with Mrs. Robinson, we
discussed a common ground among the students selected. We developed this question to be the
focus of the action research: How can these kindergarten, below reading level, students better
their blending and sound skills to improve phonemic awareness in the early stages of reading?
This question was constructed because of each of these students struggle with sounds, blending,
and phonemic awareness in the early stages of reading. These students are right on the edge of
becoming new readers, and Mrs. Robinson and I believe that focusing on these areas will
improve their reading development skills. By working on syllables, phonemes, graphemes, and
blending with each of these students, they should progress towards becoming fluent, expressive
young readers.

ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT

Pre-Session
Initial meeting with Mrs. Robinson

Choose three students to work with

Identify individual strengths and weaknesses of students
Construct the essential question
Determine essential question

Session 1
Initial Assessment: (Three of Twelve Initial Assessments)
Elementary Reading Attitude Survey (all three students)
o Student St:
Marie Clays Hearing and Recording Sounds in Words Assessment
o Student So:
Yopp Singer Test of Phoneme Segmentation

Session 2
Initial Assessment: (Three of Twelve Initial Assessments)
Match up ABCs Assessment (with pictures)
Phonics Windows Assessment assessing beginning consonant sounds
Word Families Assessment (rhyming/sounds)

Session 3

Initial Assessment: (Two of Twelve Initial Assessments)

Blends and Diagraphs Assessment phonemic awareness assessment
Short Vowel Sounds Assessment

Initial Assessment: (Three of Twelve Initial Assessments)

Word Walk Consonant/Vowel Assessment
Choral Reading
Passage Used:
Phonemic Awareness Assessment

Initial Assessment: (Two of Twelve Initial Assessments)

Phonemic Awareness Assessment
Oral Blending Assessment (CVC) three syllables per word

Session 4

Session 5 (Final Assessment)

Timeline

ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT

Initial Assessment Reflection

Administered: October 6, 2105
Student So
After administering two initial assessments to student So, I began to notice her
improvement. On the very first assessment I gave her, the Elementary Reading Attitude Survey
(ERAS), she showed a lot of interest in reading. From talking to her teacher I knew that she was
one level away from being on level A reading for kindergarten. Student So is shy went she has to
read out loud, but did show an interest in reading as a whole. Her attitude is positive and after
every assessment she expresses what she hopes to improve on next time. I also gave student So
the Yopp Singer assessment during the first meeting. She received fifteen out of twenty-two total
points and although she had a high score on the ERAS I could tell she needed more assistance in
blending sounds. A lot of the vowels that student So spoke had an extra syllable added to them at
the end. In the following week student So was given an ABC match up assessment and she knew
all of her letters and sounds, therefore I knew that blending was the next step. We worked on a
phonics assessment together and student So performed a lot better than when she took the Yopp
Singer assessment. During the phonics practice, student So was sounding out letters one by one
and then saying them at a faster rate to blend the word. Often times I noticed that she was trying
to guess the word based on the first syllable, so we slowed it down and did one word at a time. I
have read with student So many times and I think she needs a little more confidence in her
reading. Her shyness is affecting her willingness to read out loud and get better. I hope to also
continue working with blending and eventually shift to word families and sight words so that
student So can began recognizing words off the top of her head. This will also help me
determine how to improve her expression and assess how quickly she grasp new ideas.

ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT

Student St
After administering two initial assessments to student St, I began to recognize how quiet
she is when she reads and/or talks. During the first session together I can student St the
Elementary Reading Attitude Survey (ERAS) and quickly learned that she enjoys reading. The
first assessment I gave her was Marie Clays Hearing and Recording Sounds in Words and her
score was different than I had anticipated. Student St knew twenty-three letters and twenty-five
sounds. This was surprising to me because she knew the sounds of letters, but couldnt tell me
the name of them. Also something I observed was that she didnt say I dont know when she
didnt know the letter, she simply just guessed what she thought it could be and continued with
the rest of the assessment. Originally, my teacher spoke with me about student St and expressed
she needed to be more confidence and participate more in read a louds but that her shyness
prevented this behavior. However, I didnt observed this quite as much and it may have been
because we were one on one. Student St was fast with the ABC match up game and the only
sounds/letters that confused her were the lower case b and d in the phonics assessment. This
is common among kindergarteners, so I believe with more attention it can easily be improved.
Some of the words in the word families student St was quick at reading as well, this tells me she
knows a lot of sight words. For instance, student St recognized red, like, and love in the
list of words without having to sound out each letter. For future assessments I plan to work on
more blending and sight words so that student St can become an overall fluent, confident reader
and jump to the level A books for her grade.

Student H

ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT

After administering two initial assessments to student H, I began to recognize that she
often struggles with giving up. When I gave her the Elementary Reading Attitude Survey
(ERAS) she seemed very discouraged about reading. I asked her the questions on the survey and
elaborated on some of them to grasp a better understanding of why she is so discourage. She
expressed to me that she wanted to be a better reader, but didnt like learning from books. I need
to find a way to engage student H in reading, because comprehension will be so important
through her years in school. Following this survey I administered the Yopp Singer assessment
and found that student H knew all of her letters and sounds, it was way too easy for her!
Therefore, the ABC match up was just as easy so we moved on to word families and blending.
These assessments were a little more difficult for student H. She is very outgoing and confident,
however, if she doesnt know a word she often will give up instead of trying to figure it out suing
a different strategy. I believe this stems from the defeat she feels inside because she cant read
and doesnt have a deep desire too like her classmates. Student H seems to value books are that
engaging with stickers, pictures, flaps, etc. This student needs more one on one attention with
blending and phonemic awarenesswith more practice and a better attitude she will be much
happier with her own reading skills. In the latest sessions this student has cried because digraphs
and blending words is too hard for her. After talking to my teacher I learned that this is a
normal thing because at home student H has a lot of things done for her. I will need to back track
and figure out what is at her level and what makes her comfortable and confidentnot defeated.
In future assessments I will review sight words, sounds, and the basic phonics before I introduce
more vowel sounds and digraphs.

Student So

ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT

Date/Time Spent
October 6, 2015
Session 1:
25 mins.

October 19, 2015

Session 2: 30
mins.

Strategy
Incorporated
-Elementary
Reading Attitude
Survey
-Yopp-Singer
Test of Phoneme
Segmentation

Anecdotal
Observation
Student So was
very shy at
first, but later
warmed up to
me. I could tell
she liked to
read, however,
she wasnt very
confident with
her sounds
event though
she got most of
them right!

-Word Families
Assessment
-Match up
ABCs
Assessment
-Phonics
Assessment

Student So was
a lot more
comfortable
working with
me today. I
was impressed
at how much
she warmed up
to me and how
quickly she
caught onto the
new material.

8
Assessment Data
-From the survey I
could tell the
student liked to
read books she
chooses,
specifically dog
books. Also, she
would rather
someone read to
her than have to
read out loud to
someone else.
-On the YoppSinger assessment
the student got 15
total points out of
22. She knew
most of the
syllables, but often
added an extra
sound to vowels.
-From the ABC
matching
assessment I could
tell that this
student knows all
of her letters and
their sounds, there
was not one that
she mixed up.
Whenever she
forgot what came
next she would
sing the song in
orderbut this
was rare.
-When we talked
about consonant
she know all of her
sounds and
recognized every
letter.
-We worked on an
interactive word

Plan for Next

Session
-We will practice
sounds and
blending
syllables. Also,
we will work on
pronouncing
vowels through
games and
assessments.

Reflect/Respond

-Student So
needs practice in
blending and
reading words
smoothly. Also,
we will work on
recognizing
words instead of
having to sound
out every letter.
-Next session I
will give her a
blending
assessment and
short vowel
assessment

-I was impressed
with the students
improvement so
far. She was quick
to arrange the
alphabet and didnt
need any help with
blending sounds. I
have been working
one-on-one with
her a lot so that
when I give her the
assessments she
feels more
comfortable.

-I need to find a
way to make
student So excited
about reading. She
enjoys it and is
good at it, but
often lacks to
confidence to
practice out loud.
So much of
fluency and
reading is learned
orally.

ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT

October 27, 2015

Session 3: 30
mins.

-Vowel Sounds
Assessment
-Blending
Digraphs
-Blending
Assessment

Student So is
making a lot of
improvement
and I am very
impressed. She
is interested in
what she is
learning and
eager to know
more. Every
week I make it
a little bit
harder to
challenge her
and she still
does great!
Next week I am
going to do a
choral reading
with her
because I think
she can handle
it.

9
families
assessment when I
get lets of ending
sounds laid out
such as et, it, in,
ed, ad, ip, etc.
and student So
would read the
word then place it
in the word
category. She did
30 words and
received no help
the entire time.
-During the vowel
sounds student So
knew nine out of
eleven. The long
vowel short vowel
was introduced for
the first time so
knowing nine was
great. I wanted to
slowly introduce
them so that I
could assess her
during a later
week.
-We practice
blending digraphs
such as: ch, sh, so,
wh, th, etc. The
beginning sounds
were missing from
words and she told
me which digraph
she heard. Student
So got 16 out of
16. I was
impressed!
-For the blending
assessment she
knew the sounds
of the words I
would say but
often mixed up c

-Next time we
will work on
phonics and
choral reading. I
will allow
student So to
pick a book she
is comfortable
with and I will
also pick one.
After, I will give
her an
assessment in
phonics.

-I am seeing a lot
of improvement
with student So
and I am very
happy with the
way she is
listening and
participating in the
assessments. I will
continue to
increase the
challenge and push
student So to
improve because
she is very close to
the next learning
level.

ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT

November 3,
2015.
Session 4: 35
mins.

-Word Works
(sight words)
-Choral reading
-Phonemic
Awareness
Assessment

and k or only
said one of them
for ck. Also, the
vowel sounds e
and I are still
sometimes hard
for student So
which is a normal
mix up for
kindergarteners.
Student So is
-For sight words
making lots of
we practices
progress and
written numbers,
today my
colors, and muds
teacher moved
words that the
her up to the
student has in her
next reading
classroom. There
level in
were 54 total sight
kindergarten,
words I assessed
level C. I am
student So on. For
very impressed the first round she
and hope that I got 36 out of 54
can keep
and only missed
challenging her. (or needed help
with) 18. Then,
without going over
the 18 she missed,
I assessed her
again and she got
9 out of 18. To
finish I shared
with her the other
9 words and we
practiced using
them in sentences,
pronouncing them,
and recognizing
them.
-We read a book
together today as
well, that is on her
reading level. I
read the book all
the way through.
Then, I would read
a page and she

10

-Next time we
will work on
reading more
books and
allowing sight
words, blending,
and phonemic
awareness skills
to our reading. I
think this will
help her start to
begin fluency
and
understanding
sentences.

-I think student So
is very confident
now because she
noticing her own
improvement and
is excited about it.
I keep trying to
give her a harder
challenge, but each
week she is
passing. I think
this also has to do
with the extra
reading she is
doing at home,
too.

ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT

November 17,
2015
Session 5: 20
mins.

-Phonemic
Awareness
-Phoneme
Segmentation
-Rhyme
Choice
-Rhyme
Supply
-Onset and
Rime
-Phoneme
Blending

Student So has
started to warm
up more and
more in our
session and in
the last one
today she was
very engaged
and actively
listening.

11
would repeat me.
Finally, she read
the book to me on
her own with little
to no help.
-For the phonemic
awareness
assessment we
practice
recognizing the
final sound and
then the added
sound/deleted
sound. Student So
got a 10/10 on
both of these
sections and
received no help.
-This student did
very well on all of
her assessments.
She received a 10
out of 10 on that
last two which are
most important for
her growth.

-This was my
last session with
student So, but I
will continue to
read with her in
class and work
one on one to
help her
improve.

-I am very
impressed with the
progress that
student So has
made and she is
gaining a lot of
confidence as a
reader. I can tell
she will continue
to progress.

ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT

12

Student St
Date/Time Spent
October 6, 2015
Session 1:
25 mins.

Strategy
Incorporated
-Elementary
Reading
Attitude Survey
-Marie Clays
Hearing and
Recording
Sounds in
Words

Anecdotal
Observation
Student St is
very excited
about school
and I can tell
she is eager to
learn how to
read. I have
noticed she
loves being
pulled out and
working
individually
with myself or
her teacher, so I

Assessment
Data
-From the survey
I could tell that
this student likes
to read. She
expressed that
she wants to
improve on
putting letters
together to make
words.
-I gave this
student a letter
recognition
assessment and

Plan for Next

Session
-I will give the
student a word
family
assessment and
include some
sounds in the
game as well.
-The student
will also play
an ABC
matching game
to help her
recognize
letters.

Reflect/Respond
-I need to find a
way to help the
alphabetic stick in
student Sts mind!
She is so close and
can sing the entire
alphabet song,
however, she still
struggles with
recognizing letters
outside of
alphabetical order.

ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT

hope I get good
practice time
out of her
positive
attitude!

October 19, 2015

Session 2: 30
mins.

November 3,
2015.
Session 3 and 4:
40 mins.

-Word Families
Assessment
-Match up
ABCs
Assessment
-Phonics
Assessment

Student St is
still very shy
when we talk
one-on-one.
During the
assessments
she is quick to
answer and
interact with
the game or
objective,
however, at the
end when I ask
her questions
about her
growth she
doesnt really
know.

-Vowel Sounds
Assessment
-Blending
Digraphs
-Blending

Student St was
out sick for the
last session so
today we did a
little bit of

13
she knew 21
upper case letters
prior to the
assessment, but
got 25 correct.
On the other
hand, she knew
20 lower case
letters and got 22
correct on the
assessment. In
total she knew 47
out of 52 total.
-I also assessed
her on sounds,
but she needs
more improve on
letter recognition
before beginning
that.
-I gave this
student the ABC
match assessment
and she was so
quick to know
her alphabet and
sounds, which is
a change since
the first time we
met. She didnt
get a single letter
or sound wrong
-I also noticed
that when we
worked on word
families this
student would
mix up letters b
and d in the
words.
-I was surprised
to notice that
student St picked
up the vowel
sounds very

-This student
needs to
practice
blending and
confident. I
want to practice
her speech
when she talks
and get her used
to reading out
loud and talking
in front of
adults.
-I will give
student St a
blending
assessment and
short vowel
assessment
-For the next
session we will
practice more
sight words and
then I will give

-I need to help
student St not give
up. A lot of times
she knows every
sound in a word,
but gets frustrated
when she is trying
to blend them and
then says, I dont
know instead of
figuring it out. I
want to help her
with confidence
and teach her how
to determine the
answers instead of
saying she doesnt
know. This will
help her be an
individual problem
solver.
-Student St had
more confidence
than she normally
does and she had a
great attitude about

ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT

Assessment
(Session 3)
-Word Works
(sight words)
-Choral reading
-Phonemic
Awareness
Assessment
(Session 4)

everything. I
think she was
absorbing a lot
of information
today being as
she was so
concentrated
and focused on
what we were
talking about
and was eager
to catch back
up.

14
quickly.
Learning them
and remembering
some of the rules
I taught her will
come with time,
but she did very
well.
-Diagraphs
werent much of
a struggling
either. She asked
a lot of questions
about when we
use the ch and
th which was
great because it
showed me she
was interested
and learning.
-I reviewed
number words
and color words
with student St
and then assessed
her on 54 sight
words. She knew
33 and didnt
know 21. I went
over some of the
words she missed
and then we
reviewed them
together one last
time.
-We read a book
together and I
read it through
once, then she
echoed me, then
she read it
through by
herself.
-At the end of the
session I gave her
a phonemic

her a couple
more
assessments.
Also, its
important she
keeps reading to
gain confidence
and become
comfortable
doing it.

catching up. I tried

not to push her too
hard because then
she shuts down and
acts like she doesnt
know things when I
know she does.

ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT

November 17,
2015
Session 5: 20
mins.

-Phonemic
Awareness
-Phoneme
Segmentation
-Rhyme
Choice
-Rhyme
Supply
-Onset and
Rime
-Phoneme
Blending

It was great to
be back with
student St and I
feel as though
we picked up
right where we
left off. I can
tell she is still
improving. In
fact, since I
first began
working with
her she has
now moved up
two reading
levelsfrom
pre A to B.
Also, Mrs.
Robinson said
she is working
to try and push
her to a C
reading level; I
am very
impressed!

15
awareness
assessment on
ending sound and
deleted/added on
beginning
sounds. Student
St received a
score of 10/10 on
both assessments.
-For phoneme
segmentation I
would say a word
and student St
would then break
apart the word
into sounds she
heard. She
received an 8 out
of 8 on this
assessment. This
included words
such as: pat, lip,
fight, joke, mean,
etc.
-For the
assessment
named rhyme
choice, I said two
words and
student St would
say yes if they
rhymed and no
if they did not.
For example,
when I said, sit
and fit she
replied yes,
and when I said,
tie and van and
replied no.
Student St
received an 8 out
of 8.
-Rhyme supply is
an assessment
where student So

-This was my
last session with
student St, but I
will continue to
read with her in
class and work
one on one to
help her
improve.

-I am very
impressed with the
progress that
student St has made
and cant wait to
see how much more
she will learn in the
coming weeks. It
was a pleasure
working with her
and I look forward
to more of it!

ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT

16
had to generate
the rhyming
words on her
own. I would say
two words that
rhymed and she
would think of a
third. She got an
8 out of 8 on the
assessment and
came up with
words such as
bake, see, and
bill.
-Onset and rime
and phoneme
blending were
aced as well for
this student. She
received a 16 out
of 16 and knew
words such as
wave, soft, dust,
jump, etc.

ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT

17

Student H
Date/Time Spent
October 14, 2015

Strategy
Incorporated
-Elementary
Reading
Attitude
Survey
-Yopp-Singer
Test of
Phoneme
Segmentation

Anecdotal
Observation
Student H was
absent the first
time I did initial
assessments,
however, I
could tell she
was feeling
better and was
happy to be
back at school.
She seems
insecure about
reading and it
makes me think
she already
thinks she
isnt a good
reader so she
isnt motivated
to try.

Assessment Data
-I could tell from
the survey that
this student likes
to be interactive
with books. She
expressed that
books with
stickers, flaps,
and other
interactive pages
are enjoyable to
her. Also, she
talked a lot about
her older sister
who is reading a
lot in second
grade and said
that she isnt
excited about
chapter books.
-I also
administered the
Yopp-Singer test
and found that
this student got
14 out of 22 total
points. This
assessment tested

Plan for Next

Session
-I will give this
student an
assessment on
letter
recognition
because I am
interested to
see how many
she actually
knows. -Also,
I will attempt
to play a game
on sounds so
that student H
can feel more
confident with
pronunciation
and be more
willing to try.

Reflect/Respond

-I need to get stu

H more confiden
She seems like sh
very defeated wh
it comes to readin
and only apprecia
it when it is
interactive and no
necessary a learn
activity. Her atti
motivates me to
want the best for
My plan is to kee
searching for
assessments and
games that are fu
and help her lear

ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT

October 19, 2015

Session 2: 30
mins.

October 27, 2015

Session 3: 30
mins.

18

-Word
Families
Assessment
-Match up
ABCs
Assessment
-Phonics
Assessment

This student is
very confident,
but isnt excited
about learning
to read. She
talks a lot about
her older sister
and how she
can read, but
doesnt seem
interested about
learning for
herself. Today
she was very
engaged, yet at
some moments
she became
easily frustrated
with herself.

-Vowel
Sounds
Assessment

Student H had a
really hard
session today

the student on
syllables and I
noticed that
instead of trying
or messing up,
she just simple
stated she didnt
know.
-This student was
very confident in
her alphabet and
didnt miss any
letters or sounds
except for G.
Something that
she did was give
up when she
didnt know and I
continuously
encouraged her to
use what she
knows to
determine the
next letterand
she would
without
hesitation.
- I worked on
word families
with this student
and words like
can, red , and
pat she
recognized
without having to
sound them out.
Other times she
would get the
entire letter
sounds right, but
them struggle
pronouncing the
word.
-Vowel blending
went well,
however, student

-I will give this

student a
blending
assessment and
a short vowel
assessment to
help with
pronunciation
and to
hopefully
make her a
smooth, fluent
reader.

-This student is v
hard on herself w
she doesnt know
answer; however
have observed th
when she does fi
it out she is very
motivated. I nee
continue to figure
out what motivat
her and learn how
improve her
confidence.

-I will back
track with this
student. I have

-I have spoken w
the teacher and
learned that a lot

ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT

November 3,
2015.
Session 4: 35
mins.

19

-Blending
Digraphs
-Blending
Assessment

and got very

frustrated and
gave up towards
the end. After
talking with the
teacher I am
noticing that I
will have to
back track and
present old
material in new
ways so she can
comprehension
it better.

-Word
Works (sight
words)
-Choral
reading
-Phonemic
Awareness
Assessment

Student H had a
much better
session than last
week. Today
she was very
attentive and
was catching
onto things a lot
faster. I dont
anything about
her home life;
however, she
talks about her
sister a lot and
compares her
learning to her
sisters.

H still need to be
confident. I have
learned that she
doesnt like when
new material is
presented.
Student H only
knew five out of
eleven vowel
sounds (short and
long).
-I said the
blending words
and digraphs and
student H
listened. She gave
up and was
frustrated with
herself.
-Student H knew
all of the blending
words I read to
her except she
confused thin
with fin.
-When reviewing
the colors and
numbers student
H knew all the
colors. Great!
However, for
numbers she
struggled with
eight, seven, and
one. When I
assessed her on
the 54 words she
knew 32 and
missed 22. I went
through some of
her missed ones
and then she got 7
of them. So, I
reviewed the
remaining.
-We read a book.

noticed she
may be ready
to move on,
but unless she
feels ready to
move on it will
be too hard and
she will give
up. I will go
back to word
families and
present them in
a new and
exciting way to
show student H
that she really
does know
them.

things are done f

student H at hom
so in school she
often expects the
same thing. I can
give up when
student H gives u
have to keep pus
her to make her
confident!

-Next time I
want to work
with student H
on sight words
again. I dont
want her to be
memorizing
letters and
making words,
or even
guessing, I just
want her to
notice to letters
and tell me if a
familiar word.

-Overall, I have
noticed great
improvement and
think that her
confidence
increasing the les
she gets frustrate
with herself.

ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT

November 17,
2015
Session 5: 20
mins.

-Phonemic
Awareness
-Phoneme
Segmentation
-Rhyme
Choice
-Rhyme
Supply
-Onset and
Rime
-Phoneme
Blending

20
I read to her, she
echoed, and then
she read to me. It
was fun listening
to her read and
improve.
-During the
phonemic
awareness
assessment
student H got a
10/10 for both
deletion and
adding on
beginning sounds.
I dont think she
is quite ready to
move up, but she
is getting close.
Student H is
-Student H
gaining a lot
received an 8 out
more
of 8 on the
confidence each phoneme
time I meet with segmentation
her and today I portion of the
was very
assessment. She
impressed with was able to make
how focused
words such as
she was.
tub, joke, sock,
Recently, I had etc., when I said
been struggle
the sounds.
with her
-For rhyme
inability to
choice, student H
concentrate,
was able to tell
however lately
me which pairs of
it has been
words rhymed
awesome.
and didnt rhyme.
She got an 8 out
of 8 on this
assessment and
knew that words
like down and
clock did not
rhyme.
-Rhyme supply
was a little bit

-This was my
last session
with student H,
however I plan
to still work
one on one
with her in the
classroom.
She is slowly
improving and
I am very
impressed with
her eagerness.

-The past couple

sessions for stude
H were difficult
because she easil
gets frustrated wi
herself. Today,
thought, I was ab
to leave the sessi
confident that she
eager to learn and
that made me pro

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21
more difficult for
student H. I
found that she
had more trouble
when she had to
think of the
rhyming words
on her own. She
came up with
words like zee
and wug. For
this assessment I
gave her a 6 out
of 8.
-On the last
assessment for
onset and rime
and phoneme
blending student
H got a 16 out of
16. She knew
words like cut,
jog, and mouse.

Strategies Used
1.
2.
3.
4.

Sight Word Recognition

Guided Reading
Choral Reading
Blending Diagraphs

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22

5. Vowel Sound Match up

6. Rhyming Picture Clues
Lessons/Assessments Used
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Elementary Reading Attitude Survey

Yopp-Singer Test of Phoneme Segmentation
Word Families Assessment
Match up ABCs Assessment
Phonics Assessment
Vowel Sounds Assessment
Blending Assessment
Phonemic Awareness Assessment
Phonemic Awareness: phoneme segmentation, rhyme choice, rhyme supply, onset/rimes,
phoneme blending
10. Marie Clays Hearing and Recording Sounds in Words

Name: _________________________________
Date

Today, we did...

I feel that I

I improved
in

I need to work on

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Final Assessment Reflection

Administered: November 17, 2105

23

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24

Student So
Student So is a very shy, sweet kindergartener who has grown immensely in just the few
short weeks I have been working with her. She has grown in her confidence and ability to read
fluently. During our first session together, Student So struggled trying to read a level A book for
kindergarten. Her words were choppy and she spoke so softly I could barely hear her. During
our last session, Student So read with much more confidence and even if she didnt know a word,
she still sounded it out so I could hear. The embarrassment of not knowing how to read is gone,
and I feel as though one-on-one interventions really benefited her. I also believe that Student So
learned several new sight words and diagraphs, which help her smoothness. In the future
Student So will still need more expression in her readings. No confidence combined with
shyness does not help this student, so, she needs to focus on expression in the future now that she
has gained more confidence as a reader. I really enjoyed working with Student So and I am
excited to watch her grow even more as a reader.
Student St
I was extremely happy after my last session with Student St. The sad part was that it was
over, but the happy part was how much she has drastically changed as a learner since the very
first time we met. Student St was shy at the beginning, but I think it was because she didnt
know me very well, or know what I expected from her. Throughout the weeks she has really
opened up and expressed a love for reading and learning. I researched assessments, looking for
ones that would challenge her, but she aced almost every single one. I used different strategies
with Student St because I knew she would remember them and practice them in the classroom
and at home. When she first started she was on reading level A for kindergarten and my teacher
said she just needed a little push to jump to level B. Well, five sessions later Student St is now a

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level C reader. She has bumped up two levels since I first started reading with her. Of course,
this boosted her confidence and eagerness to read. Everyday she would ask me if we were going
to practice. My hope is that Student St will continue to grow and become a distinguished and
fluent reader.
Student H
Student H started off her first session with a lot of confidence. She came in talking about
how amazing her big sister was at reading. I did the Elementary Reading Survey with Student H
and found that she was only interested in books with stickers and activities. We did a choral
reading once or twice and she was loud, expression, and attentive. However, when asked to read
the book on her own (level A book) she struggled much more than I anticipated. Instead of
trying to sound out words on her own, she would simply say, I dont know. I started to use fun
strategies to engage Student H because I quickly learned that was how I was going to keep her
focused. Also, I learned that she gets defeated very easily and giving her hard assessments back
to back to back would not have benefited her. Slowly and surely she began to get excited about
the sessions and open up to the idea of learning to read. She is still on a level A reading level but
through one-on-one intervention I believe she has gained more focus, desire, and confidence as a
reader.

Student Progress Monitoring Chart

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1000%
900%
800%
700%
600%
Error Rate

500%

Column1

400%
300%
200%
100%
0%
Student So

Student St

Student H

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Improving Phonemic Awareness:

A Review For The Early Stages Of Reading
Dabney Chitwood
Samford University

Abstract:

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28

The purposes of this paper are to analysis the research found among studies and examine the
evidence supporting the impact of phonemic awareness on young readers. This paper reviews
six strategies that the National Reading Panel (NRP) discussed that have improved phonemic
awareness instruction through practice. These six instructional practices included, but are not
limited to, phoneme isolation, phoneme identity, phoneme categorization, phoneme blending,
phoneme segmentation, and phoneme deletion (Report of the National Reading Panel, 2000).
This paper will touch on the designed experiment by the National Reading Panel that shows how
phonemic awareness is a direct result in helping students read. Experimental studies and control
groups by the NRP provide strong evidence through five steps to help phonemic awareness
instructional strategies that this paper will also explore.
Keywords: phoneme, phonemic awareness instructional practices, strategies

Improving Phonemic Awareness:

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A Review For The Early Stages Of Reading

The National Reading Panel (NRP) defines phonemes as the smallest units constituting
spoken language and phonemic awareness as the ability to focus on and manipulate phonemes
in spoken words (Report of the National Reading Panel, 2000). Therefore, phonemic awareness
is thought to contribute to helping students learn to read because the English writing system is
alphabetic. This instruction qualifies as teaching students to segment and blend sounds with
letters using a variety of strategies. Every student learns phonemic awareness with a different
recognition tool. For example, some understand deletion versus isolation, while others
understand segmenting versus blending. The overall goal is for all students to be able to
distinguish the separate phonemes in pronunciations of words through a system that works
(Report for National Reading Panel, 2000). In order to effectively reach this goal, teachers have
to effectively teach phonemic awareness in the classroom. Thus researchers have identified six
instructional strategies that teachers can incorporate into instruction so beginning readers can
increase their reading skills.
The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) says that
phonemic awareness is the ability to notice, think about, and work with the individual sounds in
spoken words (Armbruster et al., 2001). Many researchers have claimed that before children
learn to read and write they must become aware of their sounds. The children who have
phonemic awareness skills are more likely to have an easier time learning to read and spell than
children who have few or none of these skills (Armbruster et al., 2001). One misconception,
however, that the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) stated
was phonemic awareness and phonic awareness are not the same thing. Phonemic awareness is
the understanding of spoken words; phonic awareness is the relationship between letters in

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written words. Teachers can use six different instructional practices to build phonemic
awareness in early readers. The National Reading Panel (NRP) identified these as follows:

Phoneme isolation: the ability to recognize individual sounds in words

Phoneme identity: the ability to recognize common sounds in different words
Phoneme categorization: the ability to recognize the odd word in a sound sequence out of

four or five words

Phoneme blending: the ability to listen to a sequence of separately spoken sounds and

combine them to recognize a word

Phoneme segmentation: the ability to break apart words into sounds by tapping, clapping,

or counting as each sound is pronounced

Phoneme deletion: the ability to recognize what word remains when a specified phoneme
is removed
Phonemic awareness is most effective when children are taught to manipulate phonemes

by using letters from the alphabet (International Reading Association & the National
Association for the Education of Young Children, 1998). There are multiple activities to
develop phonemic awareness such as: scavenger hunts, syllables games, nursery rhymes, etc.
One study from the NRP found that the length of time spend on phonemic awareness was
influential. Students who spent 5 to 18 hours produced larger understandings than students
who spent a shorter amount of time (Report for National Reading Panel, 2000). Also, when
students were taught phonemic awareness in small groups, their learning was greater than
when they were taught individually or in classrooms.
There are different ways to incorporate phonemic awareness instruction in the classroom
using the strategies listed above. First, most experts say instruction should be child appropriate,
based on age and grade level (International Reading Association & the National Association for
the Education of Young Children, 1998). Storytelling, rhymes, and riddles all engage students in
an interactive and social atmosphere. This type of instruction should stimulate curiosity and

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experimentation with language (Yopp, 1992). Secondly, phonemic awareness instruction should
be deliberate and purposeful (International Reading Association & the National Association for
the Education of Young Children, 1998). Playful and engaging activities will be most effective
with the goal of developing phonemic awareness in mind. Thus, in addition to child appropriate
practice, instruction should also be intentional in the classroom. Finally, phonemic awareness
should be viewed as only one part of a larger literacy system (International Reading Association
& the National Association for the Education of Young Children, 1998). This instruction will not
be beneficial to students unless it is placed in the context of real reading and writing practices.
Teachers must recognize that phonemic awareness is only one outcome of many in literacy
development. Overall, teachers are encouraged by experts to provide their students with rich
environments in which written and spoken language are used to learn, communicate, and express
ideas (Yopp, 1992).

References:
Armbruster, B. B., Lehr, F., & Osborn, J. (2001). Put reading first [electronic resource]:
the research building blocks for teaching children to read : kindergarten through grade 3
/ [writers, Bonnie B. Armbruster, Fran Lehr, Jean Osborn]. [Washington, D.C.] :

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National Institute for Literacy, National Institute of Child Health and Human
Development, U.S. Dept. of Education. 42-47.
Blending and Segmenting. (n.d.). Reading Rockets. Retrieved October 10, 2015.
International Reading Association and the National Association for the Education of Young
Children. (1998). Learning to read and write: Developmentally appropriate practices for
young children: A joint position statement of the International Reading Association (IRA)
and the National Association for the Education of Young Children. Newark, DE: Author.
National Reading Panel. (NRP). (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel: Teaching
Children to Read : An evidence-based Assessment of the Scientific Research
Literature on Reading and its Implications for Reading Instruction. National Institute of
Child Health and Human Development, 1-15.
Walsh, R. (2009). Word games: the importance of defining phonemic awareness for professional
discourse. Australian Journal Of Language & Literacy, 32(3), 211-225.
Yopp, H.K. (1992). Developing phonemic awareness in young children. The Reading Teacher,
45, 696703.

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