LETRS Unit 2 Session 7 Check for Understanding
In this session of LETRS Unit 2, the focus is on the vital connection between phonological awareness and orthographic mapping. Phonological awareness, the ability to recognize and manipulate sounds, serves as the foundation for orthographic mapping, the process that allows students to store words in their memory for automatic recognition.
This session explores how these skills interact to support reading fluency and provides strategies for teachers to help students develop into confident readers.
LETRS Unit 2 Session 7: Phonological Awareness and Orthographic Mapping
QUESTION:
Students in Ehri’s prealphabetic phase need instruction in basic oral language skills before manipulating phonemes.
ANSWER:
True
QUESTION:
Which of the following principles are important for teaching phonological skills in particular? Select all that apply.
a.) Focus students’ attention on speech sounds before focusing on letters.
b.) Do a few brief activities once per week.
c.) Withhold feedback from students, so as not to discourage them.
d.) Include all English phonemes in instruction.
ANSWER:
a.) Focus students’ attention on speech sounds before focusing on letters.
d.) Include all English phonemes in instruction.
QUESTION:
Which activities work with students at the early phonological awareness level? Select all that apply.
a.) having students identify rhyming words in texts you read aloud
b.) having students clap or tap to count the syllables in a word you say
c.) saying a word, then asking students to change the first or last phoneme and say the new word that results
d.) saying a two-syllable word, then asking students to delete one syllable and say the word that results
ANSWER:
a.) having students identify rhyming words in texts you read aloud
b.) having students clap or tap to count the syllables in a word you say
d.) saying a two-syllable word, then asking students to delete one syllable and say the word that results.
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Spanish has 22 phonemes represented by 27 symbols, compared to english’s 44 phonemes and 26 symbols.
QUESTION:
What level of phonological or phonemic awareness is Anna demonstrating?
early
basic
advanced
ANSWER:
early
QUESTION:
What level of phonological or phonemic awareness is Javier demonstrating?
ANSWER:
early
QUESTION:
What level of phonological or phonemic awareness is Ronaldo demonstrating?
early
basic
advanced
ANSWER:
basic
QUESTION:
What is the first and primary focus of teaching phonemic awareness?
a. teaching students to name the letters of the alphabet
b. teaching students specific phonemes and how they feel in the mouth
c. teaching students to pair phonemes to letters (graphemes)
ANSWER:
b
QUESTION:
Classroom phonemic awareness exercises should be:
a. completely auditory.
b. completely auditory, with some visual components.
c. multisensory, involving hearing, sound, touch, and movement.
ANSWER:
c
QUESTION:
Which item would you use to show students how to articulate specific phonemes?
a. a mirror
b. colored tiles
c. an alphabet chart
ANSWER:
a
QUESTION:
Which English phonemes can be omitted from phonological awareness instruction?
a. diphthongs like /oi/ and /ow/
b. the /sh/ and /ch/ sounds
c. none; all should be taught
ANSWER:
c
QUESTION:
Which is the best approach to planning phonological awareness instruction?
a. Plan a brief session (5-10 minutes) each day.
b. Plan a moderately long session (15-20 minutes) each week.
c. Plan extended sessions (20-30 minutes) several times per month.
ANSWER:
a
QUESTION:
Ms. Ogle had students blend “contest,” “happen,” and “winter.” How did she exemplify good phonological awareness instruction?
a. She was careful to limit the activity to words of only two syllables.
b. She used movement; students made fists and then brought their hands together.
c. She did the activity with a small group, rather than with the entire class.
ANSWER:
b
QUESTION:
In early phonological awareness alliteration exercises, how important is explaining that different letters make the same sound (e.g., Fussy PHil)?
a. Not important; students don’t need to know how the words are spelled.
b. Somewhat important; students should know different ways to spell /f/.
c. Very important; students should associate letters with specific sounds.
ANSWER:
a
QUESTION:
Which series of activities represents the best instructional progression for children at the early phonological awareness level?
a. clap syllables in two-syllable words; combine base words into compounds; divide words into onset-rime
b. divide words into onset-rime; clap syllables in compound words; delete onsets from rimes
c. delete syllables from compounds; clap syllables in three-syllable words; divide words into onset-rime.
ANSWER:
c
QUESTION:
As she had students identify the sounds in “gum,” Ms. Howell touched her throat when saying the sounds. Why?
a. to keep students from getting bored with the activity
b. to follow the I DO, WE DO, YOU DO instructional sequence
c. to draw students’ attention to how the /g/ sound is articulated
ANSWER:
c
QUESTION:
Which of the following pairs of words is more difficult for students who are struggling with phonology to discriminate, segment, and blend?
a. “bed” and “moth,” because the final sound is spelled with a digraph
b. “chomp” and “lump,” because the final sounds are consonant blends
c. “glad” and “frog,” because the first sounds are consonant blends
ANSWER:
b
QUESTION:
Students in Ehri’s prealphabetic phase need instruction in basic oral language skills before manipulating phonemes.
true
false
ANSWER:
true
QUESTION:
Sound chaining should begin with substituting the middle sounds and end sounds in a word, as these are most difficult.
true
false
ANSWER:
false
QUESTION:
The students most likelu to benefit from strategy instruction are those who (Select all that apply):
are in grades four and above; have accquired good decoding skills but aren’t familiar with a particular stratgey
QUESTION:
The best time to employ strategy instruction is when:
ANSWER:
students are ready for it, in the context of lessons with a larger purpose
QUESTION:
Which of these steps in the “gradual release of responsibility” of strategy instruction is out of sequence?
ANSWER:
The teacher models the thinking process by thinking aloud.
QUESTION:
Good readers tend to move on, even when the passage is not making sense to them.
ANSWER:
false
QUESTION:
“Imagine what would happen if the polar ice caps melted” is an example of what type of question?
ANSWER:
Creating
QUESTION:
Case Study – Anna
Anna just finished first grade. When she reads, her substitutions (e.g., “house” for horse) show she recognizes onset and final letter sounds but not middle sounds. Sight word recognition (e.g., the) is limited. Even when she writes simple words, spelling errors make her writing difficult to read. A spelling inventory shows errors with vowels (e.g., “deg” for dig) and consonant blends (e.g., “sak” for stick). She can identify initial and final sounds accurately and automatically.
What level of phonological or phonemic awareness is Anna demonstrating?
ANSWER:
Early
QUESTION:
Case Study – Javier
Javier is in the middle of second grade. He loves writing long, creative stories. In them, he correctly spells words like complete and interest and uses invented spelling for words like “fabulus” and “bilding.” A spelling inventory shows competence with blends, digraphs, trigraphs, and suffixes, and a few mistakes with vowel teams (e.g., “coche” for coach). He reads accurately and fluently with good comprehension. He easily performs phoneme substitution activities (e.g., “Say slip, then change /ĭ/ to /ŏ/.”).
What level of phonological or phonemic awareness is Javier demonstrating?
ANSWER:
Advanced
QUESTION:
Case Study Ronaldo:
Ronaldo is in kindergarten. In pre-K, he learned most letter names and some letter sounds. Now, he knows all letters, can sound out CVC words (e.g., mat) and can tap and spell some CVC words. Given a decodable text that includes taught patterns, Ronaldo sounds out each word and then blends them as he reads word by word. A spelling inventory shows he can connect sounds to letter patterns in CVC words (e.g., fan, dig). He makes mistakes with harder words (e.g., “rop” for rope, “jem” for dream).
What level of phonological or phonemic awareness is Ronaldo demonstrating?
ANSWER:
Basic
QUESTION:
What is the first and primary focus of teaching phonemic awareness?
a. teaching students to name the letters of the alphabet
b. teaching students specific phonemes and how they feel in the mouth
c. teaching students to pair phonemes to letters (graphemes)
ANSWER:
b. teaching students specific phonemes and how they feel in the mouth
QUESTION:
Classroom phonemic awareness exercises should be:
a. completely auditory.
b. completely auditory, with some visual components.
c. multisensory, involving hearing, sound, touch, and movement.
ANSWER:
c. multisensory, involving hearing, sound, touch, and movement.
QUESTION:
Which item would you use to show students how to articulate specific phonemes?
a. a mirror
b. colored tiles
c. an alphabet chart
ANSWER:
a. a mirror
QUESTION:
Which English phonemes can be omitted from phonological awareness instruction?
a. diphthongs like /oi/ and /ow/
b. the /sh/ and /ch/ sounds
c. none; all should be taught
ANSWER:
c. none; all should be taught
QUESTION:
Which is the best approach to planning phonological awareness instruction?
a. Plan a brief session (5-10 minutes) each day.
b. Plan a moderately long session (15-20 minutes) each week.
c. Plan extended sessions (20-30 minutes) several times per month.
ANSWER:
a. Plan a brief session (5-10 minutes) each day.
QUESTION:
Ms. Ogle had students blend “contest,” “happen,” and “winter.” How did she exemplify good phonological awareness instruction?
a. She was careful to limit the activity to words of only two syllables.
b. She used movement; students made fists and then brought their hands together.
c. She did the activity with a small group, rather than with the entire class.
ANSWER:
b. She used movement; students made fists and then brought their hands together.
QUESTION:
In early phonological awareness alliteration exercises, how important is explaining that different letters make the same sound (e.g., Fussy PHil)?
a. Not important; students don’t need to know how the words are spelled.
b. Somewhat important; students should know different ways to spell /f/.
c. Very important; students should associate letters with specific sounds.
ANSWER:
a. Not important; students don’t need to know how the words are spelled.
QUESTION:
Which series of activities represents the best instructional progression for children at the early phonological awareness level?
a. clap syllables in two-syllable words; combine base words into compounds; divide words into onset-rime
b. divide words into onset-rime; clap syllables in compound words; delete onsets from rimes
c. delete syllables from compounds; clap syllables in three-syllable words; divide words into onset-rime.
ANSWER:
c. delete syllables from compounds; clap syllables in three-syllable words; divide words into onset-rime.
QUESTION:
As she had students identify the sounds in “gum,” Ms. Howell touched her throat when saying the sounds. Why?
a. to keep students from getting bored with the activity
b. to follow the I DO, WE DO, YOU DO instructional sequence
c. to draw students’ attention to how the /g/ sound is articulated
ANSWER:
c. to draw students’ attention to how the /g/ sound is articulated
QUESTION:
Which of the following pairs of words is more difficult for students who are struggling with phonology to discriminate, segment, and blend?
a. “bed” and “moth,” because the final sound is spelled with a digraph
b. “chomp” and “lump,” because the final sounds are consonant blends
c. “glad” and “frog,” because the first sounds are consonant blends
ANSWER:
b. “chomp” and “lump,” because the final sounds are consonant blends
QUESTION:
What is the primary purpose of doing sound chaining activities and minimal pairs activities with students?
a. getting them to attend carefully to specific phonemes, one at a time
b. strengthening phoneme-grapheme correspondences to improve spelling
c. ensuring that phonemic awareness activities are varied and multisensory
ANSWER:
a. getting them to attend carefully to specific phonemes, one at a time
QUESTION:
Dr. Tolman had students delete the first sound in “grow” and “sled.” What other words of equal difficulty could she use?
a. she, knee
b. clean, flip
c. scrimps, scramble
ANSWER:
b. clean, flip
QUESTION:
Students in Ehri’s prealphabetic phase need instruction in basic oral language skills before manipulating phonemes.
true
false
ANSWER:
true
QUESTION:
A colleague is going to start beginning sound chaining activities with students at the basic phonemic awareness level, using colored blocks to represent sounds. What is the most important guideline to follow?
a. Have students focus on adding or changing sounds before they practice deletion.
b. Have students add, change, delete, or move only ONE sound at a time.
c. Plan sound chains carefully so that they use only real words, never nonsense words.
d. Avoid using any words that include consonant digraphs or vowel teams (e.g., chip, cheap).
ANSWER:
b. Have students add, change, delete, or move only ONE sound at a time.
LETRS Unit 2 Session 7: Phonological Awareness and Orthographic Mapping
LETRS Unit 2 Session 7 focuses on the critical connection between phonological awareness and orthographic mapping, two essential components for developing fluent reading skills. Phonological awareness—the ability to recognize and manipulate the sound structure of language—is foundational to literacy. Orthographic mapping, the process of storing words in long-term memory for quick retrieval, enables students to recognize words instantly. This session explores how these two processes interact to help students transition from decoding words to reading them fluently and automatically. In this blog post, we will break down the key takeaways from Session 7 and discuss how teachers can support the development of these skills in their students.
Phonological Awareness: A Critical Literacy Skill
Phonological awareness is the ability to recognize and manipulate sounds in spoken language. It encompasses a range of skills, including the ability to break words into syllables, recognize rhymes, and isolate individual phonemes (sounds). Phonemic awareness, a subset of phonological awareness, specifically refers to the ability to hear and manipulate individual sounds in words.
Why Phonological Awareness Matters:
Phonological awareness is one of the strongest predictors of later reading success. Students who can manipulate sounds within words are better equipped to learn how letters represent sounds (phonics). This awareness helps them decode unfamiliar words and lays the foundation for spelling and reading fluency.
Levels of Phonological Awareness: Phonological awareness progresses through a series of levels, from basic to more complex skills:
- Word awareness: Recognizing that sentences are made up of individual words.
- Syllable awareness: Identifying and manipulating syllables in words.
- Onset-rime awareness: Recognizing the initial consonant sound (onset) and the following vowel and consonant sounds (rime) in a syllable (e.g., the onset /c/ and rime /at/ in “cat”).
- Phonemic awareness: Identifying, blending, segmenting, and manipulating individual phonemes within words.
Phonemic awareness, the most advanced level of phonological awareness, plays a crucial role in the development of reading and spelling skills. Children who master these skills are more likely to become confident, fluent readers.
Orthographic Mapping: Moving from Decoding to Fluency
While phonological awareness helps students understand how sounds work in language, orthographic mapping is the process that enables students to store written words in their long-term memory for instant recall. When a student successfully maps a word, they no longer need to sound it out every time they encounter it—they recognize it automatically.
Orthographic mapping occurs when students link the letters (graphemes) in a word to its corresponding sounds (phonemes) and then connect the whole word to its meaning. This process allows them to build a mental bank of known words, making reading more efficient.
Why Orthographic Mapping Matters:
Fluent readers can recognize words automatically without having to sound them out, which frees up cognitive resources for comprehension. Students who struggle with orthographic mapping may remain stuck in the decoding stage, making reading slow and laborious.
How Orthographic Mapping Develops:
- Letter-sound correspondence: Students learn that letters represent specific sounds.
- Phoneme-grapheme connection: Students begin to connect individual phonemes (sounds) to their corresponding graphemes (letters or letter combinations).
- Whole-word recognition: Over time, students start to recognize familiar words instantly, without needing to decode them letter by letter.
Orthographic mapping is not a skill that can be taught directly; rather, it develops naturally as students practice decoding and gain exposure to printed words. However, teachers can support the process by providing explicit phonics instruction, practicing high-frequency words, and encouraging reading fluency activities.
The Connection Between Phonological Awareness and Orthographic Mapping
Session 7 emphasizes the strong connection between phonological awareness and orthographic mapping. Phonological awareness serves as the foundation for successful orthographic mapping because students need to be able to manipulate sounds in order to map them onto letters. Without strong phonemic awareness, students struggle to connect spoken sounds to written symbols, which makes it difficult for them to store words in memory.
For orthographic mapping to take place, students must:
- Have strong phonemic awareness.
- Understand letter-sound relationships (phonics).
- Be able to blend and segment phonemes in words.
Why This Connection Is Important:
When students develop phonological awareness, they are equipped with the skills necessary to break words into their individual sounds. This, in turn, allows them to connect those sounds to the letters that represent them and store the word for future recognition. The better a student’s phonological awareness, the easier it is for them to map words orthographically.
Instructional Strategies for Teachers
In this session, LETRS provides valuable strategies for teachers to support both phonological awareness and orthographic mapping in the classroom:
- Phonemic Awareness Activities:
Teachers should incorporate daily practice in manipulating phonemes through blending, segmenting, and substituting sounds in words. Simple oral exercises, such as asking students to change the first sound in “bat” to make “cat,” can significantly strengthen their phonemic awareness skills. - Explicit Phonics Instruction:
Teaching students the systematic relationship between letters and sounds is key to developing orthographic mapping. Structured phonics programs, word sorts, and decoding activities help students understand the sound-symbol relationship. - Word Mapping Exercises:
Teachers can encourage students to map out words by breaking them into their sounds and writing the corresponding letters. This practice helps reinforce the connection between sounds and letters, making it easier for students to store the word in memory. - High-Frequency Word Practice:
Students should practice reading and writing high-frequency words until they recognize them instantly. Repeated exposure to these words in various contexts supports the development of orthographic mapping. - Multisensory Learning:
Using multisensory approaches, such as having students trace letters while saying the corresponding sounds, can reinforce the phoneme-grapheme connection. Engaging multiple senses helps solidify the orthographic mapping process.
Conclusion
LETRS Unit 2 Session 7 underscores the crucial link between phonological awareness and orthographic mapping in the development of reading fluency. By building strong phonemic awareness skills and providing explicit phonics instruction, teachers can support their students in transitioning from decoding to fluent, automatic reading. As students master these skills, they become more confident readers who can focus on comprehension rather than word recognition. Through targeted instructional strategies, educators can help their students unlock the full potential of reading fluency and literacy success.
