A Phonological Awareness Program for Young Children

By Benita A. Blachman, Ph.D., Eileen Wynne Ball, Ph.D., Rochella Black, M.S., & Darlene M. Tangel, Ph.D.

For helping kindergartners and first graders who are having difficulty on their early literacy skills, Road to the Code is a successful, 11-week program for teaching phonemic awareness and letter sound correspondence. Developmentally sequenced, each of the 44 15-20-minute lessons features three activities — Say-It-and-Move-It, Letter Name and Sound Instruction, and Phonological Awareness Practice — that give students repeated opportunities to practice and enhance their beginning reading and spelling abilities. Road to the Code is backed by more than 10 years of study in kindergarten and first-grade classrooms.

Detailed scripted instructions and reproducible materials — such as Alphabet Picture and Sound Bingo cards — make this program easy for teachers to use. Teachers have the flexibility to work with students individually or in small groups and may adjust the amount of time it takes for a student to complete the program. With these proven phonological awareness activities, educators can confidently intervene before children have a chance to fail.

About the Authors

Preface and Acknowledgments

Introduction

• What is Phonological Awareness?
  
• What Makes Phonological Awareness Difficult?
  
• What Makes Learning to Read Difficult?
  
• Can Phonological Awareness Be Taught?
  
• Is Phonological Awareness Enough?
  
• Can This Program Be Adapted to Meet Individual Needs?
  
• A Word About Pacing
  
• Some Prerequisite Skills
  
• Getting Started

Lessons 1-44

Materials

• List of Materials
  
• Say-It-And-Move-It Sheets
  
• Jingles to Accompany Alphabet Cards
  
• Large Alphabet Picture Cards
  
• Small Alphabet Picture Cards
  
• Small, Plain Alphabet Cards
  
• Sound Categorization Cards
  
  By Rhyme
  By Initial Sound
  
• Sound Bingo Cards
  
• Elkonin Cards
  
• Sound Board Instructions

Frequently Asked Questions

References