In this activity, you will have the opportunity to develop your understanding of how the phonological awareness skills are taught and developed across the grade levels. You'll do this by examining what students learn in each grade based on the Common Core State Standards. Keep in mind that phonological awareness deals with sounds only, and a helpful way to remember this is that phonological awareness activities could be completed with both eyes closed! There is, however, one exception to this rule: for older readers (above first grade) who have a need with phonological or phonemic awareness, it can be helpful to teach these skills alongside phonics, so students are seeing the words as they listen to the sounds.

Why is it Important to Review Phonological Skills Across the Grades?

Understanding how the foundational skill standards increase in difficulty as students progress through each grade will help you to support your students develop proficiency in the foundational skills necessary for grade level reading. Below are the standards for Phonological Awareness in prekindergarten, kindergarten, and first grade. As you will see, we will only be looking at grades Pre-K through first grade for this skill because students are expected to master Phonological Awareness by the end of first grade. If students have not mastered phonological awareness skills by second grade, then phonological awareness skills should be taught alongside phonics. Phonological awareness skills should not be skipped since students who do not develop these skills may later struggle along their journey to becoming readers.

As you read through the skill progression, consider the following question:

How do the prekindergarten and kindergarten standards overlap? How do the Pre-K standards prepare students for kindergarten?
What are the differences in the standards for phonological awareness as students progress from kindergarten to first grade?

Phonological Awareness Scope and Sequence (CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.2)

Anchor Standard: Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables and sounds (phonemes)

Prekindergarten

Kindergarten

First Grade

Recognize rhyming words
Recognize when two or more words begin with the same sound (alliteration)
Count syllables in spoken words
Isolate and pronounce initial sounds
Segment single-syllable spoken words into phonemes

***The kindergarten skills listed above are part of the PA Early Childhood Education (ECE) standards, since PreK skills are not included in the Common Core Standards.

Recognize and produce rhyming words
Count, pronounce, blend and segment syllables in spoken words
Blend and segment onsets and rimes of single-syllable spoken words
Isolate and pronounce the initial, medial vowel, and final sounds (phonemes) in three-phoneme (consonant-vowel-consonant, or CVC) words¹ (This does not include CVCs ending with /l/, /r/, or /x/)
Add or substitute individual sounds (phonemes) in simple, one-syllable words to make new words.

Distinguish long from short vowel sounds in spoken single-syllable words
Orally produce single-syllable words by blending sounds (phonemes), including consonant blends
Isolate and pronounce initial, medial vowel, and final sounds (phonemes) in spoken single-syllable words
Segment spoken single-syllable words into their complete sequence of individual sounds (phonemes)

Now, think about the guiding question above and identify the differences in the learning skills for phonological awareness between kindergarten and first grade. Then click here to reveal a possible response.

Key Idea: Phonological awareness is an extremely important component of reading that is developed in the earliest grades. Strong phonological awareness is a key indicator of future reading success.

National Governors Association Center for Best Practices. (2021). ELA Common Core State Standard. Council of Chief State School Officers, Washington D.C.

Pennsylvania Learning Standards for Early Childhood: Pre-Kindergarten. (2014). Retrieved from https://www.pakeys.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/2014-Pennsylvania-Learning-Standards-for-Early-Childhood-PreKindergarten.pdf