EDP 3273: REFLECTION 6

Language acquisition is the fundamental basis of my kindergarten class. These students are learning how to read, write and communicate with their peers. This covers both academic and social learning. This first year of their elementary education is vital in learning these three things and will help catapult them into the first grade and beyond. Without proper language acquisition, these children run the risk of being lost in the class and being behind when entering the next grade or having to repeat the grade all over again, also known as retention. How much of language acquisition has to do with the amount of time their parents put in to helping them learn?

Phonological and phonemic awareness are the main things that my CT and I have been working on with the students. Breaking words down to their phonemes is the basis of it all. According to EdPsych Modules, “Preschool and kindergarten teachers can teach phonological awareness skills through fun activities such as songs, nursery rhymes, and games (Irwin & Moore, 2014). Children who are exposed to activities such as these have better phonemic awareness as beginning readers” (Whitehurst & Lonigan, 1998; Yop & Yop, 2009) (Durwin & Reese-Webber, 2017, p. 136). Now that the students know most of their letters and sounds, my CT and I can play games and sing nursery rhymes with the students. Once the children fully understand how to break up a word into syllables they will start to be able to sound out words on their own, leading to beginning to read as well. The students that do not know all their letters and sounds yet get pulled aside by either the teacher or myself and get extra attention with flash cards or alphabet books. These two things and proven to be valuable resources in the classroom. What are some other activities that can help students that struggle with phonemic and phonological awareness?

Durwin, C., & Reese-Weber, M. (2017). EdPsych (6th ed., pp. 136). Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications, Inc.

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