Why is Phonemic Awareness (PA) Important?

Phonemic Awareness is a crucial skill for learning to read. It involves recognizing that letters and letter combinations represent individual sounds, or phonemes. Without PA, the connection between sounds in words and the printed letters—known as the *alphabetic principle*—can be confusing and difficult to grasp.

Phonemic Awareness is vital for helping students become fluent readers. Children who have trouble decoding words or spelling may need explicit instruction in PA to improve their reading skills.

PA Skills Include:   Rhyming, alliteration, identifying words in sentences, blending and segmenting sounds, phoneme manipulation, syllables, and understanding initial, medial, and final sounds, as well as long and short vowels.

Reading Support offers Heggerty PA assessments. If a student’s PA percentile scores in 2nd grade or higher are not proficient, they will need additional intervention support.