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Phoneme Manipulation Activities

Teaching phonemic awareness is an important part of the Kindergarten curriculum. Not sure what phonemic awareness is? Read more about the importance of phonemic awareness here . There are five main activity types to practice in Kindergarten- rhyming and alliteration, phoneme categorization, oral blending, oral segmentation, and phoneme substitution. These strategies help students develop their phonemic awareness skills, which will help build strong readers. Today, I am sharing all about phoneme manipulation , plus some of my go-to phoneme manipulation activities for you to try with your students.

What is Phoneme Manipulation?

Phoneme Manipulation is “playing” around with the sounds in a word to make a new word. For example, the teacher may say a word “pot” and then ask the students to change the /p/ to /h/ to create a new word. The teacher will ask, “What’s the new word?” “Hot!” the students will yell. This takes a lot of modeling and practice for students to “get” before they can do it independently. So if you have to say the directions and guide the students to figuring out the word, then that’s totally fine! I’d say after a few weeks (yes, weeks!) the students will have it down. 

There are three main types of phoneme manipulation- sound substitution, sound deletion, and sound addition. You can check out a free guide here for more information on each type in this blog post: All About Phonological Awareness

Phoneme Manipulation Activity #1- Word Ladder

Word Ladders are a great way to practice phoneme manipulation with little to no supplies or prep time! Just draw out a ladder on a whiteboard or piece of paper. At the top, write one CVC word, like “pan”. Then give your students direction on how to change one sound in the word pan to make a new word. For example you might say, “change the /a/ to an /e/ sound, what word does it make?” Your students will have to then write the word “pen” underneath. Keep changing different sounds in the word to create new words, like shown above.

Phoneme Manipulation Activity #2- Sticky Notes

I love using sticky notes for everything! This one is great because students can physically move the sounds to create new words. On a whiteboard, draw three spots (or use washi tape to block it off). Then write one word inside. Using sticky notes, have students change the beginning, middle, or ending sound of a word to create a new word!

You can watch this in action here :

Phoneme Manipulation Activity #3- Apples and Bananas

Have you ever heard the song, Apples and Bananas? Well, this song actually practices phoneme manipulation by changing the short vowel sounds to long vowel sounds and from /a/ to /e/, and so on! A super easy activity is to just play this song and have your students sing along.

Here is the version I play for my students- Apples and Bananas by Super Simple Songs

Digital Activity- Phoneme Manipulation Boom Cards

Want to have your students practice phonemic awareness during independent centers? These Boom Cards™ were created so that your students can still practice phonemic awareness skills without having you there guiding them through it!

Students will listen to the directions and manipulate the word according to the directions. Then, they will click on the picture or word that they changed. Play a preview to try it out here !

If they get it correct, they hear a “ding!” and it will progress to the next card. You can also see how they do with each activity- how much time it takes them, how many they got right, how many times they played, etc. Learn more about Boom Cards™ here!

Check out the Phoneme Manipulation Boom Cards bundle here to find four activities that practice this phonemic awareness skill with your distance learners! You can play a sample of this deck here .

I hope that you found some new phoneme manipulation activities to try in your classroom!

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What Is Phoneme Manipulation? What Are Some Ideas For Teaching It?

• February 27, 2022

Have you heard of phoneme manipulation? Maybe you aren’t familiar with that term – but you’re already doing it with your students!

Phoneme manipulation is simply changing individual phonemes (sounds) in a word. An example would be if a student was asked to changed the /s/ in “sat” to /b/ –> and voila, we get “bat!” Phoneme manipulation falls under the umbrella of phonological awareness, the ability to hear and manipulate sounds in words. (A few other examples that fall under the phonological awareness umbrella: rhyming, sentence segmenting, onset & rime blending.) Here’s a graphic that shows this in more detail:

At the top, you’ll see phoneme manipulation. What this means is that it’s considered the most difficult of these tasks.

What this does not mean, however, is that a student must have all of the “easier” skills mastered before being introduced to phoneme manipulation.

Sidenote: these terms can all be a bit overwhelming, so if you’re in need of a quick refresher and some definitions, grab my FREE Phonics Guide.

In this article, I’ll explain the different types of phoneme manipulation. I’ll also provide some simple, quick activities for introducing phoneme manipulation to your students in a fun way!

What are the Types of Phoneme Manipulation?

There are three different types of phoneme manipulation. Within each type, you can vary the specific phoneme that you’re manipulating (example: 1st phoneme, last phoneme, etc.). Students may be ready for these activities at different times.

Phoneme Addition

• Initial phoneme: “Starting with the word ‘top,’ add /s/ to the beginning.” (top → stop)
• Final phoneme: “Starting with the word ‘for,’ add /t/ to the end.” (for → fort)
• Adding a phoneme to make a consonant blend: “Starting with the word ‘cap,’ add /l/ after /k/.” (cap → clap)

Phoneme Deletion

• Initial phoneme: “In the word ‘speck’ take away /s/.” (speck → peck)
• Final phoneme: “In the word ‘cart’ take away /t/.” (cart → car)
• Deleting second phoneme from a consonant blend: “In the word ‘slide’ take away /l/.” (slide → side)

Phoneme Substitution

• Initial phoneme: “In the word ‘sun,’ change the /s/ to an /r/.” (sun → run)
• Final phoneme: “In the word ‘lap,’ change the /p/ to a /b/.” (lap → lab)
• Medial phoneme: “In the word ‘get,’ change the /e/ to an /u/.” (get → gut)

With each of these skill sets, you can vary the level of difficulty. Students can begin with 2 or 3-sound words (i.e. VC or CVC words) and gradually move onto words with digraphs, blends, r-controlled vowels, etc. You may have many students ready to work on phoneme manipulation, but may need to differentiate what types of words you use.

What Are Some Activities for Teaching Phoneme Manipulation?

When I teach phoneme manipulation, I start with a basic model and then have students repeat the process. Here’s an example of each type of phoneme manipulation with this process:

• Substituting phonemes: “I’m going to say a word. Your job is to repeat it. Then we’ll switch out the first sound to make a whole new word. So, for example, we might use the word ‘rake,’ change the /r/ to /l/, and we get ‘lake.’ Ready? The word is ‘me.’ Repeat. (me) Me, change /m/ to /s/ and we get?” (see)
• Adding phonemes: “Let’s play a game. We’re going to add a sound after the first sound in a word. For example, let’s say I have the word ‘gab.’ Say ‘gab.’ (gab) Gab, add /r/ after /g/ and I get ‘grab.’ Do you hear how we added /r/ after the first sound to make ‘grab’? Okay, now you try. The word is ‘sake.’ Repeat. (sake) Sake, add an /n/ after /s/ and we get? (snake)”
• Deleting phonemes: “Now we’re going to take away the last sound in a word. For example, if we have the word ‘past’ and we take away the /t/ at the end we get ‘pass.’ Now it’s your turn. The word is ‘brand.’ Repeat. (brand) Brand, take away the /d/ and we get? (bran)”

Remember that this is all initially done with sounds (you might refer to them as “sound games” or “playing with sounds” when describing the activities to your students).

Even though a student might not be able to yet read a CVCe word, he/she can practice changing the short i in “rid” to a long i and make “ride.”

This can all be challenging to students, and that’s okay! Keep it fun, and just have them repeat after you until it clicks. And of course, keep in mind that taking phonological awareness abilities and applying them to reading and writing is the ultimate goal.

What Can You Do If Students Are Struggling?

Learning these skills takes time! Patience and repetition will be key. Here are a few tips to try in the meantime:

• See if using pictures/hands-on materials (like Elkonin boxes or counters for phonemes) is helpful
• Try having students close their eyes to focus only on the sounds
• Use the “I do, we do, you do” model for the same phonological awareness task (when ready, begin to remove supports)
• If working with a small group of students who are struggling, do fewer phonological awareness activities in one sitting

Strong phonological awareness typically leads to strong decoding skills. Phoneme manipulation is just one of the skills that can help students develop that phonological awareness.

If you need a bit more guidance on fitting this into your current literacy block and connecting it to your phonics instruction, take a look at this blog: How Your Phonological Awareness Instruction Should Connect to Your Phonics Instruction

I’d love to hear what other phoneme manipulation activities you use in your classroom! Feel free to share in the comments below! Happy teaching!

Related Posts:

I love the examples you shared! I appreciate the suggestions on what to do if you notice your student struggling, too. Thank you!

You’re so welcome!!

I’m Alison, a literacy specialist. I love getting kids excited about reading and writing – and sharing teaching ideas with other teachers!

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Ways to Teach Phoneme Manipulation Skills to Kids

Playing with sounds within words to create new words and sounds is fun! Although phoneme manipulation can be tricky to learn, it’s an immensely beneficial skill when it comes to reading and spelling.

Don’t sweat it if you haven’t heard the term phoneme manipulation before, it simply refers to the more advanced skills of phonemic awareness.

Phonemic awareness contains six layers that build from the simplest phonemic awareness skills at the bottom to the more complex phonemic tasks at the top. In the early years, these skills can be learned and practiced through oral wordplay and rhymes , read-alouds, story extensions, literacy games, and other fun early literacy activities. 

The beginning levels of phonemic awareness involve isolating, segmenting, and blending phonemes.  These are essential for learning to read and write. Read our post about these beginning-level phonemic skills explaining how to teach isolating, segmenting, and blending phonemes and ways you can help your child or student practice these important skills.

The top three layers are what make up the more advanced levels of phonemic awareness and involve, adding, deleting, and substituting phonemes, explained with examples further down in this post.

Don’t get bogged down by all the terms. It can sometimes be tough to keep them all straight, but if you keep reading, you’ll see that it is not quite as complicated as it all sounds.

What is Phoneme Manipulation?

Phoneme manipulation is the act of rearranging or changing individual sounds (phonemes) in a word to create new words (real or made-up).  This can be done by adding, deleting, or substituting phonemes.  A simple example is changing the /a/ phoneme in the consonant-vowel-consonant word (CVC word) ‘fan’ to a /u/ phoneme sound to create the word ‘fun’.

Phoneme manipulation is an advanced phonemic awareness skill and falls under the larger umbrella of phonological awareness. 

Children learn to add, delete, and substitute phonemes starting with words containing 2-3 phoneme sounds typically matching the letter count of the word. As they develop their language and literacy skills, the difficulty of these phoneme manipulation tasks can be increased.

The more complex levels of phoneme manipulation are not typically mastered until the end of grade three.

What are Examples of the Different Types of Phoneme Manipulation?

There are three types of phoneme manipulation: phoneme deletion, addition, and substitution. 

• Adding Phonemes: the process of making new words or sounds by adding a phoneme to an existing word or group of phoneme sounds.
• Deleting Phonemes: the process of making new words or sounds by removing a phoneme from an existing word or group of phoneme sounds.
• Substituting Phonemes: the process of making new words or sounds by changing out a phoneme n a word or group of phoneme sounds and replacing it with another one.  

Phoneme substitution is the most difficult type of phoneme manipulation and puts a higher demand on working memory. 

Working memory helps kids hold on to information long enough to use it. Poor working memory affects a variety of other skills including reading, language comprehension, and math. Working memory also plays an important role in concentration and in being able to follow more than one set of instructions.

Why is Phoneme Manipulation Important for Reading?

To understand why phoneme manipulation is important for learning to read, we need to understand a little about what makes a fluent reader. 

Fluency, alongside accuracy and speed, is an important marker for what determines how well someone can read – or at least apply their knowledge of letter-sound relationships to correctly pronounce written words (decode).

When children pick up on sound patterns and have good phonemic awareness, they are better equipped for when it comes time to learning the process of decoding words and figuring out unknown words as they increase in their level of reading. 

For example, let’s say a child who knows the word ‘beak’ later comes across the word ‘bleak’ which is unfamiliar to him/her.  To figure out how to pronounce this word, he/she can use their knowledge of the word ‘beak’ and known words that contain /bl/ sound at the beginning, such as ‘blast’ and ‘blocks’, and put this knowledge together to know how the addition of an /l/ sound after the initial consonant (/b/) will change the pronunciation of ‘beak’ to form ‘bleak’.

Practicing phoneme segmenting and blending activities also helps build fluency with reading and build children’s ability to hear the phoneme sounds in words or to hear the actual word the phoneme sounds create when combined.

When you are a fluent reader, you recognize a high percentage of words in a text instantly and effortlessly by sight. Letter-sound patterns and whole words become orthographically mapped in your brain and you do not need to labourously decode words by each individual sound (phoneme by phoneme). 

To be a strong reader, you also need good reading comprehension skills.  And a child’s comprehension skills are affected by their ability to decode.  If a child really struggles with decoding, their working memory is extremely taxed in trying to decode that often trying to also make sense of what the text is saying leads to cognitive overload.

A child’s exposure and knowledge of language and speech sounds immensely influences their ability to make the transition into reading printed text, with phoneme manipulation being a key marker for predicting reading proficiency.  

The Dynamic Duo

Help your little learner by using visual aids to discern the beginning, middle, or end sounds in words. Simple draw out boxes, and use manipulatives, in the style of Elkonin boxes.

Want to get more creative – click to discover lots of great ideas for tools for phonemic awareness tasks to keep your little learner enthusiastically engaged!

Phonemic awareness forms the foundation of literacy, and it’s okay if some children need more time to grasp it. Tailor your activities to your child or student’s developmental level and progress gradually as their skills improve.   Remember, small steps count! There is a lot of joy and power through positive reinforcement by celebrating small achievements along the way.

When Should Phonemic Manipulation be Mastered?

The ability to manipulate phonemes is typically mastered by end of grade three and for some a little into grade four. 

While many children may naturally learn these advanced phonemic skills and orthographically map words as they progress with their reading and studies, children who have reading struggles, disorders, and poor phonological and phonemic awareness can immensely benefit from having these skills explicitly taught through a systematic and cumulative approach.

Before going into detail about the three types of phoneme manipulation and fun activities to help children practice these skills, let’s briefly cover what a phoneme and grapheme are to avoid confusion.

What are examples of phonemes?

Phonemes make up the smallest unit of sound in a spoken language.  Words are made up of different phoneme combinations/sound patterns. 

Phonemes can be chunked together in different ways to help break words apart, making them easier to learn, such as syllables and onset-rime patterns .  

The English alphabet is made up of 26 letters that create 44 phonemic speech sounds, each with a universal written symbol. These sounds have been combined to create thousands of English words.

Phonemes can be made up of one or more letters. Take the following three words ‘car’, ‘chat’, and ‘cheat’ for example.  All three of these words contain three phonemes but have different amounts of letters.  

• The word ‘car’ has three letters and three phonemes: /k/ /a/ /r/
• The word ‘chat’ has four letters but only three phonemes: /ch/ /a/ /t/
• The word ‘chain’ has five letters but again only three phonemes: /ch/ /ea/ /t/

What are examples of graphemes?

The above example naturally leads us into understanding that individual alphabetic letters or groupings of letters represent speech sounds (phonemes).  These written representations of phonemes are called graphemes.

This is where it gets interesting because there can be many different graphemes for one phoneme (or to put it differently, graphemes can represent more than one phonemic sound).  There are over 200 graphemes in the English language.

Take, for example, the /c/ sound in the word cat which sounds like a /k/, and compare it with the /c/ sound in the word city which sounds like a /s/.

A more complex example is comparing the sound /ai/ makes in the word ‘rain’ to this same sound represented by different graphemes in the words reign, freight, straight, late, they, say, and steak. Understanding how there can be many graphemes for one phoneme sound, only emphasizes how important it is for children to be exposed to sound patterns and the ability to isolate sounds within their spoken language(s).

Phoneme Manipulation Continuum

The skills of adding, deleting, and substituting phonemes in words each have their own continuum of complexity. These tasks can also be made additionally challenging by combining manipulation tasks together.

To illustrate this point, let’s compare a simple deletion task to a more complex task that involves deletion and substitution:

Simple Deletion Task: remove the /l/ sound from the word ‘clap’, what new word does this create? Answer: cap

NOTE: an even simpler deletion task would be to remove the /c/ sound from the word ‘clap’ to be left with the word ‘lap’. Deleting the beginning sounds of a word is an easier task than deleting a middle sound.

Complex Deletion and Substitution Task: remove the /ai/ from the word ‘chain’ and substitute /i/ instead. What new word does this create? Answer: chin

It’s best to do these exercises orally.  When children are able to do phoneme manipulation tasks orally, perhaps with visual aids like Elkonon boxes to help them visualize phoneme positions, they can be given phoneme manipulation tasks that may also involve printed text. 

As children develop and their language and literacy abilities improve, they can be asked to do more complex forms of phoneme manipulation tasks, such as working with more challenging phoneme sounds and combining manipulation tasks together.

The continuum of complexion with phoneme manipulation tasks is best illustrated through the word chain below. Follow along with the changes at each step and notice how the phoneme task increases in difficulty by placement and type of phoneme being manipulated, as well as, vocabulary choice and combination of tasks involved.

Looking for more examples? Use this excellent resource for word chain phoneme manipulation examples that have been sectioned into various categories such as CVC words, initial blends, long and short vowels, and more.

How do You Practice Phoneme Manipulation?

Phonemic awareness tasks involve listening and speaking… and playing with sounds to make new words or new sounds. When you throw in a little enthusiasm, children discover it’s fun to make new words!

Whether attempting an adding, deleting, or substituting task the same formula for how you want to approach each one is the same.

Approach For Younger Children When Introducing Phoneme Manipulation

Use the “i do, we do, you do” model.

Keep these exercises oral, do not combine tasks at the same time, and only change one sound at a time.

Start with three-letter CVC, CCV, VCC, and CVV words

Order of Placement

• Start with the initial sound first
• Second, move to the final sound
• Finally, try the middle sound(s)

Order of Tasks

• Start with deletion tasks
• Second, move to addition tasks
• Try substitution tasks

Repeat this process using words that are 3, 4, and 5 sounds long. Add in more sounds when your child or student shows signs they are ready for the additional challenge. It is best to keep the pace slower and take your time with increasing the level of difficulty with phoneme manipulation tasks.

When introducing phoneme manipulation, start with single-letter sounds, meaning they contain the same number of letters and phonemes.  Avoid words with diphthongs and digraphs until this step has been mastered.  

Click to be taken up to the previous graphic illustrating the relationship difference between phonemes and letters (graphemes).

Approach for Older Children When Introducing Phoneme Manipulation

Practice these tasks orally first. After this printed text and writing tasks can be added in as desired.

Start with four-five sounds in a word, it is easiest to start with single-letter sounds and avoid diphthongs and diagraphs at first.   

• Move to addition tasks
• Attempt combined manipulation tasks

Repeat this process by adding in more challenging phoneme sounds, like initial blends, diphthongs, long and short vowels, and digraphs.

Strong phonemic awareness skills are part of the broader skills of phonological awareness and are highly associated with better decoding skills and reading and spelling skills overall.

Just 10-15 minutes a day of engaging in intentional wordplay, including phoneme manipulation tasks, is all that is needed to build lasting positive impacts on young children’s literacy journeys.

To conclude this post, here are some tips you can refer back to when teaching phoneme manipulation to your child or student.    

Key OOLiteracy Phoneme Manipulation Tips & Tricks

• Start with phoneme deletion tasks when introducing phoneme manipulation, beginning with the initial sounds of words
• Repeat practicing activities for as long as needed.  Shorter bursts more frequently are the way to go with phonemic awareness activities
• Keep in mind that phoneme manipulation tasks don’t need to always result in a real word – the strange sounds or made-up-words often lead to a laugh and keep kids more engaged 
• Be aware that children often find it challenging to isolate sounds from consonant blends like ‘bl’ and ‘str’
• Infuse these activities with enthusiasm and encouragement because phoneme manipulation tasks can be tough to master 
• Children with significant language delays and reading disorders benefit from a structured and systematic approach to learning phonemic awareness skills and reading strategies that incorporate fun games and activities

I’m happy you’re here!

Hi, I’m Julie, the passionate creator of Ox & Owl Literacy. I enjoy empowering families and educators with wonderful resources to inspire fun, imaginative, and joyful learning opportunities for young kiddos.  You’ll find lots of recommended books, reading resources, and creative learning activities on this site aiming to help children fall in love with language, books, reading, and the transformational power of stories.

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4 Useful Strategies To Improve Phoneme Manipulation

In the last few weeks, we’ve been looking at some of the essential skills children need in order to decode the English language. Specifically, I’ve shared activities and ideas for teaching blending and segmenting.

Today I’m going to share with you some of the ways I help students improve the essential skill of phoneme manipulation.

Do you know how to teach children the skill of phoneme manipulation? 4 useful strategies you can use to teach your students how to manipulate sounds.

What is phoneme manipulation?

Phoneme manipulation is being able to insert and delete sounds in words. This skill is important as it allows readers to test alternatives for spellings that represent more than one sound ( Sounds~Write, 2013 ).

Here are 4 useful strategies you can use to teach your students how to manipulate sounds in words.

And if you want some FUN spelling games, then you’re invited to join me for the spelling game challenge!  Here’s how it works: Sign up, and each day, for five days, I’ll email you a new spelling game along with a short explanation on how to use it. So go ahead and bring some fun back into spelling.

1. Sound deletion

Being able to delete or add sounds in words is an important skill to develop as it helps students test alternatives for reading and spelling. Many students who have problems with hearing sounds in words will struggle to be able to do this at first.

In this activity students will practice saying words by deleting some of the sounds. For young children or those who haven’t had much practice with this, start with deleting the initial sound in words.

For instance, get students to say a word without the first sound. Again, you can start with your simple CVC words. For example, say ‘mat’ without the ‘m’. Say ‘Tom’ without the ‘t’.

If you have older students use words that have 4 or 5 sounds (CVCC, CCVCC, CVCCC, CCCVC, etc). Say ‘slump’ without the ‘s’. You can also move on to removing sounds either in the middle of the word or at the end of the word. For example, say ‘clump’ without the ‘l’ or say ‘print’ without the ‘t’.

2. Sound substitution

The above activity can be extended further by getting students to change sounds in words to make new words. To include writing practice you can get your students to write the word down, I like to use small whiteboards (dry erase boards) for this. If you have one for each student then it’s a simple way to get students to write the new word and hold the board up to show you. You can then quickly scan to see if any students may have difficulty.

Ask students to change ‘mat’ into ‘sat’ or ‘spend’ into ‘spent’. Change ‘spent’ into ‘pent’. Before they go ahead and make the new word you may like to discuss which sound they are changing. Is it the first, second or third sound? When doing this activity it’s important to only change one sound at a time. The words don’t always have to be real words either. This is really fun to do with made-up words. For example, change ‘block’ into ‘blon.’ This helps students really listen to the sounds in the words.

Finally, you can get your students to track which sound has been changed by underlining it.

For example: mat – s at – s i t – si p

3. Silly sound games

This is a fun activity to do with younger children. First pick a category to focus on, such as animals, names or colors.

Pick one thing from the category, such as the color black. Then ask your students to change the first sound in black to make new silly words.

It could go something like: black, glack, slack, clack, plack….

This is a simple activity that can be done while your students are sitting in a circle on the mat.

4. Change the sound

This is a good activity to do if you have a spare 5 minutes, or it is a great way to start/end a literacy session.

Depending on the age of your students it will determine how many sounds you go for in the word. My example will be with 4 sounds – CCVC words.

Start by writing on the board a word, such as tram. Then circle or underline one of the sounds in that word.

Select a student to change that sound to a new one to make a new word, then write that word down.

Again in the new word circle/underline one of the sounds that is to be changed.

Continue with circling a sound that needs changing in the word so all of your students get a turn. If a student cannot think of a real word it is okay to use a nonsense word to keep it going. As long as the spelling combination is plausible and something we would see in English.

Below is an example. First we started with tram and I underlined the /t/, which is the sound that needed changing. So the new word is cram, underline the /r/ to change and make the new word, which is clam.

The Complete Phonics Kit

I’ve also put together a kit that focuses on helping children develop the fundamental skills needed to help them become fluent readers and accurate spellers.

The Complete Phonics Kit is essential for all teachers responsible for the language development of children. It includes easy to prepare games, ready to go worksheets, colorful posters and writing frameworks.

This phonics kit is for you if you are a:

• Classroom teacher;
• Learning specialist;
• Substitute / relief teacher;
• Home schooler;
• Intervention specialist; or

Some of the features of the phonics kit include:

• Suitable for students aged from 5 to 12 years;
• Easy to follow information and instructions;
• Helps to develop your students’ blending and segmenting skills;
• A range of individual, small group and whole class activities; and
• Many worksheets and games to assist in consolidating the learning of the phonics sounds.

Find out more about The Complete Phonics Kit here.

Well I hope over the last few weeks I’ve given you lots of ideas for finding and picking good quality decodable books, as well as some strategies and activities you can use to help your students develop the skills needed in order to read and spell.

If you’ve missed any of the posts you can find them below:

Benefits Of Reading: 17 Tremendous Reasons To Read Daily How To Select Reading Books Your Students Will Love A New Phonics Program: Is It Right For You? 6 Helpful Activities To Teach The Skill Of Blending 5 Practical Ways To Help Students Improve Their Spelling

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I got so many questions which I dont know how to answer but your program helped me alot with some of them. Thank you Len

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Deletion and Manipulation of Sounds

Home » Phonemic Awareness » Deletion and Manipulation of Sounds

Deletion and manipulation of sounds are the most complex phonemic awareness skills. Students who are unable to do deletion and manipulation activities as easily as their peers are more likely to have reading and writing difficulties.

Deletion : Say part without the /p/. ‘Art’. Say slip without the /l/. ‘Sip’.

Manipulation: Say mat. Now take out the /m/ and put /s/ in its place and say the new word. ‘Sat’.

There is evidence to suggest that deletion and manipulation of phonemes are skills that develop as a result of learning to read and are therefore reciprocal to reading skills rather than prerequisites. Certainly, phoneme manipulation tasks involving four or more phonemes are difficult to do without having some knowledge of letter-sound relationships. Some children find deletion and manipulation of sounds easier when using letter tiles, which reflects research showing that phonemic awareness training is most effective when combined with phonics.

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Phoneme manipulation: Deletion, Addition, Substitution

When it comes to kids becoming good readers and writers, developing phonemic awareness skills is a game-changer. Phonemic awareness can make an incredible impact on children’s success. Phoneme manipulation is the next skill we will examine in this article.

These are the strategies that will push them to reach their full potential regarding phonemic awareness skills. Phoneme deletion, addition, and substitution are all part of phoneme manipulation. That is, “playing” with the sounds of a word to create a new one.

Why is teaching phoneme manipulation necessary for kids?

Once your kids develop these critical skills, they will easily decode words and, with time and practice, instantly add, delete, or substitute particular phonemes to create entirely new words. Luckily, the internet is chock-full of fun and creative worksheets and activities to stimulate children. You can check out some of these by Reading by Phonics.

Your kids must identify specific phonemes to become completely “fluent” in phoneme addition and deletion . Then, they need to understand how those phonemes combine into new words. Soon, they will learn how these phoneme manipulation activities can change a word. Additionally, it’s amusing for kids to grasp how they can change words by simply adding or deleting some phonemes.

That said, you should know teaching kids to create new words this way sometimes requires patience since some of them might have some difficulties grasping the process at first. In addition, to successfully do phoneme manipulation, kids first need to learn phoneme segmentation and blending.

How can you start teaching kids phoneme manipulation?

The best way to start is by adding and deleting one phoneme of a word. Then, move on to manipulating several phonemes. With phoneme addition and deletion, your kids will soon learn how different sounds create words and that taking away or adding new sounds can completely change a word and its meaning.

For example, if you take the word “top” and add an /s/ to it, you will get “stop.” And vice versa; take the word “tape.” Once you delete the phoneme /t/, you now have “ape.”

Teaching phoneme addition and deletion

Every learning concept is best taught by reinforcing theory with creative games and activities. For example, make a list of words and ask kids to add or delete specific phonemes. Speak those words aloud, then let kids figure out which words they get by adding or deleting particular phonemes. It’s wise to use picture cards since it makes learning way more straightforward and fun for children. For example, you can prepare some pictures of objects and additional phonemes to be added or deleted.

Make sure to repeat these practicing activities for as long as you need. You will know your kids are ready once they can easily add or delete phonemes to make new words.

Phonemic deletion is typically a tiny bit more difficult for some children to grasp, so making it fun is a sure way to help them. To successfully teach kids this concept, prepare some worksheets that will contain words and a phoneme that they will need to delete to form new words.

For example, ask kids to delete the phoneme /t/ from words “then” and “this.” Once they do that, they will understand they get new words “hen” and “his.”

You can find some great activities and exercises to practice with your kids here .

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