Phonemic Awareness Basics

Overview

Lesson 2 of 16 in Empowered English: Tuarere Tahi. Students listen closely to spoken words, identify beginning and ending sounds, and practise blending and segmenting sounds through oral games. Use simple, familiar words and accept students’ developing pronunciation and home-language knowledge.

Learning intentions

• WALT listen for and talk about sounds in spoken words.
• WALT identify the first and last sound in a word.
• WALT blend sounds to say a whole word.
• WALT segment a word into its separate sounds.

Success criteria

• I can say the first sound I hear in a word.
• I can say the last sound I hear in a word.
• I can push sounds together to make a word.
• I can stretch a word and count its sounds.

Curriculum links

• Oral language: listening attentively, responding, and building confidence in spoken English.
• Phonological awareness: hearing, identifying, blending, and segmenting sounds in words.
• Early literacy foundations: connecting spoken language to later reading and writing.
• Manaakitanga and participation: taking turns, encouraging others, and valuing different ways of speaking.

Lesson structure (60 minutes)

1. 0–5 minutes – Welcome and listening warm-up Gather students in a circle. Open with the listening hook and ask: “What sounds can you hear in our classroom?” Students silently listen, then share one sound with a partner. Remind them that today we are listening to sounds in words, not naming letters.

2. 5–12 minutes – What is a sound? Say a familiar word such as sun. Ask students to repeat it slowly and notice the first sound: /s/. Model the difference between a sound and a letter name. Use the slide examples to demonstrate that words can be stretched, tapped, and blended.

3. 12–25 minutes – First-sound movement game Display or say familiar words such as sun, sock, moon, map, fish, and fan. Students repeat each word and identify the first sound. If two words begin with the same sound, students touch their shoulders; if they begin differently, they touch their knees. Avoid asking students to produce a sound that is difficult for them; they may point, gesture, or repeat with a partner.

4. 25–37 minutes – Blend and build Model oral blending: /m/ /a/ /t/ — mat. Students listen, whisper the sounds, then say the whole word. Practise with two- and three-sound words such as at, up, sat, map, sun, and top. Use actions such as sliding a finger along the air while blending. Distribute the sound listening and blending sheet and complete the first example together; students may draw the word instead of writing it.

5. 37–48 minutes – Segmenting with counters In pairs, students take turns saying a word slowly and moving one counter for each sound. Use words such as me, no, sun, fish, and map. Partners check by repeating the word slowly. Circulate and listen for students who count syllables rather than phonemes; model stretching the word without adding extra vowel sounds.

6. 48–55 minutes – Last-sound detective Return to the sound detective prompts. Say a word and ask students to identify its final sound, for example /m/ in jam or /t/ in cat. Students show an agreed hand signal when they hear the target sound. Invite volunteers to explain how they know, while keeping the focus on listening rather than spelling.

7. 55–60 minutes – Share and review Ask students to tell a partner one skill they practised: first sound, last sound, blending, or segmenting. Complete the final response on the reflection section by drawing, dictating, or writing one word and showing its sounds. Celebrate careful listening and preview that the next lesson will connect sounds with print.

Resources

• the phonemic awareness teaching deck
• the sound listening and blending sheet
• Counters, blocks, or small classroom objects
• Whiteboard and marker
• Picture prompts or familiar classroom objects
• Carpet or clear space for circle and movement activities
• Pencils, crayons, and optional magnetic letters for students ready for print

Assessment

• Listen during partner games for accurate identification of beginning and ending sounds.
• Observe whether students blend sounds into a word and segment a word into separate sounds.
• Review the worksheet, including drawings or dictated responses, and note students needing further oral practice.
• Record students who confuse syllables with individual sounds or require modelling and repetition.

Differentiation

• Support: use two-sound words, pictures, continuous sounds such as /m/, /s/, /f/, and provide repeated teacher modelling.
• Support: allow students to respond by pointing, moving counters, gesturing, or speaking with a peer; include familiar kupu and words from students’ home languages where appropriate.
• Extension: ask confident students to generate another word with the same first or last sound, or blend four-sound words such as flag only when developmentally appropriate.
• EAL and SEN: seat students where they can clearly see the teacher’s mouth, use gesture and visual prompts, reduce the number of choices, and provide extra wait time.