Children who successfully develop phonemic awareness become better readers, writers and spellers. A big part of developing phonemic awareness is being able to manipulate phonemes. This means that children are able to delete and substitute phonemes to create new words.
Deletion is the process of taking away a phoneme in order to make a new word. For example, if we remove the /s/ from stale, we get the word tale.
On the other hand, substitution is taking one phoneme and replacing it with another to create a new word. For example, if we take the /m/ out of make and replace it with /r/, we get the word rake.
Deletion and substitution are key parts in developing phonemic awareness. Deletion and substitution help kids grow more familiar with sounds and how they reappear in different words.
To help your students grow their phonemic awareness, teach this small mini lesson as a fun activity. Word Maker introduces how to delete and substitute phonemes to create new words. Keep in mind that deletion and substitution are considered advanced skills for preschoolers, so three- or four-year-old children may struggle at first! We suggest that you gauge their level and incorporate the below exercise only when appropriate.
Develop Phonemic Awareness with Word Maker
You won’t need any additional materials for this mini lesson. Just gather your students around! As always, when introducing the lesson, be as clear and explicit as possible so your young learners can follow along. Explain that you will be teaching them how to erase and change sounds at the beginning of words to create new words.
Deletion
To practice deletion, choose a word from the list below:
- Cup – Up
- Sink – Ink
- Deer – Ear
- Swing – Wing
- Box – Ox
- Snail – Nail
Clearly say the word so that all your students can hear the beginning sound. Then, tell your students you will be erasing the first sound to create a new word. For example, you may say, “Cup. If I erase the /c/ sound in cup, we get the word up.” As you provide more examples, children will soon grasp the pattern of deletion. Go through the list, and add more words if you’d like!
Substitution
For substitution, explain that instead of just erasing the beginning sound, you will be adding a new sound to create a new word. Then choose one of the following words:
- Six – Fix
- Hen – Ten
- Jam – Yam
- Love – Dove
- Top – Cop
- Cave – Wave
Repeat the same steps as with deletion, but explain that you will be adding a new sound. For example, you might say, “Six. If I take away the /s/ sound, I get -ix. If I add the /f/ sound to the beginning of -ix, I get the word fix.” Repeat this process with a few more words so that the children grow familiar with the process of substitution.
Practice Phonemes with Professor Pup’s Phoneme Farm
Activities like Word Maker are an excellent way to introduce phoneme manipulation, even if kids may not master it. The most important thing is that we take time to develop phonemic awareness. That is our primary aim at Professor Pup’s Academy for early learners. To help your students develop phonemic awareness, use these activities alongside Professor Pup’s Phoneme Farm.
If you would like to learn more about Professor Pup’s Academy and our learning solutions for the classroom, please visit our page for teachers!