What is phonological awareness? Phonological awareness is playing with the sounds of language. Babies are musical before they can talk, they use musical sounds to communicate before they use words (Rieb & Cohen, 2020). It makes sense then to tap into the infants’ musical abilities right from the start. Babies need to hear sound to learn how to create sounds (Rieb & Cohen, 2020). Early on, infants are exposed to what is known as “motherese.” Motherese is a high-pitched and rhythmic (Reib & Cohen) way to speak. Babies will sometimes try to mimic these vocal patterns or move their heads and bodies in response to what they’re hearing.
As children develop, they will begin to form sounds that become words and then sentences. Music reinforces the sounds of language and offers a way to play with sounds. Here are a few songs that teachers can use to support phonological awareness with a connection to Ohio’s Early Learning and Development standards (ODE, n.d.):
• Sing Teddies on a Trampoline and substitute other words with similar onsets such as “one & wombat” “five & fish.” You can search the internet for versions of this song. This song helps children become aware of onsets (initial sounds). Keep in mind that phonological awareness is a focus on sounds and not print.
• Sing Apple and an Ant by Nancey Stewart (2005). Play with words with similar onsets but then try singing it with words with similar rimes such as hat/cat, box/fox.
• Ask children about a favorite activity and then sing and clap out the words raising the pitch with each word. For example, I like to ride my bike or I like swimming in the pool. Try singing the same sentences while lowering the pitch and clapping. Clap out the syllables in children’s names, some of which will have more than two syllables. This helps children become aware of syllables in spoken words.
• Sing songs with rhyming words such as Raffi’s Down By the Bay. Versions of this song can also be found on the internet.
These are just a few ideas for playing with sounds to support phonological awareness. Most of all, have fun with the words while you sing!
Photo Credit:
"hwb-00233 World Bank" by World Bank Photo Collection is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
References:
Ohio Department of Education (n.d.) Early Learning and Development Standards https://education.ohio.gov/Topics/Early-Learning/Early-Learning-Content-Standards
Rieb, C., & Cohen, J. (2020). The Impact of Music on Language Acquisition. Mid-Western Educational Researcher, 32(4), 350–368.
Stewart, N. (2005) Apple and an Ant https://nancymusic.com/Apple_antplay.htm