Level 5: Sample Activity

Manipulation of Sounds

Level 5 Activities are the highest level of phonemic awareness. The focus is to manipulate sounds (phonemes) within words; adding, exchanging, deleting, or transposing sounds (phonemes) to form new words.

Children ready for Level 5, have solid knowledge of how language works before attempting this level. Children need to be able to mentally blend sounds (phonemes), modify words, and segment sounds (phonemes) in order to make the sound (phonemic) transference. The ability to manipulate sounds (phonemes) strongly correlates with beginning reading acquisition.

Early Literacy Foundational Skills

• Sound (Phoneme) Substitution

  • identify and substitute beginning sound in a word

  • identify and substitute ending sound in a word

  • identify and substitute middle sounds in a word

• Sound (Phoneme) Deletion

  • identify and omit beginning sound in a word

  • identify and omit ending sound in a word

  • identify and omit middle sounds in a word

Sample Activity

GOALS: sound (phoneme) deletion and sound (phoneme) substitution

Materials

• None

Directions

Give the oral direction: Say cat without the /c/. After the correct response is given, continue with other examples: pan without /p/; fit without /f/. Progress to more difficult directions: Leave off the first sound in the word hat. Can you move the sounds around in the word eat to come up with a different word?

HELPFUL TIPS:

• Always model first until the child is comfortable with this activity.

• Begin with words with two or three sounds (phonemes).

• Say the word slowly as the child(ren) listen for, tap out, and count the number of sounds (phonemes) heard.