What is Phonemic Awareness and Why is it Important?
First things first: What is Phonemic Awareness? In my literacy classes we have been discussing different types of language, language use, and other topics revolving around the subject since this fall semester started. While I was familiar with broad topics, like utilizing inclusive language in the classroom, this past week I learned about a new skill that I was taught, will have to teach, and was not even aware I had. Phonemic awareness, which is the understanding and manipulation of spoken words and syllables that language is made up of ( Foundations of Literacy ). A quick summary of the information I gathered from the text I read and engaged with online is that phonemic awareness is one’s ability to hear, identify, and manipulate sounds in order to form and understand different words. Additionally, the english alphabet only has 26 letters in it, but our language as a whole is made up of 44 sounds that are used to form all of the words in our vocabulary ( Foundations of Litera