The Kinderplans program includes activities that focus on developing these skills
Research has shown that students who become readers are able to complete assessments successfully that include the skills outlined below. It is important that students be systematically taught these skills within daily instructional time.
Phonemic and Phonological Awareness
Phonological and Phonemic Awareness
Phonological awareness is a broad term used where students exhibit the ability to hear and manipulate sounds. There is no connection in identifying specific letters but is exclusively based on the auditory component. These skills are outlined below:
a) Word detection is the ability to hear words within a sentence. Dictate a simple sentence and have students identify each word.
b) Syllable detection is the ability to clap or tap syllables within words. This can also include compound words.
c) Phoneme detection is the ability to hear sounds within words, for example, the word mat/m/a/t /has three phonemes. In Kindergarten or Preschool the focus would be on hearing the initial sound first. This would be followed by hearing ending and middle sounds.
d) Rhyme detection is the ability to identify rhyming pairs and also able to generate rhyming pairs.
e) Syllable and phoneme blending is the ability to hear individual sounds and syllables and blend these back together to identify the related word.
Phonics
Is the ability to name letters and identify their related sounds. If a child has developed good phonological awareness skills and is able to identify the letters of the alphabet and their related sound, they should be able to begin printing and reading simple CVC words by the end of Kindergarten. There are 44 English phonemes but the Kinderplans program only focuses on 26 of them. I teach the other phonemes in grade one.
Print Awareness
The student is able to track words, move from left to right and top to bottom when reading.
Vocabulary Development
a) The student has the ability to name objects, express feelings and actions.
b) The student is able to complete an oral cloze activity (word deleted and able to generate one that makes sense).