A Sound Start Phonemic Awareness Lessons for Reading Success [Paperback]

This book is an ideal resource for any teacher who wants to include explicit phonemic awareness instruction in an early reading program. In one easy-to-use 8 1/2 x 11 volume, the authors present three separate sets of phonemic awareness lessons, complete with scripted directions and reproducible learning materials and assessment tools. Incorporating a variety of fun and engaging activities, each set of lessons is field-tested and research-based. Included are developmentally sequenced lessons for the whole class and small groups, more intensive lessons for children struggling with phonemic awareness, and class lessons on the consonant phonemes to help children hear and process the sounds of American English. The lesson sets can be used independently or in combination with each other, and can easily be adapted to meet the needs of specific classes.

A particular strength of this well-organized book is the inclusion of materials for both whole-class and individual lessons. This makes it an ideal resource for speech-language pathologists (SLPs) and other special service providers working with general education teachers to provide early literacy instruction and intervention for typically developing children as well as those with language and literacy learning risks. Ideally, the shared use of this book will give teachers, graduate students, and SLPs a common way of talking about language and its sounds that they can embed in other reading and writing instruction within the general education curriculum. --Nickola Wolf Nelson, PhD, CCC-SLP, Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology, Western Michigan University

The National Reading Panel, of which I am a member, strongly recommends phonemic awareness training as part of early instruction in reading. A Sound Start contains many excellent and useful ideas for those who want to start students on the road to high achievement in reading. This text should be of great value to teachers, teacher edl+