Understanding Phonemic Awareness

Abstract

This professional development study is about my journey of researching the fundamentals of phonemic awareness. When I began my internship, I was fascinated by how phonemic awareness was taught. However, I had little knowledge of phonemic awareness and how it should be taught. I found myself making assumptions about why some students knew how to segment and blend words better than others, which prompted my study. I also became overwhelmed with teaching foundational skills since I had not been taught how to teach it. Nevertheless, I knew that I had to develop a plan of how I would develop the skills to teach it. I would collaborate with my peers in my program, research materials that would be relevant to my learning, watch my mentor teach, and keep a journal of my observations.