Phoneme Categorization
Phoneme Categorization is a strategy used to help students develop phonemic awareness and recognize individual phonemes in a word. In this strategy, the teacher compiles a small sequence of similar words and asks students to identify the word that has a different or “odd” sound compared to the rest of the words. For example, the teacher would then ask students “Which word does not belong in sat, sag, and rug?” The students would then respond with rug, because it does not follow the –sa letter-sound pattern. This strategy can benefit all age groups depending on reading ability, but is most often used with emergent readers in the primary grades. This strategy helps build the essential skills in phonemic awareness. Researchers agree that the ability to recognize individual phonemes is an indicator of future success in reading (Teachervision, 2015).
Research indicates that identifying beginning and ending sounds is much easier than recognizing medial phonemes (Essential Strategies for Teaching Phonemic Awareness, 2014). This strategy is a great activity to use in small groups or in an intervention setting.
Research indicates that identifying beginning and ending sounds is much easier than recognizing medial phonemes (Essential Strategies for Teaching Phonemic Awareness, 2014). This strategy is a great activity to use in small groups or in an intervention setting.