Sing, Clap, & Rhyme for Literacy

"Some are sad and some are glad. And some are very, very bad.
Why are they sad and glad and bad? I do not know. Go ask your dad."

--Dr. Seuss, "One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish"

The rhythm and rhyme are irresistible, pulling in both children and adults. We listen, repeat, turn the words over in our mouths and our minds. A child whose parent has been reading and singing to her since birth is already attuned to the sounds in words. She may even have begun to associate those sounds with the letters she sees on the page: s-ad, gl-ad, b-ad, d-ad. If not, she is ready to learn that letter/sound association.

Phonological Awareness as a Pre-Literacy Skill. In order to learn to read, children must recognize that words are made up of individual sounds. They can then learn to associate the sounds they hear with the letters that represent them. Unfortunately, many students in today's classrooms are lacking this critical early phonological awareness. As Bradley and Bryant reported in the journal Nature in 1983, "Children who are backward in reading are strikingly insensitive to rhyme and alliteration. They are at a disadvantage when categorizing words on the basis of common sounds even in comparison with younger children who read no better than they do." Fortunately, many resources are available to help classroom teachers make up this deficit, and prepare children to learn to read.

Activities to Increase Phonological Awareness. Because phonological awareness is the abililty to perceive the sounds in words, training in this area focuses on oral language and is most effectively taught as a natural part of daily literacy experiences rather than by "drill and skill" activities. Activities should still have purpose and meaning, moving from easier recognition like beginning sounds, to more difficult perceptions such as medial sounds. The links before offer a variety of resources and activities you can incorporate within your daily curriculum.

It's Fun! Sometimes you have to work to engage students in learning the skills they need. But it's no stretch to make learning these skills fun for your students. We are naturally drawn to rhyme, rhythm, song, and wordplay. Keep activities light and enjoyable and have fun with the sounds. When you integrate these activities into your school day, you're building children's skills, and teaching them that literacy is fun.