For students whose assessment data indicates a need for phonemic awareness intervention, there are a few important things to know (Phoneme Awareness Research Updated by Dr. Susan Brady – 2022):

• Phonemic awareness instruction is most effective when integrated with letter knowledge, handwriting, and reading
• Phonemic awareness develops in a predictable manner. Children generally develop phonemic awareness in terms of the position of the phoneme in a word/syllables (Brady, 2022).
• Although there is a continuum of skills that students typically progress through from larger segments (i.e., rhymes, syllables) to the smallest segment (phonemes), students do not need to show mastery of the larger segments before learning about phoneme awareness.
• Instruction should aim to focus on the phoneme level as quickly as possible, as phoneme awareness skills are the ones most critical for learning how to read and spell. Avoid wasting time on larger units (rhymes, syllables, etc.).
• In Grade 1, students should have phoneme awareness built into their phonics instruction.
• While some commercial resources include activities where students substitute and delete sounds through “advanced phonemic awareness”, research does not indicate this is necessary.