National Institute for Literacy - Assessment Strategies and Reading Profiles
Phonemic Awareness (PA) is the ability to manipulate the sounds of syllables and letters in words, as in:
  • "What is sidewalk without side?"
  • "What is the first sound in cat?"

Development of PA in children is part of the pre-reading curriculum in pre-school and kindergarten. It is often further developed in the primary grades. Many adult beginning and low intermediate readers are deficient in PA.

See the "Word Analysis" page in the Mini-Course section of this site for information about PA assessment.

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