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SKILL FOCUS: BLENDING ONSET-RIME
Onset Rime
Professional Learning Community (PLC)
Onset Rime
Professional Learning Community (PLC)
Agenda
Welcome!
Introduction
Video Analysis & Discussion
Summarizing Questions & Action Items
Introduction
Skill Focus: Blending Onset-Rime
Learning About Phonological Skills
INTRODUCTION
| SESSION 1 | SESSION 2 | SESSION 3 | SESSION 4 | SESSION 5 |
Skills | Syllables | Onset-Rime | Phoneme Identification | Phoneme Segmentation & Blending | Phoneme Manipulation |
Subskills |
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| Identify Sounds in�the Beginning, Middle, �and End |
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Duration | 30 - 45 minutes | 30 - 45 minutes | 30 - 45 minutes | 30 - 45 minutes | 30 - 45 minutes |
Note: This is a scope and sequence for teaching teachers, not for teaching phonological awareness to students. There is research to indicate that most students will not need instruction in the larger units of sound.
Session Objectives
INTRODUCTION
Teachers will know and be able to…
Review Onset-Rime
INTRODUCTION
Relevance of Onset-Rime to Reading Instruction
Review Onset-Rime
INTRODUCTION
Onset
Onset is the consonant sound or sounds before the vowel sound within a single syllable.
Rime
Rime is the vowel sound and any sound or sounds after the vowel sound.
For example, in the word mat the onset is /m/ and the rime is /ăt/.
Let’s Watch
INTRODUCTION
Viewing Guide Discussion
INTRODUCTION
1. At the beginning of the video, which two skills does the teacher check to see that the student has before teaching onset-rime?
Blending syllables and identifying first sounds.
2. Why does the teacher check whether the student can blend �syllables into words?
Blending syllables is an easier phonological awareness task than blending onset-rime. If the student had difficulty blending syllables, the teacher would have begun by teaching her to blend and segment syllables.
Viewing Guide Discussion, continued
INTRODUCTION
3. Why did the teacher check to see if the student could easily identify the first sound in a spoken word after the student showed she had mastered blending syllables?
Being able to identify the first sound in a word is the first step in understanding that syllables, which are easily heard and understood as units of speech sound, can be broken into smaller units and that one of the units (the onset) is the first sound. Students who cannot identify the first sound in a word are not ready to learn to blend onset-rime.
4. The student easily blends /s/ /un/ into the word sŭn. Why does the teacher giver her more words?
Being able to blend onset-rime into one word is not enough evidence to be certain that the student has mastered the skill. On the second word, make, the teacher learns that the student is not automatic at blending onset-rime.
Viewing Guide Discussion, continued
INTRODUCTION
5. When the student could not blend /m/ /āke/ into a word, how did the teacher change the task?
The teacher backs up a half step on the phonological continuum and has the student try to blend the body (initial sound and the vowel sound as a unit) and the coda (the sound or sounds after the vowel) to make a word. It is easier for a student to blend the vowel sound into a consonant than to blend the initial consonant into the rime.
6. If the teacher has a future lesson with this student, what would she include in the lesson?
Since the student showed inconsistent performance in blending onset-rime during the last lesson, the teacher would start with something the student has mastered, move to what the student has mostly mastered, and finish with working on a yet-to-be-mastered skill. She would start with a warm-up working at the syllable level where the student is confident. Then she would have the student practice blending the initial sound and vowel sound as a unit where the student has shown she can do the task, and then transition to onset-rime blending.
Video Analysis �& Discussion
Skill Focus: Blending Onset-Rime
Video Analysis & Discussion
Key Points Prior to Viewing
Video Analysis & Discussion
A Word About This Filming Session
This student was not originally scheduled to be filmed. One student who was scheduled was absent, giving the teacher the opportunity to work with this student. The teacher needed to do a quick, informal assessment to determine what instruction might benefit this student.
She knows there are two major areas that kindergarten children often struggle with when preparing to learn to read: phonological and orthographic skills. The teacher began the lesson by assessing the student’s phonological awareness to determine if the student needed to develop in that area.
Video Segment A: Preparing for Blending
Discuss:
Q1: What phonological skill does the narrator say the student needs to have?
A: The student needs to understand that words are composed of individual sounds, and she must be able to blend individual sounds into a word. The example given is blending /k/, /ă/, /t/ into cat.
VIDEO ANALYSIS & DISCUSSION
Watch: Understanding the Importance of Phonological Awareness Skills
Video Segment A: Preparing for Blending
Discuss:
Q2: Why does the teacher start by asking the student to blend a two-syllable word and then a three-syllable word?
A: The teacher starts her quick assessment at the easiest level of phonological awareness: syllables. If the student can quickly blend two and three syllables into words, she has demonstrated mastery of blending syllables.
VIDEO ANALYSIS & DISCUSSION
Watch: Checking Whether Autumn Has the Necessary Prerequisite Skills
Video Segment A: Preparing for Blending
Discuss:
Q3: What is the other pre-reading skill the teacher checks before asking the student to blend onset-rime into a word?
A: The teacher checked to see if the student could identify the first sound in a spoken word. If the student can do this, she has a critical skill necessary for understanding that a syllable can be broken into parts. If a student cannot identify the first sound in a word, it is unlikely that the student can master blending and segmenting at the onset-rime level. When a student can identify the first sound in a word, they are learning that syllables can be broken into parts.
VIDEO ANALYSIS & DISCUSSION
Watch: Checking Whether Autumn Has the Necessary Prerequisite Skills
Video Segment A: Preparing for Blending
Discuss:
Q4: Why does the teacher use pictures rather than printed words for the words when she is asking the student for the first sound in words?
A: The teacher uses pictures to give the student a visual representation of the word without using print. Using a picture has two purposes. First, when working on phonological awareness, we want to keep students focused on just the sounds in words and not have print as a distraction. Second, this teacher had never worked with this student before, and a picture helps to ensure that the student hears the word that the teacher says correctly.
VIDEO ANALYSIS & DISCUSSION
Watch: Checking Whether Autumn Has the Necessary Prerequisite Skills
Video Segment A: Preparing for Blending
Discuss:
Q5: When the student successfully blends /s/, /ŭn/ into sun, why does the teacher ask her to blend another word?
A: To determine if the student is truly adept at blending onset-rime, the teacher gave the student another word to try. It turns out that the student was not able to blend the second word. That shows the teacher that the student needs to work on learning to blend onset-rime.
VIDEO ANALYSIS & DISCUSSION
Watch: Ms. Farrell Asks Autumn to Blend Onset-Rime
Video Segment A: Preparing for Blending
Discuss:
Q6: How does the teacher use the felts to help the student understand blending the sound parts?
A: The teacher uses felts to visually demonstrate how she is blending the onset sound into the rime to make a whole word. She demonstrates by sliding the onset felt across the desk to join the rime felt. Using felts provides a concrete representation of sounds, which are abstract.
VIDEO ANALYSIS & DISCUSSION
Watch: Ms. Farrell Asks Autumn to Blend Onset-Rime
Video Segment B: The Student Struggles with Onset-Rime
Discuss:
Q1: Why is working with onset-rime harder for students than working with syllables?
A: A syllable has a vowel sound, which is an open push of air. It has what is called an acoustic clue that makes it easy to hear and separate each syllable from the rest of the word. You can count the syllables you hear when someone is speaking a foreign language even if you cannot distinguish individual words and do not know the meaning of the words. There is no such acoustic clue for breaking a spoken syllable into parts to get closer to the phoneme level. This makes working at the onset-rime level challenging for some students who do not easily grasp the concept that a single syllable can be broken into parts.
VIDEO ANALYSIS & DISCUSSION
Watch: The student blends ‘make’ and attempts to blend ‘sick’
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Video Segment B: The Student Struggles with Onset-Rime
Discuss:
Q2: Why does the teacher ask the student to point to the felts and say the sounds when she is struggling with blending make?
A: The manipulatives are a concrete representation of the sounds, which are abstract. By having the student touch the felts and say the sounds, the teacher is helping the student make the connection that the felts represent the sounds. The teacher is adding both touch and sight to the work with sounds.
VIDEO ANALYSIS & DISCUSSION
Watch: The student blends ‘make’ and attempts to blend ‘sick’
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Video Segment B: The Student Struggles with Onset-Rime
Discuss:
Q3: How does the teacher try to help the student blend /s/, /ĭck/ into sick after she responds sit?
A: The teacher demonstrates blending and tells the student the word is sick. Even after doing that, the student still responds incorrectly with sit.
VIDEO ANALYSIS & DISCUSSION
Watch: The student blends ‘make’ and attempts to blend ‘sick’
Video Segment C: Autumn Learns to Blend Ending Sounds
Discuss:
Q1: Why did the teacher rearrange the two sizes of felts so that the large one was first and the small one was second?
A: The teacher switches the felts to give the student a visual clue that she is now blending a large chunk of sound with a smaller chunk. The teacher is backing up a little step on the phonological continuum by shifting the task from blending onset-rime to blending the body of the syllable with the final sound.
VIDEO ANALYSIS & DISCUSSION
Watch: Autumn learns to blend the initial consonant and vowel with the ending consonant sound
Video Segment C: Autumn Learns to Blend Ending Sounds
Discuss:
Q2: Why is it easier to blend /sĭĭĭ/, /k/ �than /s/, /ĭĭĭk/?
A: There are two reasons it is easier to blend /sĭĭĭ/, /k/ than to blend /s/, /ĭĭĭk/. First, blending the larger part of the syllable first is easier because the student has said most of the sounds and needs only to add the last sound. Second, it is easier to blend a vowel sound into a subsequent consonant sound than to blend a consonant sound into a subsequent vowel sound.
VIDEO ANALYSIS & DISCUSSION
Watch: Autumn learns to blend the initial consonant and vowel with the ending consonant sound
Video Segment C: Autumn Learns to Blend Ending Sounds
Discuss:
Q3: Why does the teacher ask the student to tell her the parts of rat again after she was successful in blending rat?
A: The teacher is reinforcing what the student has just successfully accomplished and helping the student to articulate both parts of the word after she says it. The student has not yet mastered the concept that a syllable can have two parts. Saying both parts of the syllable while touching the felts after she blends the word correctly gives the student another exposure to the concept.
VIDEO ANALYSIS & DISCUSSION
Watch: The student blends rat.
Video Segment C: Autumn Learns to Blend Ending Sounds
Discuss:
Q4: How does Ms. Farrell respond positively to �the student’s incorrect response of strawberry �for shop?
A: The teacher tells the student that strawberry and shop both start with the letter ‘s’. The teacher is using positive error correction by telling the student something that was similar to the word she guessed and the correct response. Ideally, the teacher would have been able to say something like “you got the first sound right” or “the word you said has one syllable” or “you got the last part right.” However, strawberry and shop do not start or end with the same sound. The student’s guess is so far off the mark that the teacher has to stretch to come up with something that isn't a negative response like “no, that isn’t right.”
VIDEO ANALYSIS & DISCUSSION
Watch: Autumn guesses ‘strawberry’ for ‘shop’
Video Segment C: Autumn Learns to Blend Ending Sounds
Discuss:
Q5: Autumn’s response of strawberry is completely incorrect. Previously, her incorrect responses included at least one of the word parts. What does this tell the teacher about the student’s understanding at this point in the lesson?
A: The student is getting tired and is wildly guessing.
VIDEO ANALYSIS & DISCUSSION
Watch: Autumn guesses ‘strawberry’ for ‘shop’
Video Segment C: Autumn Learns to Blend Ending Sounds
Discuss:
Q6: If Ms. Farrell were to work with this student again, what is one thing she would teach the student to do if the student wasn’t sure of an answer?
A: Begin with a few tasks the teacher knows that the student will be successful at. The teacher would teach the student to ask for help instead of just guessing.
VIDEO ANALYSIS & DISCUSSION
Watch: Autumn guesses ‘strawberry’ for ‘shop’
Video Segment C: Autumn Learns to Blend Ending Sounds
Discuss:
Q7: Why does the teacher stop and ask the student to find the picture of the word she is blending mop?
A: The teacher wasn’t sure if the student was saying mom or mop. The teacher checks with the picture to confirm that the student said mop.
VIDEO ANALYSIS & DISCUSSION
Watch: Autumn blends ‘mop’
Video Segment C: Autumn Learns to Blend Ending Sounds
Discuss:
Q8: Why does the teacher ask the student to say the parts of mop again after showing her the picture?
A: The student struggled a bit before she finally responded mop. The student gets a chance to solidify her understanding that the two sound parts /m/ and /ŏp/ make the word mop.
VIDEO ANALYSIS & DISCUSSION
Watch: Autumn blends ‘mop’
Video Segment C: Autumn Learns to Blend Ending Sounds
Discuss:
Q9: What does the student still need to accomplish before she will be ready to start learning to read with phonics?
A: The student needs to master and be automatic with her pre-reading skills. After she can confidently and accurately blend and segment onset-rime, she will need to confidently and accurately blend and segment two- and three-sound words. She will also need to be automatic with all her letter names and most of the letter sounds.
VIDEO ANALYSIS & DISCUSSION
Watch: Autumn blends ‘mop’
Discuss:
Q1: If Ms. Farrell had been able to continue with Autumn, what step would she take to help Autumn understand blending two parts of a syllable better?
A: Ms. Farrell would model blending body and coda for 5 or so words, with Autumn copying her right after. After that, Ms. Farrell would ask Autumn to blend body and coda into words on her own. Once Autumn masters the task, she would move on to onset-rime blending.
VIDEO ANALYSIS & DISCUSSION
Watch: Next steps Autumn
Video Segment D: Next Steps in Teaching Autumn to Blend Onset-Rime
Discuss:
Q2: Why might Ms. Farrell include blending syllables in future lessons that focus on blending onset-rime?
A: Blending syllables is easy for Autumn. Warming up with an easy task — blending 2 or 3 syllables into words — could help Autumn have a positive attitude and stay open to learning while she practices a skill she is still learning.
VIDEO ANALYSIS & DISCUSSION
Watch: Next steps Autumn
Video Segment D: Next Steps in Teaching Autumn to Blend Onset-Rime
Discuss:
Q3: How does the lesson end?
A: Autumn easily blends /s/, /oap/. She ends with a success.
VIDEO ANALYSIS & DISCUSSION
Watch: Next steps Autumn
Video Segment D: Next Steps in Teaching Autumn to Blend Onset-Rime
Video Segment D: Next Steps in Teaching Autumn to Blend Onset-Rime
Discuss:
Q4: How does Autumn seem to feel about her lesson?
A: Autumn skips her way to the door, so it seems she enjoyed her time with Ms. Farrell.
VIDEO ANALYSIS & DISCUSSION
Watch: Next steps Autumn
Summarizing Questions & Action Items
Onset-Rime
Summarizing Questions
Do you have any students who might benefit from improving their phonological awareness skills?
What student behaviors have you observed in your class that might be clues to difficulty with blending onset-rime?
Do you have any data from assessments that might indicate a student’s difficulty with blending onset-rime?
Do the students you are thinking about have the prerequisite skills for blending onset-rime? Note: These prerequisite skills are (1) being able to blend syllables and, �(2) identifying first sound.
If students do not have all the prerequisite skills, what will they need to learn and practice before moving to practicing at the onset-rime level?
How will you go about teaching the missing skills and having students practice them?
Action Items
Final Reflections
Thank You!
Visit ReadingUniverse.org for more information�and resources on teaching onset-rime.