FTCE Reading K-12 Practice Exam

Phonemic awareness is a critical skill in early literacy that focuses on the ability to recognize and manipulate individual sounds, or phonemes, in spoken words. This concept is essential for developing reading skills, as it forms the foundation for understanding how sounds correspond to letters and how they blend together to form words. When a child understands that words are made up of smaller sound components, they can break down words into their constituent sounds and blend sounds together to read new words. This skill is distinct from reading fluently, which involves the smoothness and speed of reading, as well as recognizing words in context and having a strong vocabulary. Phonemic awareness is specifically about the auditory processing of sounds, rather than involving written language or comprehension of word meaning.