PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS - ASSESSMENT AND INSTRUCTIONAL TOOLS

Torgesen, J. K., & Mathes, P. G.
Will first appear (early 1999) A Resource Manual for Assessment Instruction in Phonological Awareness, Department of Education, State of Flordia

Abstracted by Online Academy

Assessment

TEST OF PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS (TOPA) (Torgesen & Bryant, 1994)

• can be administered by teachers or aides who can clearly & correctly pronounce phonemes
• for K and early elementary students
• can be given in groups or individually
• takes 15-20 minutes to administer
• most appropriate for individuals with lower levels of ability

Description
The test kit includes Kindergarten and Early Elementary versions. Each version has 20 items and uses sound comparison activities. Ten items ask the student to mark the one picture out of three that begins with the same first sound as the target word. The other ten items ask the student to mark the one picture out of four that has a first sound that is different from the others. The Early Elementary Version (for 1^st and 2^nd graders) is the same as the Kindergarten Version but asks about last sounds rather than first ones.

Ordering Information
PRO-ED Publishing Co., 8700 Shoal Creek Blvd., Austin, TX 78757. Phone: (512)451-3246.

PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS TEST (PAT) (Robertson & Salter, 1995)

• should be administered by a language, reading, or special education professional
• for students five to ten years old; can be useful for children older than ten years old
• must be given individually
• takes 40 minutes to administer all sub-tests

Description
This comprehensive test includes measures of phonological awareness, word and syllable segmentation, sensitivity to rhyme, knowledge of letter-sound correspondences, phonemic decoding, and invented spelling. It can provide useful information about a student’s phonological awareness and phonemic reading skills and at the same time can assess phonemic awareness and print knowledge.

Ordering Information
LinguiSystems, 3100 4^th Avenue, East Moline, IL 61244-0747. Phone: (800) 776-4332.

LINDAMOOD AUDITORY CONCEPTUALIZATION TEST (LAC) (Lindamood & Lindamood, 1979)

• can be administered by anyone trained in its use; requires careful feedback to subject
• for kindergartners - adult
• must be given individually
• takes between 15 and 25 minutes to administer

Description
The LAC is useful in assessing whether or not a person will have difficulty acquiring decoding skills. During the test, the participant indicates the number, identity, and order of phonemes by using colored blocks. It is recommended to be used, along with other tests, to examine the reasons children in second grade and above are unable to read; it is also an excellent tool for assessing phonemic awareness in children and adults.

Ordering Information
PRO-ED Publishing Co., 8700 Shoal Creek Blvd., Austin, TX 78757. Phone: (512) 451-3246.

YOPP-SINGER TEST OF PHONEME SEGMENTATION (Yopp, 1995)

• can be administered by teachers or aides
• designed for kindergartners, but can be used to identify 1^st graders who are weak in phonological awareness
• must be given individually
• takes 5-10 minutes to administer

Description

The Yopp-Singer can be used to assess a child’s ability to isolate and pronounce individual phonemes within words and to monitor first graders’ growth in phonemic awareness as they learn to read. Those taking the test are asked to segment 22 familiar words of two or three phonemes. One disadvantage of this test is that it may be too difficult for children in lower ranges of phonemic awareness.

Ordering Information

The Yopp-Singer test can be copied from Yopp, H.K. (1995), A test for assessing phonemic awareness in young children, The Reading Teacher, 49, 20-29.

ROSNER TEST OF AUDITORY ANALYSIS (Rosner, 1975)

• can be administered by teachers or aides who have learned to pronounce phonemes correctly
• for kindergarten through late elementary school; most sensitive for children K-2
• must be given individually
• takes 5-10 minutes and is easy to give, score, and interpret

Description
This test is particularly appropriate for quickly assessing levels of phonological awareness. It has only 13 items and asks students to delete phonemes from words.

Ordering Information

This test can be copied from Rosner, J. (1975). Helping children overcome learning disabilities. New York: Walker & Company, Publishers.

TEST OF INVENTED SPELLING (Mann, Tobin, & Wilson, 1987)

• can be administered by teachers or aides; scoring requires understanding the phonetic relationships in spelling
• appropriate for second semester kindergartners or children with fundamental knowledge of letter-sound correspondences; may not be appropriate for children who have had formal instruction in spelling
• can be given to groups
• takes less than 10 minutes

Description
In addition to measuring simple phonemic awareness, this test also assesses knowledge of sound-letter correspondences. It is particularly sensitive to individual differences in phonemic awareness and may be especially valuable in predicting later reading growth.

The following are some of the programs designed for regular classroom instruction.

PHONEMIC AWARENESS IN YOUNG CHILDREN: A CLASSROOM CURRICULUM
(Marilyn Jager Adams, Barbara R. Foorman, Ingvar Lundberg, Terry Beeler, 1997)

• enough classroom activities to be used 15-20 minutes/day for eight months
• for kindergarten children and first graders below peers in phonological awareness
• can be used with large or small groups

Description
Fifty-one carefully sequenced, well-designed, and organized game-like activities. The manual includes assessments that can be used to monitor progress.

Ordering Information
This test can be ordered from Brookes Publishing Company, P.O. Box 10624, Baltimore, MD 21285. Phone: (800) 638-3775.

SOUNDS ABOUND: TEACHING PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS IN THE CLASSROOM
(Hugh Catts and Tina Vartiainen, 1993)

• for kindergarten and first grade children
• the Sounds Abound game can be used by instructional aides or parent volunteers

Description
This is a spiral-bound book that includes excellent materials and activities that are easy to do. The activities range from beginning rhyming activities to ones involving letters and sounds.

Also included are some simple phonemic awareness assessments that could be used to assess growth.

Ordering Information
LinguiSystems, 3100 4^th Avenue, East Moline, IL 61244. Phone: (800) 776-4332.

THE PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS KIT
(Carolyn Robertson & Wanda Salter, 1995, 1997)

• The Beginning Kit can be used for Kindergarten through 2^nd grade and is designed for small group or whole class
• The Intermediate Kit can be used for 3^rd through 8^th grade and is designed for individuals or small groups

Description
Both versions of this kit have well designed activities and contain materials such as blocks, cards, letter tiles, and excellent word lists. The program is comprehensive, beginning with oral language activities and ending with letter-sound and phonetic reading and spelling activities.

The more advanced activities involving print continue to emphasize phonemic awareness.

Ordering Information
LinguiSystems, 3100 4^th Avenue, East Moline, IL 61244. Phone: (800) 776-4332.

PEER ASSISTED LEARNING STRATEGIES FOR BEGINNING READERS (PALS)
(Patricia Mathes, Jill Howard, Joseph Torgesen, & Barbara Edwards, 1997)

• for 1^st and 2^nd grade children
• current programs take about 16 weeks with tutoring sessions 3 times per week for 30 minutes each

Description
This program is designed to stimulate phonological awareness and build beginning reading skills. The lessons are highly scripted; instructions for program management are detailed. The manual is very readable, logical, and easy to understand. After children have learned each skill with the teacher, they have practice opportunities with their peers.

In this program, children practice oral phonemic awareness activities while they are learning about print. The 57 lessons give children experience with nearly all consonant phonemes, the short and long vowels, and several vowel digraphs. It pairs lower ability children with higher ability children and gives productive practice with phonological awareness and phonetic reading skills.

Ordering Information
A copy of this program manual can be purchased by writing Patricia Mathes, Department of Special Education, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32306, Phone: (850) 644-4880.

LADDERS TO LITERACY: A PRESCHOOL ACTIVITY BOOK AND A KINGERGARTEN ACTIVITY BOOK
(Rollanda O’Connor, Angela Notari-Syverson, & Patricia Vadasy, 1998)

• preschool and kindergarten

Description
These two books provide the basis for a "complete and developmentally appropriate" emergent literacy program. Each book includes practice activities for print awareness, phonological awareness, and expressive/receptive oral language.

Ordering Information
Brookes Publishing Co., P,O. Box 10624, Baltimore, MD 21285. Phone: (800) 638-3775.

The following are some of the programs designed for small group or individualized instruction for children who need a more intensive program in phonological awareness:

PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS TRAINING FOR READING (Joseph Torgesen & Brian Bryant, 1994)

• second semester of kindergarten through second grade
• small group instruction for children with weakness in phonological awareness
• can be used by teachers without special training
• 30-minute sessions, 3 times per week, for nearly a semester

Description
Phonological awareness activities are practiced using a sequence of word sets. Each new word set introduces only three new phonemes, so children become familiar with a small set of sounds at one time. Skills ranging from onset/rime blending to blending words with letters are taught with each word set.

Ordering Information
PRO-ED Publishing Co., 8700 Shoal Creek Blvd., Austin, TX 78757. Phone: (512) 451-3246.

ROAD TO THE CODE: A PROGRAM OF EARLY LITERACY ACTIVITIES TO DEVELOP PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS (Benita Blachman, Ellen Ball, Rochella Black, & Darlene Tangel, 1998)

• kindergarten and first grade, but could be adapted for use with older children
• small group instruction for children with weak phonological awareness skills
• designed for use by classroom teachers, resource teachers, language specialists
• 15-20 minute sessions, 4 days per week, for approximately 11 weeks

Description
Materials arranged in a loose-leaf binder include scripts and teacher notes about pacing and individualization. Also included are alphabet picture cards, Say It And Move It sheets, etc. Some required materials, simple items such as a puppet, bingo discs, and lunch bags, are not included. Lessons are sequenced from oral language phonemic awareness to the use of letters for reading and spelling

Ordering Information
Publication date is targeted for early spring, 1999.
Brookes Publishing Co., P.O. Box 10624, Baltimore, MD 21285. Phone: (800) 638-3775.