One of the best things to witness is the learning process. People learn step by step, but before you know it, each step has turned into a mile of progress. Reading is a step by step process too, and a great stepping stone to that learning goal is practicing phonemic awareness. Phonemic awareness is manipulating letters and sounds within a word to better hear the individual phonemes. The most common way that you probably see phonemic awareness practiced is in the element of rhyming. Rhyming allows those learning this ability to hear the individual sounds of a word by comparing other words that have the same sounds in part. Here are a couple of great books to check out to practice phonemic awareness.
EDWARD THE EMU
Written by Sheena Knowles
Illustrated by Rod Clement
(1988)
Edward the Emu decides that his life at the zoo is boring, so he decides to become different zoo animals until he finds a more exciting enclosure where he can be happy.
THE HONEYBEE
Written by Kristen Hall
Illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault
(2018)
In this charming book, explore the life of a honeybee by following it through its daily routine.
BEAR CAN’T SLEEP
Written by Karma Wilson
Illustrated by Jane Chapman
(2018)
Bear can’t fall asleep for winter, so his friends work together and try different bedtime routines to help Bear get sleepy.
REMARKABLY YOU
Written by Pat Zietlow Miller
Illustrated by Patrice Barton
(2019)
This inspiring book focuses on the importance of each individual person and what they can contribute to the world.
THE SCARECROW
By Beth Ferry
(2019)
Scarecrow feels lonely and useless in his field. One day an injured crow steps into Scarecrow’s life and they become the most unlikely friends when Scarecrow decides to takes care of the crow.