Students in a kindergarten class are learning to blend word parts. Which phonemic skill is most appropriate for the teacher to work on next?

Blending individual phonemes in words is the most appropriate skill for the teacher to focus on next for several reasons. In early literacy development, particularly in kindergarten, students are often introduced to the foundational concept of phonemic awareness, which is the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds (phonemes) in words.

After learning to blend word parts (like syllables or larger chunks), progressing to blending individual phonemes is a natural next step. This skill helps students understand how different phonemes combine to form whole words, thereby enhancing their reading and spelling abilities. Being able to blend phonemes directly supports their reading skills, as it allows students to decode words they may encounter in text.

In contrast, identifying word meanings, segmenting sentences into words, and recognizing rhyming patterns, while valuable literacy skills, do not directly build upon the specific blending skill that has just been taught. These skills target different aspects of language and literacy development. Thus, focusing on blending individual phonemes effectively bridges the students’ existing knowledge to more advanced reading techniques.