When assessing phonemic awareness, which strategy should a teacher utilize?

Engaging students in sound manipulation activities is an effective strategy for assessing phonemic awareness because it directly targets the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words. Activities that involve sound manipulation, such as segmenting (breaking words into sounds), blending (combining sounds to form words), or substituting sounds in words, provide clear insights into a student's phonemic awareness.

Phonemic awareness is a critical skill in early reading development, as it lays the groundwork for phonics and decoding skills. Therefore, by using sound manipulation activities, a teacher can evaluate how well students can recognize and work with different phonemes, which is essential for their future reading success. This approach also actively engages students and reinforces their understanding of the relationship between sounds and letters.