page+2+-+reading+(phonics)

PHONICS Phonology refers to the sound structure of speech and the way the sounds of language operate and are produced (Hill, 2006, p.116). The phonological aspects of a language include intonation, stress and timing as well as words, syllables and phonemes. Phonological awareness is the general ability to pay attention to the sounds of language as distinct from its meaning, and is a more inclusive term than phonemic awareness (Hill, 2006, p.116). A way children of the early years can learn about phonics is through reading aloud and shared reading to develop phonemic awareness. Songs, rhymes and poetry provide students with the background and examples to participate fully in this area (Pinnell & Fountas, 2003). ONSET AND RIMES Onset and rimes can be used in games and activities for children to build their familiarity with word families. Many children find dividing words into onsets and rimes is easier than splitting them into individual phonemes. The onset in a syllable is any consonant(s) that precedes the vowel. The rime consists of the vowel and consonants that come after then onset. (Hill, 2006, p.214) For example 
 * **WORD** || **ONSET** || **RIME** ||
 * horse || h || orse ||
 * tiger || t || iger ||
 * elephant || el || ephant ||

Children develop an increasing awareness of the phonemes in spoken language as they begin to attend words, syllables, rhyme and alliteration. Rhyme is especially helpful in this area. To rhyme means that the ending part of a word (rime) sounds like the ending part (rime) of another word, e.g. (mail, tale) (Pinnell & Fauntas, 2003, p.489) A helpful resource you may want to use to help children learn about rhyming and therefore develop their phonological awareness is the story book by Bill Martin 1996, ‘Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see?’ to hear the story and identify the rhyming words, I have linked it to[|Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see?]