Volume 3 Sadlier-Oxford

Nursery Rhymes and Phonemic Awareness by Research and Development Staff

Sadlier-Oxford A Division of William H. Sadlier, Inc.

icture this: A young child sits on a parent’s lap while the two P of them clap rhythmically together and recite in unison: Hey diddle, diddle, The cat and the fiddle, The cow jumped over the moon; The little dog laughed To see such sport, And the dish ran away with the spoon.

The moment ends as the parent tickles the child’s tummy and the two of them laugh and laugh and laugh.

If you guessed that this seemingly In the playful moment described above, inconsequential event in a child’s life the child is not only experiencing the has profound consequences—you’d be joy of words but is also implicitly right! Research suggests that hearing, developing early literacy skills—one learning, and reciting Mother Goose of the most important of which is nursery rhymes can help young children phonemic awareness. take the first steps toward becoming proficient readers. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SERIES SADLIER-OXFORD Professional Development Series

PHONEMIC AWARENESS begin to decode the letter/sound correspondences that make up our written What Is Phonemic Awareness? language — that is, they can begin to read Phonemic awareness is defined as “the (Bond and Dykstra, 1967). awareness of sounds (phonemes) that make What Instruction Can a Teacher up spoken words” (Williams, 1995). Someone consciously and analytically aware of the Provide in Phonemic Awareness? sounds that make up spoken words would be It has been recognized that there are several able to hear the word pat, for example, in levels of phonemic awareness in which these ways: it has one syllable; it consists of children may need explicit instruction before the initial sound /p/ and the rime at; and it they can begin decoding words on a page is made up of three phonemes, or sounds: (Blachman, 1984b; Lewkowicz, 1980; Stanovich, /p/, /a/, and /t/. Cunningham, and Cramer, 1984; Yopp, 1988). Adams (1990) identifies five levels: Why Is Phonemic Awareness Important in Reading Instruction? 1. Knowledge of nursery rhymes From infancy, a child gradually becomes 2. Oddity tasks adept at implicitly recognizing and using 3. Blending and syllable-splitting phonemes—in speaking and listening (Eimas, 4. Phonemic segmentation Siqueland, Jusczyk, and Vigorito, 1971). A 5. Phoneme manipulation growing majority of educators believe that when children begin reading instruction, they need to become explicitly aware that What Sources Can a Teacher Turn To? spoken words are composed of sounds and Which materials are the most appropriate they must develop the ability to consciously for instruction in the five levels of phonemic and analytically hear, identify, and awareness? There is no definitive answer to manipulate those sounds (Moats, Furry, that question, of course; but, according to and Brownell, 1998). Opie and Opie (1959), nursery rhymes have Research indicates that this conscious, long been accepted as having a place in the analytical phonemic awareness and letter preschool classroom and the range of rhymes knowledge are the best predictors of early that can be used is extensive. Holdaway’s reading acquisition. This means that once observations (1979) support that finding: children have some degree of phonemic “Preschool teachers use nursery rhymes and awareness and letter knowledge they can songs with groups of children or the whole

2 SADLIER-OXFORD Professional Development Series

class, which has a real social benefit as children—and adults! Why? “Stop and children chant and sing in unison.” Cullinan listen to the rhymes. See how they awaken (1999) adds: “Mother Goose rhymes … responsiveness in boys and girls. They are reinforce key reading skills, such as phonemic short, fun-filled, dramatic, pleasing to the awareness.” And research reveals that there is ear, easy to remember—and oh, so hard to a strong link between the nursery rhyme forget” (Hopkins, 1998). knowledge of PreK children and their future Traditional nursery rhymes, then, can serve success in reading and spelling (MacLean, as rich instructional material — not only Bryant, and Bradley, 1987). in developing the first level of phonemic Nursery rhymes are not for the preschool awareness but also in explicit instruction classroom only (Samuels and Farstrup, 1992). at the other four levels. They exert their power over all primary

3 SADLIER-OXFORD Professional Development Series

MOTHER GOOSE AND turning an area into Mother Gooseland with PHONEMIC AWARENESS big and little books, puppets, audiocassettes, and so on. But most of all—recite and sing Following are practical suggestions for to children and have children recite and sing using Mother Goose nursery rhymes to you and to each other. to develop phonemic awareness in young learners. Level Two: Oddity tasks Level One: Knowledge of Teacher Tip: Continue asking children to nursery rhymes identify rhyming words and listen for initial sounds in words. Provide instruction and Teacher Tip: Help children develop an practice in listening for ending and medial “ear” for rhyme and alliteration (1) by sounds (Bradley and Bryant, 1983). Read or recite telling children that rhyming words sound “Mary, Mary” (or one of your favorite nursery the same at the end; (2) by encouraging rhymes) a number of times. Have children children to listen for the initial sounds in recite it until they know it well enough to words; and (3) by reading aloud and reciting say it aloud easily and playfully. to children and having the children themselves recite and sing nursery rhymes Mary, Mary, and poems. Choose nursery rhymes and Quite contrary, poems that are rich in rhyme and How does your alliteration. “Hey Diddle, Diddle,” “Little Garden grow? Boy Blue,” and “Mary, Mary” are just three With Silver Bells, of the many nursery rhymes that will help And Cockle Shells, do the job. “Hey Diddle, Diddle,” for And pretty maids example, contains these rhyme pairs: All in a row. diddle/fiddle; moon/spoon; and alliteration in the repetition of the initial consonant d in Ask the following questions to check the opening phrase: “Hey diddle, diddle.” children’s ability to do oddity tasks:

Your school and/or public library will have • Which word does not rhyme? grow, row, collections of nursery rhymes as well as some how (answer: how) of the many materials that have been • Which word has a different beginning inspired by the traditional rhymes. (See the sound? maids, does, Mary (answer: does) “Nursery Rhyme Books and Materials” • Which word has a different ending sound? bibliography at the end of this paper.) and, shells, bells (answer: and) You may wish to make the world of Mother • Which word has a different middle sound? bells, shells, maids (answer: maids) Goose really come alive in your classroom by

4 SADLIER-OXFORD Professional Development Series

Level Three: Blending and Level Four: Phonemic syllable-splitting segmentation Teacher Tip: Model for children how to Teacher Tip: Provide instruction in blend and syllable-split. For practice in segmenting spoken words into individual blending, give children the phonemes that sounds. Have children tap or clap at each make up a word—for example, sound they hear in a word (Liberman, /k/ /a/ /t/—and have them Shankweiler, Fischer, and Carter, blend the phonemes 1974; Blachman, 1984a). together to say the Read, recite, and have word—cat (Lundberg, children recite and Olofsson, and Wall, 1980; delight in the Perfetti, Beck, Bell, and alliterative and Hughes, 1987). Read, rhythmic language of recite, and have children “Shoe a Little Horse” recite and enjoy the language (or a nursery rhyme of your in “This Little Pig” (or another own choosing): nursery rhyme of your choice): Shoe a little horse, Shoe a little mare, This little pig went to market. But let the little colt This little pig stayed home. Go bare, bare, bare. This little pig had roast beef. This little pig had none. Shoe a horse This little pig cried, Wee-wee-wee! And shoe a mare, All the way home. But let the little colt Go bare, bare, bare. Check children’s ability at blending and Have children follow these directions to syllable-splitting by asking them to follow practice or assess their skill at phonemic such directions as these: segmentation:

• Say these three sounds: /p/ /i/ /g/. • Tap (or clap) for each sound you hear in the – • Put (blend) the sounds together and say the word go. (answer: 2 taps or claps: /g/ /o/) word they make. (answer: pig) • Tap (or clap) for each sound you hear in the • Say the first sound you hear in the word beef. word let. (answer: 3 taps or claps: /l/ /e/ /t/) (answer: /b/) • Tap (or clap) for each sound you hear in • Take away /b/ in the word beef. Say what the word colt. (answer: 4 taps or – is left. (answer: eef) claps: /k/ /o/ /l/ /t/)

5 SADLIER-OXFORD Professional Development Series

Level Five: Phoneme manipulation CONCLUSION Teacher Tip: Model for children how to Although phonemic awareness is a current manipulate phonemes as you go about the focus of literacy discussion, it is only one variety of listening and speaking activities in part of a balanced approach to reading your classroom (Lundberg, Olofsson, and Wall, instruction. Yopp (1992) makes these wise 1980; Mann,1984; Rosner and Simon, 1971). Read, recommendations about teaching phonemic recite, and have children recite and play with awareness: make the activities playful and the language in “Little Boy Blue” (or another fun; avoid drill and rote memorization; find favorite nursery rhyme of yours): ways for children to interact with each other during instruction; encourage children to be Little Boy Blue, curious about language and to experiment Come blow your horn; with it; and make allowance for individual The sheep’s in the meadow, differences. The cow’s in the corn. As research and best practice by teachers Where is the boy reveal, Mother Goose is ready and willing to Who looks after the sheep? help young learners develop phonemic He’s under a haystack awareness, one of the first steps on the path Fast asleep. to becoming eager, proficient readers. Will you wake him? No, not I, For if I do, He’s sure to cry.

Check children’s ability at phoneme manipulation by asking them to follow directions such as these:

• Say the word will without /w/: (answer: ill) • Add /h/ to the beginning of the word ill: (answer: hill) • Say the word fast without /s/: (answer: fat) • Say the word sheep without /p/: (answer: shee)

6 SADLIER-OXFORD Professional Development Series

Terms alliteration the repetition of initial sounds in words phoneme the smallest unit of sound in a (“Betty Botter bought some butter”) spoken word blend to say the sounds in a word in a fluid way so phonemic awareness awareness of the sounds the word is recognized and spoken as it is heard (phonemes) that make up spoken words in everyday speech phonic instruction “a system of teaching reading manipulate to add or delete a particular phoneme that builds on the alphabetic principle...of or phonemes in a spoken word which a central component is the teaching of oddity task a task in which one is asked to identify correspondences between letters or groups of letters the discrepant member of a group of three or and their pronunciations” (Adams, 1990) four spoken words based on initial, medial, or rime the remainder of a one-syllable word when the final sound onset is removed (for example, at in cat) onset the initial consonant or consonants in a word segment to pull apart phonemes in a spoken word (for example, the c in cat).

Nursery Rhyme Books and Materials The following is a sampling of the many Mother Goose materials available.

Battaglia, A. (1973). Mother Goose. New York: Random House. deAngeli, M. (1954). The Book of Nursery and Mother Goose Rhymes. New York: Doubleday. dePaola, T. (1985). Tomie dePaola’s Mother Goose. New York: G.P. Putnam & Sons. Lobel, A. (1986). The Random House Book of Mother Goose. New York: Random House. Morrow, L.M. (2001). Getting Ready to Read with Mother Goose. New York: Sadlier-Oxford. Opie, I. (1996). My Very First Mother Goose. Cambridge, MA: Lee Bennett Hopkins, the “Pied-Piper of Poetry,” has Candlewick Press. compiled an enchanting collection of round-the-world Opie, I. & Opie, P. (1977). The Oxford Nursery Rhyme Book. nursery rhymes for Lee Bennett Hopkins MOTHER GOOSE, New York: Oxford University Press. published by Sadlier-Oxford. The nursery rhymes used in Piper, W. (1972). Mother Goose: A Treasury of Best Loved this paper appear in that work. Rhymes. New York: Platt & Munk. Rey, H.A. (1995). Humpty Dumpty and Other Mother Goose Songs. New York: HarperFestival. Tudor, T. (1944). Mother Goose. New York: D. McKay. Wildsmith, B. (1964). Brian Wildsmith’s Mother Goose. New York: Franklin Watts, Inc.

7 References* Adams, M.J. (1990). Beginning to Read: Gough, P.B., Larson, K.C., & Yopp, H. (March Moats, L.C., Furry, A.R., & Brownell, N. Thinking and Learning About Print. Cambridge, 4, 2000). “The Structure of Phonemic (1998). Learning to Read: Components of MA: MIT Press. Awareness.” University of Texas at Austin. Beginning Reading Instruction K–8. Sacramento, Adams, M.J., Foorman, B.R., Lundberg, I., www.psy.utexas.edu/psy. CA: California State Board of Education. & Beeler, T. (1998). Phonemic Awareness in Griffith, P.L. & Olson, M.W. (1992). Morrow, L.M. (2001). Literacy Development in the Young Children. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. “Phonemic Awareness Helps Beginning Early Years: Helping Children Read and Write, Brookes Publishing Co. Readers Break the Code.” The Reading Teacher, (4th ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn Blachman, B.A. (1984a). “Relationship of 45 (7), 516–525. and Bacon. Rapid Naming Ability and Language Holdaway, D. (1979). The Foundations of National Reading Panel. (2000). Analysis Skills to Kindergarten and First- Literacy. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. National Reading Panel Report. grade Reading Achievement.” Journal of Hopkins, L.B. (1998). Pass the Poetry, Please! www.nationalreadingpanel.org. Educational Psychology, 76, 610–622. New York: HarperCollinsPublishers. Office of Research. (1993). State of the Art: Blachman, B.A. (1984b). “Language Analysis The International Reading Association and the Transforming Ideas for Teaching and Learning Skills and Early Reading Acquisition.” National Association for the Education of to Read. Washington, DC: U.S. Office In Wallach, G., & Butler, K. (Eds.), Language Young Children. (1998). Learning to Read and of Education. Learning Disabilities in School-age Children. Write: Developmentally Appropriate Practices for Opie, I. & Opie, P. (1959). The Lore and Baltimore, MD: Williams & Wilkins, Young Children. Newark, DE. Language of School Children. Oxford, UK: 217–287. Juel, C., Griffith, P.L., & Gough, P.B. (1986) Oxford University Press. Bond, G.L. & Dykstra, R. (1967). “The “Acquisition of Literacy: A Longitudinal Perfetti, C.A., Beck, I., Bell, L., & Hughes, C. Cooperative Research Program in First-grade Study of Children in First and Second Grade.” (1987). “Phonemic Knowledge and Learning Reading Instruction.” Reading Research Journal of Educational Psychology, 78, 243–255. to Read Are Reciprocal: A Longitudinal Quarterly, 2, 5–142. Kirtley, C., Bryant, P., MacLean, M., & Study of First Grade Children.” Merrill-Palmer Bradley, L. & Bryant, P.E. (1983). Bradley, L. (1989). “Rhyme, Rime, and the Quarterly, 33 (3), 283–319. “Categorizing Sounds and Learning Onset of Reading.” Journal of Experimental Rosner, J. & Simon, D.P. (1971). “The to Read—A Causal Connection.” Child Psychology, 48, 224–245. Auditory Analysis Test: An Initial Report.” Nature, 419–421. Lewkowicz, N.A. (1980). “Phonemic Journal of Learning Disabilities, 4, 384–392. Bruce, L.J. (1964). “The Analysis of Word Awareness Training: What to Teach and How Samuels, S.J. & Farstrup, A.E. (Eds.). (1992). Sounds by Young Children.” British Journal to Teach It.” Journal of Educational Psychology, What Research Has to Say About Reading of Educational Psychology, 34, 157–170. 72, 686–700. Instruction. Newark, DE: International Bryant, P.E., MacLean, M., Bradley, L.L., & Liberman, I. Y., Shankweiler, D., Fischer, F.W., Reading Association. Crossland, J. (1990). “Rhyme and & Carter, B. (1974). “Reading and the Share, D.L., Jorm, A.F., Maclean, R., Alliteration, Phoneme Detection, and Awareness of Linguistic Segments.” Journal Matthews, R. (1984). “Sources of Individual Learning to Read.” Developmental Psychology, of Experimental Child Psychology, 18, 201–212. Differences in Reading Acquisition.” Journal 26 (3), 429–438. Lundberg, I., Frost, J., & Petersen, O.P. (1988). of Educational Psychology, 76, 1309–1324. Chall, J.S. (1967). Learning to Read: The Great “Effects of an Extensive Program for Stanovich, K.E., Cunningham, A.E., & Cramer, Debate. New York: McGraw-Hill. Stimulating Phonological Awareness in B.B. (1984). “Assessing Phonological

Clay, Marie. (1991). Becoming Literate. Preschool Children.” Reading Research Awareness in Kindergarten Children: Issues of Copyright ©2000 by William H. Sadlier, Inc. All rights reserved. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Quarterly, 23, 264–284. Task Comparability.” Journal of Experimental Cullinan, B. (1999). “Lessons from Mother Lundberg, I., Olofsson, A., & Wall, S. (1980). Child Psychology, 38, 175–190. Goose.” Scholastic Instructor, March, 55. “Reading and Spelling Skills in the First Trachtenberg, P. (1990). “Using Children’s Cunningham, P. (1995). Phonics They Use: School Years Predicted from Phonemic Literature to Enhance Phonics Instruction.” Words for Reading and Writing. New York: Awareness Skills in Kindergarten.” The Reading Teacher, 45, 648–653. Harper Collins. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, Williams, J. (1995). In Harris, T.L. & Hodges, 21, 159–173. Ehri, L. (1991). “The Development of the R.E. (Eds.), The Literacy Dictionary: The Ability to Read Words.” In Barr, R., Kamil, MacLean, M., Bryant, P., & Bradley, L. (1987). Vocabulary of Reading and Writing. Newark, M., Mosenthal, P., & Pearson, P.D. (Eds.), “Rhymes, Nursery Rhymes, and Reading in DE: International Reading Association. Handbook of Reading Research, Volume 2. Early Childhood.” Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, Yopp, H.K. (1988). “The Validity and New York: Longman. 33 (3), 255–281. Reliabilty of Phonemic Awareness Tests.” Eimas, P.D., Siqueland, E.R., Jusczyk, P., & Mann, V.A. (1984). “Longitudinal Prediction Reading Research Quarterly, 23, 159–177. Vigorito, J. (1971). “Speech Perception in and Prevention of Early Reading Difficulty.” Yopp, H.K. (1992). “Developing Phonemic Infants.” Science, 171, 303–306. Annals of Dyslexia, 34, 115–136. Awareness in Young Children.” The Reading Teacher, 45, 696–703.

*Complete list of references is available upon request. Code # 9597-0

Sadlier-Oxford A Division of William H. Sadlier, Inc. 1-800-221-5175 www.sadlier-oxford.com