Abstract of

Teaching Tips
Using Sound Boxes Systematically to Develop Phonemic Awareness

Patricia A. McCarthy

A strong relationship exists between phonological processing skills and learning how to read and write in an alphabetic language. How easily a child can use this phonological information has an impact on his or her decoding. For most children, phonological processing skills develop through literacy experiences at home and in their kindergarten classrooms. Yet for some students, learning to detect and manipulate the phonemes in words can be difficult. For these children, using sound boxes to add a kinesthetic aspect to this auditory process scaffolds their learning as they become more adept at manipulating the phonemes in words. This article presents a system of organization and delivery for sound boxes, including guidelines for selecting appropriate words and establishing a gradient of difficulty for instruction, and describes a gradual-release-of-responsibility model for teaching phoneme segmentation.

Abstract from McCarthy, P.A. (2008, December). Using Sound Boxes Systematically to Develop Phonemic Awareness. The Reading Teacher, 62(4), 346–349. doi: 10.1598/RT.62.4.7