Phonemic Awareness Calendars
It’s no secret that, as teachers, we want to equip our students with the essential skills they will need to become confident readers. We know that the foundation for reading success is phonological and phonemic awareness.
In class, I use both the Heggerty Primary Phonemic Awareness Curriculum and Equipped for Reading Success One-Minute Activities each day during whole-group instruction. However, I wanted a simple way to maximize the benefits of phonemic awareness while bridging the gap between home and school.
Each month, I send home a Phonemic Awareness Calendar. Each week-day includes simple, one-minute (or less) activities that align with the phonemic awareness skills we have already covered in class or are currently working on. Not only do these calendars help to develop students phonemic awareness skills but it also involves the parents in the learning process while parents can witness their child’s development firsthand.
The calendars ensure regular practice of phonemic awareness skills and because each daily activity is so short, it is super manageable for families to fit into their daily routines without feeling overwhelmed. (Sidenote: I do not send any other kind of ‘homework’ home.)
The Phonemic Awareness Take Home Calendars include phonemic awareness activities for each week day of the month. The calendars also come with a note to parents that will explain what phonemic awareness is, the benefits, and what is important about each activity. It also has fun extension ideas that families can incorporate into their child’s play and routines.
While you can use these calendars in any way you choose, I like to pair them with my Book Bucks and classroom economy system. When students return their completed calendar, I ‘pay’ them with Book Bucks. I have a small shop in my classroom with little prizes, games, etc, where students can choose to shop once a month or save up for higher ticked items.
There are two calendars available:
• Kindergarten Phonological and Phonemic Awareness Take-Home Calendars – these calendars are meant for Kindergarten students and begin with Phonological Awareness skills while naturally progressing to Phonemic Awareness Skills.
• Grade One Phonemic Awareness Take-Home Calendars – these calendars are meant for Grade One students and progress through Phonemic Awareness skills
TIPS:
• Copy each month onto different coloured paper if you like. It add a bit of fun and easy to track the months.
• I like to copy all the months at the same time and store them in a bin. At the beginning of the month, I just pull out the months calendar and place in my students mailboxes.
• If your school does a “Meet the Teacher” kind of night at the beginning of the year, I like to used this opportunity to explain the calendars to parents in person and give them an example of how the activities are done(with sounds, not spelling or letters!). If not, consider sending a video out on Seesaw (or other messaging app you use with parents!)
