Using Phonological Awareness Data to Identify Trends and Inform Instructional Next Steps

Overview: The phonological awareness (PA) graded assessment page can help teachers understand how a student manipulates sounds in a word.  The table below is designed for use when observing phonological awareness data.  

Skill	Definition	Data Analysis to Inform Instructional Next Steps	Some Questions to Consider	Example
Blending	Produce a word by orally combining its syllables or phonemes	1. Identify words the reader could (not) blend 2. Find patterns in what the reader could (not) blend 3. Name reader error (e.g., reader repeats phonemes rather than say whole word) 4. Create a list of target words built to address the reader’s error	Did the reader say a whole word or are they missing a phoneme? What was easy for the reader to blend? (e.g., compound words)  Did the reader  blend phonemes sequentially?  What part of the word did the reader have difficulty blending?	T: What word do these sounds make? BASE-BALL Answer: "baseball"
Segmentation	Separate a word into its individual sounds (e.g., phonemes)	1. Identify phonemes that the reader could (not) segment 2. Find patterns in what the reader could (not) segment 3. Name reader error  (e.g., the reader segments the initial phoneme and says the rest of the word) 4. Create a list of target words built to address the reader’s error	Did the reader pause between each phoneme? Did the reader omit a phoneme from the word? Did the reader add phonemes that shouldn’t be part of the word?  What were the words’ syllable structure that were (in)correctly segmented (e.g., cvc, vc)?	T: Say AT. Say the sounds you hear. Answer: /a/ /t/
Addition	Add a phoneme or syllable to a provided word part to create a word	1. Identify phonemes that the reader could (not) add to a word part 2. Find patterns in what the reader could (not) add to a word part  3. Name reader error (e.g., reader cannot add final or medial phonemes to a word part)  4. Create a list of target words built to address the reader’s error	Did the reader know where to add the phoneme or syllable?  Did the reader say a whole word after their addition? Did the reader segment any parts of the word after their addition?	T: Say AIR. Add PLANE at the end. What is the word? Answer: "airplane"
Deletion	Identify and remove a phoneme or syllable from a given word	1. Identify what the reader could (not) delete 2. Find patterns in what the reader could (not) delete 3. Name reader error: (e.g., the reader deletes a syllable, rather than a phoneme)  4. Create a list of target words built to address the reader’s error	What part of a word did the reader successfully delete (e.g., initial)? Is the reader repeating the word rather than deleting a part (e.g., initial phoneme or syllable?  What were the words’ syllable structure that were (in)correctly deleted (e.g., cvc)?	T: Say RAINBOW. Take away RAIN and say what’s left? Answer: "bow"
Isolation	Identify, and then produce, the initial or final phoneme, or the medial vowel, in a given word	1. Identify what the reader could (not) isolate 2. Find patterns in what the reader could (not) isolate 3. Name reader error: (e.g., the reader isolates a syllable, rather than a phoneme) 4. Create a list of target words built to address the reader’s error	Did the reader show evidence they can isolate phonemes in the correct part of the word (e.g., medial vowel)? Did the reader say the whole word, instead of isolating a phoneme?  What were the words’ syllable structure that were (in)correctly isolated?	T: Say HAT. What is the first sound in HAT? Answer: /h/
Substitution	Delete a phoneme or syllable from a word.  Then, add a different phoneme or syllable to that same word	1. Identify what the reader could (not) substitute 2. Find patterns in what the reader could (not) substitute 3. Name reader error: (e.g., the reader can delete a syllable, but cannot correctly add the provided syllable)  4. Create a list of target words built to address the reader’s error	When the reader substituted a phoneme, are other phonemes modified? What parts of the word were substituted correctly by the reader (e.g., compound final)?  What were the words’ syllable structure that were (in)correctly substituted (e.g., cvc, vc)?	T: Say CLASSROOM. Change CLASS to BATH. What is the new word? Answer: "bathroom"