PBS Kids’ Phonemic Awareness Skill Games

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PBS Kids’ Phonemic Awareness Skill Games offers a variety of learning activities that target phonemic awareness. After loading the website, users are to select one of the five games. Each game focuses on an aspect of phonemic awareness, which includes letter sounds, letter isolation, and letter blends. After selecting a game, a brief introduction is provided that explains what users are to do to complete the game.

The game then opens and users complete the different activities by clicking, dragging, or sorting objects. If users are correct in their action, the game indicates so and advances to the next activity. If users are incorrect, the game either briefly explains the mistake and then lets them try again or it just lets them try again. After completing a game, users have the opportunity to play it again, adjust the game’s setting, or they can click the back button in their browser to access the game menu.

Instructional Ideas for PBS Kids’ Phonemic Awareness Skill Games

1. Individually or in small groups, teachers can have students play a game in this website to reinforce a phonological awareness skill. As students work, teachers can make sweeps of the room and support them as needed.
2. After playing the games on this website, teachers can have students come back together as a group. Next, teachers can have students share with the group the games they played, how much they enjoyed the games, and what they learned by playing the games. Teachers can use this discussion as an opportunity to assess student learning and consider how they can leverage the website for future use.
3. Once students have had the opportunity to play the games on this website, teachers can transfer them to paper-and-pencil practice. When completing this practice, teachers will present students with flashcards, letters, and other materials needed, and teachers can instruct students to creates sounds, letter blends, and words using them. The goal of these activities is to use the website to first engage students in the content and then begin shifting them to more authentic activities.

Screenshots of PBS Kids’ Phonemic Awareness Skill Games