Students starting phonemic awareness instruction and having difficulty should begin with what activity?

Beginning phonemic awareness instruction with the activity of stretching out continuant sounds is highly effective for students who are struggling. This activity involves using sounds in a fluid manner, allowing students to hear and produce sounds more easily. Continuant sounds, such as /s/, /f/, or /m/, can be stretched or prolonged, which helps students focus on the qualities of the sounds they are hearing and producing.

This type of activity aids in developing auditory discrimination skills, which are crucial for recognizing and manipulating phonemes in words. By learning how to stretch these sounds, students can build a stronger foundation for later skills in phonemic manipulation, such as blending and segmenting sounds into words. This foundational skill is essential as it establishes a pathway for more complex phonemic tasks, ultimately improving their reading and spelling abilities.

The other options, while related to phonics and phonemic awareness, may not be as foundational for students who are just beginning to learn about sounds. Identifying consonant blends, reciting vocabulary words, and practicing rhyme recognition are important skills, but they typically come after establishing a solid understanding of individual sounds and their manipulation. Focusing on continuant sounds allows students to gain confidence and improve their overall phonemic awareness effectively.