Reading Guide

     Based on Ehri and Nunes’ theory, this reading guide talks about how phonemic awareness, the ability to discern and manipulate the sounds in the English language, is important for acquiring literacy (114-115). I decided to include this in my portfolio for two reasons. First, it is one of the many concepts “reading” that I think should be taught to students. Without recognition of sounds, it is practically impossible to learn English. In the reading guide, I’ve recounted a past study of my friend, showing how important phonemic awareness is within the English language. Secondly, I believe that the relationship between phonemic awareness and literacy is a representation of our lessons and reading. The sounds, each taking less than a second to articulate, can express the magnificent ideas of Plato and Socrates and record the history of mankind. Likewise, our lessons, which may seem too short and useless for such a grand topic of reading, will eventually lead students to mastery of reading. This, I hope, will always serve as a reminder for me that we can achieve great things by focusing on the details.