Conducted by Mrs. Anita Panda and Mrs. Vandana Mehrotra
5th December, 2020
On the bright Saturday morning of 5th December 2020, an online a workshop was conducted by Mrs. Anita Panda and Mrs. Vandana Mehrotra about Phonological Awareness for the Staff of Junior School.
The understanding of the relationship that exists between the sounds of a language (phonological awareness) and the letters that these sounds represent (phonemic awareness) forms the foundation of reading the text of the language.
The sound symbol association is important not only for reading but also for spelling and writing skills. This session was aimed at revisiting and apprising the group, in depth, about the various aspects of Phonological Awareness.
The umbrella term- Phonological Awareness, which includes both Phonemic awareness and Phonics was beautifully explained with examples and illustrations.
Attention was called on the fact that Phonics and Phonemic Awareness should not be interchanged as they mean two different things. It was highlighted how Phonemic awareness which helps a child to hear, identify and manipulate speech sounds in words is one of the first steps to reading which is then followed by Phonics which is the second step. During the session, the Alphabetic Principle-matching a sound to a letter or to a group of letters was also elaborated.
The teachers had a wonderful opportunity not only to revise and revisit various concepts but also to get practical tips for use in their classroom pedagogy. They were encouraged to introduce and practice the introduction of sounds with a lot of pictorial cards and colour codes.
The pedagogy and methodology of “Touch Spell” was also comprehensively detailed during the workshop.
The session was indeed fruitful and helped the group to revise and build up their knowledge of Phonological Awareness. It further infused the teachers to use and practice these techniques in the classroom situation. The Junior School Headmistress, Mrs. Ritu Kaushal who took keen interest in the workshop applauded the efforts of Mrs. Anita Panda and Mrs. Vandana Mehrotra for organising such an enriching session.
