Phonological awareness is a foundational skill that underpins a child’s ability to read, write, and communicate effectively. Whether you're a speech-language pathologist (SLP), parent, or educator, nurturing these skills in young children is essential to fostering their language development and paving the way for successful literacy acquisition. The Bjorem Speech® Sound Cues offer a powerful, engaging, and fun way to support children in developing phonological awareness. In this guide, we'll explore how you can use these sound cues to enhance phonological awareness in your sessions, classrooms, or even at home.
What Are Bjorem Speech® Sound Cues?
The Bjorem Speech® Sound Cues are a unique set of picture cue cards designed by a certified speech-language pathologist, Jennie Bjorem, M.A., CCC-SLP. These cues are used to visually and auditorily represent speech sounds, using environmental sounds that children can relate to, making it easier for children to learn and produce these sounds. The cards are especially effective for children with speech sound disorders, Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS), and those in the early stages of speech and literacy development.
Using Bjorem Speech® Sound Cues to Build Phonological Awareness
Whether you're an SLP, a parent working with your child, or a teacher in a classroom, the Bjorem Speech® Sound Cues can be easily integrated into a variety of activities that promote phonological awareness. Here are some practical ways to use these cues:
1. Sound Identification
- Activity: Display a selection of Bjorem Speech® Sound Cue cards. Say a sound and ask the child to find the corresponding card.
- For SLPs: This activity helps reinforce sound-symbol relationships, crucial for children struggling with sound production.
- For Parents: Play this as a game during playtime to make learning sounds fun and interactive.
- For Educators: Use this as a warm-up activity in a literacy lesson to engage the whole class in phonological practice.
2. Sound Sorting
- Activity: Sort the Bjorem Speech® Sound Cue cards by sound type, such as vowels vs. consonants, or by where the sound is made in the mouth (e.g., front vs. back sounds).
- For SLPs: This sorting activity can be used to help children with speech sound disorders understand the physical production of sounds.
- For Parents: Encourage your child to sort the cards as a way to practice categorization, a key cognitive skill.
- For Educators: Incorporate this activity into centers or stations during literacy instruction, allowing students to practice independently or in small groups.
3. Blending Sounds into Words
- Activity: Lay out a series of Bjorem Speech® Sound Cue cards representing different sounds (e.g., /c/, /a/, /t/). Guide the child to blend these sounds together to form a word.
- For SLPs: This activity is ideal for working with children on blending, an essential skill for reading development.
- For Parents: Practice blending during story time by creating simple words with the cards that match pictures in the book.
- For Educators: Use this activity in small group instruction to help students build the skills needed for decoding words during reading.
4. Segmenting Words into Sounds
- Activity: Choose a word and ask the child to break it down into individual sounds using the corresponding Bjorem Speech® Sound Cue cards.
- For SLPs: Segmenting words helps children understand that words are composed of smaller sound units, which is vital for spelling and reading.
- For Parents: Turn this into a fun game by using favorite toys or objects around the house and asking your child to segment their names into sounds.
- For Educators: Incorporate segmenting activities into literacy centers or use them as part of a daily phonics routine.
5. Rhyming Games
- Activity: Use the Bjorem Speech® Sound Cue cards to find or create words that rhyme.
- For SLPs: Rhyming activities support the development of phonological memory and are especially helpful for children with auditory processing challenges.
- For Parents: Create a rhyming challenge during car rides or playtime, encouraging your child to find cards that rhyme with a given word.
- For Educators: Integrate rhyming activities into poetry lessons or during circle time to enhance phonemic awareness in a group setting.
Looking to make these cues even more engaging and fun?!
Check out our Speech Sound Cues Minis and Bjorem Better Letters with the Laurie Berkner Band to incorporate multi-sensory learning. Get those hands busy, bodies dancing, and brains working by using all three of these products together to make learning speech and literacy skills an engaging, playful, and enjoyable experience!
