Pre-Linguistic Skills 3 – Phonemic Awareness II

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Course Overview

The Acellus Pre-Linguistic Skills 3 - Phonemic Awareness II course is a comprehensive introduction to speech sound development and phonemic awareness designed to help students build the skills necessary for clear, intelligible speech. Beginning with vowel sounds, students learn to recognize and produce short vowels, long vowels, diphthongs (/ow/, /oy/), and additional vowel sounds such as /oo/ and /er/. Instruction then progresses through the major consonant classes, including stop consonants (/p, b, t, d, k, g/), fricatives (/f, v, s, z, h, sh, th/), nasals (/m, n, ŋ/), liquids (/l, r/), glides (/w, j/), and affricates (/ch, j/). Throughout the course, students participate in systematic, visually supported instruction that combines explicit modeling, listening activities, picture cues, articulation demonstrations, and guided practice. Lessons emphasize recognizing, discriminating, and accurately producing individual speech sounds before applying them within words and simple speech activities. Consistent routines and repeated practice help students strengthen articulation, improve phonemic awareness, and develop confidence in spoken communication. By the end of the course, students will have established a strong foundation in English speech sounds that supports continued growth in expressive language, speech intelligibility, and early literacy. This course is taught by Acellus Course Instructor Hunter Hebron.

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Sample Lesson - Recognizing Diphthongs: /ow/ Sound as in "Cow"

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This course was developed by the International Academy of Science. Learn More

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Scope and Sequence

Unit 1: Vowel Sound Foundations Students begin by developing a strong foundation in English vowel sounds. Through explicit instruction and visually supported activities, they learn to recognize, discriminate, and produce short vowels, long vowels, diphthongs (/ow/, /oy/), and additional vowel sounds such as /oo/ and /er/. Guided listening, picture cues, articulation modeling, and structured practice help students distinguish between similar vowel sounds while building the auditory discrimination and speech production skills that form the basis for clear communication, early reading, and continued language development.

Unit 2: Consonant Sound Foundations Building on their understanding of vowel sounds, students explore the major categories of English consonants, including stop consonants (/p, b, t, d, k, g/), fricatives (/f, v, s, z, h, sh, th/), nasals (/m, n, ŋ/), liquids (/l, r/), glides (/w, j/), and affricates (/ch, j/). Students learn how each sound is produced through visual demonstrations, guided articulation practice, listening activities, and simple word exercises. As instruction progresses, they combine vowel and consonant sounds to improve speech accuracy, intelligibility, and confidence. By the end of the unit, students will have developed a comprehensive foundation in English speech sounds that supports expressive communication and future literacy skills.