What does phonemic awareness involve?

Phonemic awareness specifically involves the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds in spoken words. This skill is foundational for developing reading and writing abilities, as it enables children to understand how sounds combine to form words. For example, being able to recognize that the word "cat" consists of three distinct phonemes (/k/, /æ/, /t/) equips learners with the essential tools to decode and spell words more effectively.

While the other options touch on different literacy skills, they do not encapsulate the essence of phonemic awareness. Fluency in reading sentences relates more to the ability to read smoothly and with expression, which builds upon phonemic awareness but is not the same thing. Understanding word meanings pertains to vocabulary development, and the ability to write paragraphs involves composing text, both of which are advanced skills that follow the foundational skill of phonemic awareness.