Building Strong Readers: Phonemic Awareness at Norma Coombs!

Phonemic awareness is all about listening and playing with sounds-no letters yet! Norma Coombs Elementary School Students practice hearing the sounds in words, blending them together, and breaking them apart.

How Families Can Help at Home:

• You don’t need flashcards or worksheets—just talk, play, and listen!
• Read aloud daily and emphasize rhyming words.
• Ask, “What sound do you hear at the start of ‘sun’?”
• Play “I Spy” with sounds: “I spy something that starts with /b/!”
• Clap out syllables in family names or favorite foods.

“Together, we’re helping every Lion become a strong and joyful reader—one sound at a time!”

Norma Coombs Elementary School, 2600 Paloma St., Pasadena, (626) 396-5660 or visit https://normacoombs.pusd.us/.