If you’ve ever felt like your students just “weren’t ready” to read in French, you’re not alone.
They know their letters. They can sing the alphabet. But when it comes time to decode, blend, and read… they’re stuck. Or they guess. Or they memorize.
The missing piece?
👉 Phonological awareness.
It’s one of the biggest predictors of reading success, but often one of the most overlooked pieces in early French instruction. The good news? It doesn’t require complicated planning or long lessons. With just 5 minutes a day, you can give your students the foundation they need to read with confidence.
Here’s how I do it in my grade one classroom... and how you can, too.
🔤 What Is Phonological Awareness (and Why Does It Matter)?
Phonological awareness is the ability to hear and manipulate sounds in spoken language. It’s not the same as phonics (which connects sounds to letters); it’s all about what students can do with their ears.
Key skills include:
- Identifying the first or last sound in a word
- Blending syllables or sounds together
- Segmenting a word into parts
- Manipulating sounds (e.g., replacing /m/ in moi with /t/ to make toi)
Why it matters in French:
- French has sounds that don't exist in English (un, gn, an, etc.) that we should familiarize students with orally
- Students need to know how to blend sounds together in order to read
- Students can’t decode effectively if they can’t hear the sounds clearly
In short? Phonological awareness is a prerequisite to reading success.
⏱️ Why 5 Minutes a Day Is All You Need for Phonological Awareness
You don’t need hour-long literacy blocks to make progress. In fact, short, daily practice is more effective than a long lesson once a week. When students revisit the same skill every day, they internalize it faster and with more confidence.
That’s exactly why I created my Daily Phonological Awareness Slides. They are designed for:
- French kindergarten or first-grade classrooms
- Teachers following the Science of Reading
- Anyone looking for a no-prep, no-stress way to teach and practice these foundational skills
I can tell you first hand that my students made SO MUCH progress doing 1-2 of these slides every day!
💻 What’s Included in the Slides?
Each day’s slide takes 5 minutes or less and covers multiple skills, such as:
✅ Identifying initial or final sounds
✅ Segmenting syllables or phonemes
✅ Blending sounds to make a word
✅ Sound substitution and deletion
✅ Rhyme awareness and repetition
✨ Everything is presented visually, with clear prompts in French. All you do is project the slide and go!
You can use them:
- At the start of your literacy block
- During morning meeting
- As a quick warm-up before small group reading
- With a support teacher or EA as an independent routine
👩🏫 How I Use Them in My Classroom
In my own classroom, I actually use these at the very start of our day.
They are the first thing that we do after everyone arrives and I finish agendas.
I just project the slide once everyone is in their seat, and off we go! The slides are scripted, so I always know what to say.
The best part? My students actually look forward to this part of our day. They love saying the sounds and showing off what they're able to do!
💬 What’s Your Phonological Awareness Routine?
Do you teach phonological awareness daily?
Have you tried using slides or games to build sound skills?
Drop a comment below —I’d love to hear how it’s going in your classroom!
✅ Want to Try It With Your Students?
I created a free sample of 10 daily slides so you can experience the difference yourself. No prep, no printing—just open and go. Literally. That's it - that's all you have to do.
🎁 Download your free phonological awareness slides here
📘 Learn more about Enseignons ensemble: Ready to Read and how you can access slides for the ENTIRE school year
Let’s build confident kiddos who are ready to read, one sound at a time. 💛
Looking for More Ways to Incorporate Phonological Awareness With Your Students?
Check out these blog posts!