Which of the following is NOT listed as one of the five basic types of phonemic awareness by first grade?

• A. Rhymes & alliteration
• B. Ability to read big words
• C. Ability to orally blend words
• D. Ability to orally segment words

Answer: (B)

Phonemic awareness centers on hearing and manipulating the individual sounds in spoken words, not on reading or decoding printed text. In first grade, the focus is on five core sound-focused activities: recognizing rhymes and alliteration, blending sounds orally to form a word, and segmenting words into their individual sounds (with additional related tasks like isolating or manipulating sounds). Reading big words isn’t a phonemic awareness task—it involves decoding and word knowledge beyond listening for sounds. So, the option describing the ability to read big words isn’t part of those five basic phonemic awareness activities, making it the correct choice. The other options align with the sound-focused skills taught at this stage.