Which scenario demonstrates phonemic awareness?

• A. A student who can identify the number of words in a sentence read aloud
• B. A student who recognizes that 'sit' rhymes with 'bit'
• C. A student who recognizes that happiness contains 3 syllables
• D. A student who can blend the sounds /s/ /i/ /t/ to form the word 'sit'.

Answer: (D)

Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear and manipulate the individual sounds in spoken words. Blending separate sounds to form a spoken word is a clear demonstration of this skill. In this scenario, putting together the sounds /s/ /i/ /t/ to say "sit" shows the student can take distinct phonemes and combine them into a whole word, which is exactly what phonemic awareness involves. The other options reflect broader phonological awareness—recognizing that two words rhyme involves rhyme awareness, and counting syllables involves syllable awareness—not the blending of individual sounds into a word. So blending the sounds to form "sit" is the best example of phonemic awareness.