The phonemic awareness program written by Dr. Michael Heggerty is a Tier 1 core program for phonemic awareness for PreK, Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade classrooms. However, it can also be used to provide Tier 2 add Tier 3 support through small group or individual instruction for students in grades K-8.  The Primary curriculum or our intervention curriculum, Bridge the Gap, can be used to provide intervention for students in 2nd grade and above.

When providing Tier 2 or Tier 3 intervention, you would not re-teach a full lesson.  Instead, you would target specific  phonemic awareness skills. Intervention lessons can use the curriculum that matches the student’s grade level (i.e. lessons from the Kindergarten curriculum can be used to provide Kindergarten intervention), and teachers would not use the previous level of the curriculum. We recommend providing 5-7 minutes of phonemic awareness instruction on targeted/specific phonemic awareness skills. You would then bridge into phonics instruction to help students see the reciprocal relationship between phonemic awareness and phonics.

You may use assessments your school or district already has available; such as DIBELS, Acadience or PAST. We also offer PA assessments under the Downloads section of our website to monitor student progress with the PA skills.

Andrew Follett

Hi there! I’m the CEO at Heggerty. Prior to joining the team, I was on staff at The Field School where my kids attend, and where I continue to serve on the board. I was also the Founder & CEO at Demo Duck, a video production agency. I live in Oak Park, IL with my wife and 3 children, and enjoy travel, hockey, tennis, and reading (of course).