Phonological Awareness Skills Tests

(Developed by Kansas University)

The Phonological Awareness Skills Test (PAST) is an

informal, diagnostic, individually administered assessment tool to
help you determine the point of instruction for your students and
monitor progress made from doing the activities you select. As it
is not a norm-reference test, there can be flexibility in its
administration. Teachers are free to administer all sections of
the test in one setting or break the test into smaller chunks. It is
also acceptable to reteach the directions as necessary or add
your own additional words to each section.

The materials the administrator of the assessment needs

include the assessment itself, a pencil, and counters or chips for
the student to use for the segmentation part. If counters are
not available, the student can clap the number of segments
instead. The assessment is administered orally since phonological
awareness has to do with the sounds of language.

Who Should Be Assessed

Grade Sections Who Time Periods

Kindergarten All sections All kindergarteners Quarterly
Sections not
All first graders
1st Grade mastered in Quarterly
until mastery
kindergarten
Sections not
All Tier II and Tier
2nd Grade previously Quarterly
III students
mastered
Sections not
3rd Grade and All Tier II and Tier Fall, Winter,
previously
above III students Spring
mastered
 Stages of Phonological Awareness Development

When Skills Are Typically Mastered

Although children develop their phonological skills at different rates,
it is helpful to have a general window of when specific skills are typically
mastered. The following is a suggested timeline...

Skill Typically Mastered

Concept of spoken word Preschool
Rhyme Recognition Preschool
Rhyme Completion Preschool / Kindergarten
Rhyme Production Kindergarten
Syllable blending Preschool / Kindergarten
Syllable segmentation Kindergarten
Syllable deletion Kindergarten
Phoneme isolation of initial sound Kindergarten
Phoneme isolation of final sound Kindergarten / First Grade
Phoneme blending (onset and rime) First Grade
Phoneme blending (all phonemes) First Grade
Phoneme segmentation First Grade
Phoneme deletion (initial sound) First Grade
Phoneme deletion (consonant blends) Second Grade
Phoneme substitution Second Grade
NOTE: In order to make the test user-friendly and time-efficient, the skills of rhyme
completion and phoneme blending of onset and rime are not measured. However, since the
skills are sequential, if a student masters rhyme production, he/she should also be able to
do rhyme completion. By the same token, if a student masters phoneme blending, he/she
should also be able to master blending of onset and rime.
 Questions and Answers
(How to get the most out of the assessment)

Question: At what age do students typically master the specific

phonological awareness skills on the assessment?
Answer: Generally, preschoolers are able to master isolation of spoken
word, rhyme recognition (some can do rhyme completion and syllable
blending). Kindergarteners can master those skills plus rhyme completion,
rhyme production, syllable segmentation, syllable deletion, and isolation of
the initial sound of a word. Many can master isolation of final sounds as well.
First-graders can master the above skills plus phoneme blending, phoneme
segmentation, and deletion of initial and final sounds of words. Some can do
phoneme substitution. Second-graders can master the above skills, along
with phoneme deletion of the first sound in a consonant blend and phoneme
substitution.

Question: How fast do you say the sentences in the sentence segmentation
section?
Answer: Talk in a normal, conversational speed. If you tend to speak
rapidly, slow it down, but speak in a natural, conversational speed.

Question: Why is it important to assess all kindergarteners and first-

graders?
Answer: “Best practices” suggest that you should assess every student. -
even proficient readers. Sometimes, a student appears to be proficient.
Such a child may have a good sight-word vocabulary because early words in
books are almost always in a student’s oral vocabulary. But once students
reach the latter part of the third grade, they begin to encounter many
words not in their oral vocabulary, and some students then have difficulty
decoding these words due to a previously undiagnosed lack of phonological
awareness skills.

Question: How many questions should a child master on each section of the
assessment to be considered proficient?
Answer: To be successful they need to master at least five out of six on all
sections typically mastered by the child’s grade level. If you add additional
words / phonemes, students should score at least 80% to be considered
proficient.
Question: What do I do with the information I get from giving the test?
Answer: Review the sections that a student struggled on. Focus small
group and guided reading instruction on those skills. If the majority of
students in a class struggle on a particular area, you will want to plan some
whole group word study/phonics lessons targeting those skills.

Question: How does it take to administer the test?

Answer: If you administering the entire test, it should take about 10 or 15
minutes per child. This time will decrease as students master particular
sections.

Question: How do I find the time to give this test to my students?

Answer: Most teachers assess individual students during practice station
time. You could also assess students during independent reading time.
 Phonological Awareness Skills Test (PAST)

Student ________________ Grade ____________

Teacher _________________

1st 2nd 3rd 4th

Section
Score Score Score Score
Concept of Spoken Word
Rhyme Recognition
Rhyme Production
Syllable Blending
Syllable Segmentation
Syllable Deletion
Phoneme Isolation of Initial Sound
Phoneme Blending
Phoneme Segmentation
Phoneme Deletion of Initial Sound
Phoneme Deletion of Final Sound
Phoneme Deletion of Consonant Blends
Phoneme Substitution
 Section 1:
Concept of Spoken Word

Directions: Tell the student you are going to play a game with words and
colored chips. Use the sentence, “Joey likes cake,” as an example. As you
say each word of the sentence, push a colored forward – one chip per word.
Then ask the child to do it. Once he/she understands the skill, read each
sentence to the student and ask him/her to repeat the sentence while
pushing up one chip for each word. Put a + on the line to the right of the
sentence if the child does it correctly.

1. Tom ran home. (3) _______

2. I have two pets. (4) ______

3. Did you eat lunch? (4) _____

4. What are you doing? (4) ______

5. Terry loves to play soccer. (5) _____

6. Yesterday it rained. (3) ______

 Section 2:
Rhyme Recognition

Directions: Tell the student that two words that sound alike at the end,
such as hat and sat, are rhyming words. Ask if sit and bit rhyme. (YES)
Then ask if chair and boy rhyme. (NO) If the child appears to grasp the
skill, do the same for each of the following pairs of words. Put a + on the line
to the right of each pair if the child answers correctly.

1. Bed - Fed (YES) _______

2. Top – Hop (YES) ______

3. Run - Soap (NO) _____

4. Hand - Sand (YES) ______

5. Funny – Bunny (YES) _____

6. Girl – Giant (NO) ______

 Section 3:
Rhyme Production

Directions: Tell the student that you are going to say a word, and he/she is
to tell you a word that rhymes with it. The answer can be a real word or a
nonsense word. Ask the child to tell you a word that rhymes with SIT.
Possible answers include hit, fit, mit, pit, dit, and jit. Write the child’s
answer on the line provided. Put a + on the line to the right if the child
answers correctly.

1. Pain: __________ ______

2. Cake: __________ ______

3. Hop: __________ ______

4. See: _________ ______

5. Dark: _________ _______

6. Candy: _________ ______

 Section 4:
Syllable Blending

Directions: Tell the student that you are going to say a word in a funny
way. The job of the student is to put the parts together and say the whole
word. Give these examples, pausing between syllables: out-side (outside),
ro-bot (robot). Have the child say the sample words normally. Then do the
following words and put a + on the line if the child says the word back to yoi
correctly.

1. Pen - cil ______

2. Rain - bow ______

3. Pop - corn ______

4. Black - board ______

5. Side - walk _______

6. Pa - per ______
 Section 5:
Syllable Segmentation

Directions: Tell the student that you are going to say a word and then
break it into part, or syllables. Lay 4 colored chips on the table. First say
rainbow normally. Clap out the two syllables while saying each part. Then
push up a colored chip while saying each syllable. Read each of the following
words and ask the child to push up a chip while saying each syllable. It is not
necessary to clap the syllables again unless the skill needs to be retaught.
Put a + on the line next to each word.

1. Sometime (2) ______

2. Basket (2) ______

3. Bedroom (2) ______

4. Fantastic (3) ______

5. Maybe (2) ______

6. Helicopter (4) ______

 Section 6:
Syllable Deletion

Directions: Tell the student that you are going to play a game with words
where one part of the word is left out. For example, sunshine without shine
is sun. Ask the student to say airline without air. He/She should say line.
Using the words below, tell the child the syllable to leave off. Use this
sentence structure, “Say downtown without down.” Put a + on the line to the
right of each word if the child deletes the correct syllable.

1. (down)town “town” ______

2. (in)side “side” ______

3. for(get) “for” ______

4. bas(ket) “bas” ______

5. af(ter) “af” ______

6. (skate)board “board” ______

 Section 7:
Phoneme Isolation of Initial Sounds

Directions: Tell the student that you are going to say a word, and he/she is
to tell you the first sound of that word. Ask the child what the first sound
is in the word top. The child sound say /t/. Be sure the child says the sound
and not the name of the letter. Do the same with the words below and put a
+ on the line to the right of each word if the child says the sound correctly.

1. big /b/ ______

2. land /l/ ______

3. farm /f/ ______

4. apple short /a/ ______

5. desk /d/ ______

6. ship /sh/ ______

 Section 8:
Phoneme Isolation of Final Sounds

Directions: Tell the student that you are going to say a word, and he/she is
to tell you the last sound of that word. Ask the child what the last sound is
in the word pot. The child sound say /t/. Be sure the child says the sound
and not the name of the letter. Do the same with the words below and put a
+ on the line to the right of each word if the child says the sound correctly.

1. pick /k/ ______

2. ran /n/ ______

3. fill /l/ ______

4. bug hard /g/ ______

5. same /m/ ______

6. tooth /th/ ______

 Section 9:
Phoneme Blending

Directions: Tell the student that you are going to separate all the sounds in
a word, and he/she is to say the whole word. Complete all the examples by
segmenting each sound and having the student say the whole word. For
example, /s/ /i/ /t/ is sit and /s/ /t/ /o/ /p/ is stop. Read each word in
segmented fashion. Put a + on the line to the right of each word if the
student says the whole word correctly.

1. /m/ /e/ me ______

2. /b/ /e/ /d/ bed ______

3. /h/ /a/ /t/ hat ______

4. /m/ /u/ /s/ /t/ must ______

5. /sh/ /o/ /p/ stop ______

6. /p/ /l/ /a/ /n/ /t/ plant ______

 Section 10:
Phoneme Segmentation

Directions: Tell the student that you are going to play a game with all the
sounds in the words below. As an example, show the student the three
sounds in dime. Lie out 4 colored chips and push up a chip for each sound you
say, /d/ /i/ /m/. Ask the student to try it with the word hat. Read each of
the following words and ask him/her to push up a chip for each sound. Put a
+ on the line to the right of each word if the child does it correctly.

1. in 2 phonemes ______

2. at 2 phonemes ______

3. name 3 phonemes ______

4. ship 3 phonemes ______

5. sock 3 phonemes ______

6. chin 3 phonemes ______

 Section 11:
Phoneme Deletion of Initial Sounds

Directions: Tell the student that you are going to play a word game where
the beginning sound of a word is left off. For example, bed without /b/ is
ed. Ask the child to say can without /c/. The answer is an. Read each word
below and tell the child to say the word without the first sound. Put a + on
the line to the right of each word if the child does it correctly.

1. (s)un un ______

2. (p)ig ig ______

3. (m)op op ______

4. (n)eck eck ______

5. (b)at bat ______

6. (t)ape ape ______

 Section 12:
Phoneme Deletion of Final Sounds

Directions: Tell the student that you are going to play a word game where
the final sound of a word is left off. For example, goat without /t/ is go.
Ask the child to say meat without /t/. The answer is me. Read each word
below and tell the child to say the word without the final sound. Put a + on
the line to the right of each word if the child does it correctly.

1. ro/s/e row ______

2. trai/n/ tray ______

3. grou/p/ grew ______

4. sea/t/ sea ______

5. ba/k/e bay ______

6. in/ch/ in ______
 Section 13:
Phoneme Deletion of Consonant Blends

Directions: Tell the student that he/she is going to make new words by
taking the first sound off a consonant blend. Example: The crow without /k/
is row. Be sure you are not using any words with consonant digraphs. Ask
the child to say still without /s/. The answer is till. Complete the same
process with all the words below. Put a + on the line to the right of each
word if he/she does it correctly.

1. Say clap without /k/ lap ______

2. Say stop without /s/ top ______

3. Say trust without /t/ rust ______

4. Say black without /b/ lack ______

5. Say drip without /d/ rip ______

6. Say smile without /s/ mile ______

 Section 14:
Phoneme Substitution
Directions: Tell the student that you will play a very different game with
sounds of words. You are going to ask him/her to take off the first sound of
a word and replace it with another sound. For example, if you replace the
first sound in pail with /m/, the new word is mail. Ask the child to do the
same with the words below. Put a + on the line of the word if the child does
it correctly.

1. Replace the first sound in man with /k/

can ______

2. Replace the first sound in pig with /d/

dig ______

3. Replace the first sound in sack with /t/

sack ______

4. Replace the first sound in well with /f/

fell ______

5. Replace the first sound in bed with /r/

red ______

6. Replace the first sound in shop with /ch/

chop ______