Objective: This study evaluated the impact of an explicit phonological awareness modeling intervention, conducted with four-year-old typically developing children, on their ability to say the first sounds in words. Method: Three preschool children participated in the study, which employed a single subject A-B-A design. The independent variable was shared book reading with embedded explicit phonological awareness modeling of first sound fluency in words. The dependent variable was the participant’s ability to say the first sound in words in response to probes presented at the end of each session. Initially, a baseline phase included four to five sessions without any intervention, after which probes were used to elicit first sound fluency. An intervention phase followed with twelve sessions of explicit modeling with probes provided to elecit correct responses with hierarchal cueing. A follow-up phase included three sessions without intervention but with similar probes. Results: Visual analysis of data revealed improvement in first sound fluency skills as all three participants demonstrated an immediate behavior change in an accelerating trend direction for first sound fluency performance. Conclusion: These findings demonstrate that typically developing four-year-old children exposed to explicit first sound fluency modeling during shared book reading will acquire this skill. Preschool staff can use this strategy to help preschool children acquire the phonological awareness skills needed upon kindergarten entry.
