The FLaRE (Florida Literacy and Reading Excellence) Center has published a professional article entitled “Phonemic Awareness” of which I will present a critical review. Phonemic awareness is one of the five essential components of reading identified by the National Reading Panel (Learning Point Associates, 2004). Phonemic awareness can be defined as a person's understanding that each word we speak is made up of individual sounds called phonemes and that these sounds can be mixed to form different words (Learning Point Associates, 2004). The article was intended to provide a synopsis of phonemic awareness and the vital role it plays in a literacy program. I found the article very clear and concise and presents valuable tactics that can be applied in the classroom. The article begins by defining phonemic awareness and provides examples that helped me better understand the topic. Phonemic awareness gives a person the ability to hear the difference between sounds in words even when they sound similar, such as the words “sat” and “sit.” Phonemic awareness is a division of larg...