When will National Schwa Day be celebrated?
April 7th of each calendar year.
What is National Schwa Day?
National Schwa Day is observed on April 7. It is all about celebrating the schwa – a sound in the English language- through reading, writing, speaking, and listening to words we use every day!
What is a Schwa?
Do you know what the most common sound in the English language is? It’s the schwa!
Well, what is a schwa? The schwa is a sound that we produce when we say words that have an unstressed syllable, to make the words sound more natural and relaxed. The schwa sound resembles the “uh”, or “ih” sound in place of any vowel with a word that has more than one syllable.
For example: banana has two schwa sounds that take the place of the sound of short a. Say it out loud: buh-na-nuh. Did you hear it?
A schwa appears in an unemphasized syllable of a word, which is said faster and quieter than the emphasized (louder and slower) syllable. The schwa sound is in many common words such as: America, pencil, bottom, salad, carrot, dragon, vinyl and more!
The word “schwa” can be traced back to 1895, with German and Hebrew roots, and is defined as a “neutral vowel” or “emptiness”. It is represented by an upside-down e when it’s written in the International Phonetic Alphabet and you can find it in dictionaries in the pronunciation notes.
History of National Schwa Day
The history of National Schwa Day was started by Yvette Manns, language and literacy specialist, and author of “The Not-So-Lazy Schwa” published in 2022. The book was created to help teachers introduce schwa to young learners in phonics lessons. Often, the concept of a schwa was taught in reading lessons and Yvette wanted to make it more fun for students. The book is about a lovable character, who initially appears lazy due to his “unstressed” nature but finds his place as he works with other letter sounds to build words.
The book, “The Not-So-Lazy Schwa.” also teaches students that we should pronounce individual phonemes (sounds in our language) without the schwa sound, so it doesn’t confuse us when we are reading. Readers should only focus on producing the schwa sound in words with more than one syllable.
Due to the popularity of her book, Yvette received emails and letters about how this book has changed how teachers articulate all 44 phonemes in English and made reading lessons more engaging for students. Yvette decided that the schwa is such a cool concept, she wanted to make a National Schwa Day so students and teachers everywhere can celebrate it.
How should National Schwa Day be celebrated or observed?
National Schwa Day is celebrated in schools by participating in different activities that promote a love for reading and relaxation. Students participate in many activities, such as:
- Wearing Pajamas or Sunglasses: Students and teachers show how relaxed and unstressed they are by wearing pajamas, cozy clothes or sunglasses.
- Draw Your Own Schwa: Students draw or color in their own schwa and list words that have schwa in them.
- Word Hunt Activities: Find where the schwa is in words, practice saying the sounds that vowels represent.
- Mindfulness Activities: Discuss how students can use breathing techniques to remain unstressed.
National Schwa Day encourages students to find fun in reading and to understand that learning English is cool and insightful!
Why is National Schwa Day on April 7th?
April 7th was chosen for National Schwa Day because the word “April” has a schwa in place of the “i” and the word “seven” has a schwa in place of the second “e”.
Who created this day?
This day was created by Yvette Manns in 2023.