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Continuum of Children’s Development in Early Reading and Writing

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Continuum of Children’s Development in Early Reading and Writing

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National Association for the Education of Young Children. In Young Children, July 1998, 53 (4): 30–46.

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Phase 1: Awareness and exploration (goals for preschool.        Children explore their environment and build the foundations for learning to read and write.

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Phase 1: Awareness and exploration (goals for preschool.        Children explore their environment and build the foundations for learning to read and write.

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Children can

• enjoy listening to and discussing storybooks • understand that print carries a message
• engage in reading and writing attempts
• identify labels and signs in their environment • participate in rhyming games

• identify some letters and make some letter-sound matches
• use known letters or approximations of letters to represent written language (especially meaningful words like their name and phrases such as “I love you”)

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share books with children, including Big Books, and model reading behaviors

talk about letters by name and sounds

establish a literacy-rich environment

reread favorite stories

engage children in language games

promote literacy-related play activities

encourage children to experiment with writing

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Phase 1: What parents and family members can do

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Phase 1: What parents and family members can do

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talk with children, engage them in conversation, give names of things, show interest in what a child says

• read and reread stories with predictable text to children
• encourage children to recount experiences and describe ideas and events that are important to them
• visit the library regularly
• provide opportunities for children to draw and print, using markers, crayons, and pencils

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Phase 2: Experimental reading and writing (goals for kindergarten). Children develop basic concepts of print and begin to engage in and experiment with reading and writing.

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Phase 2: Experimental reading and writing (goals for kindergarten). Children develop basic concepts of print and begin to engage in and experiment with reading and writing.

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Kindergartners can

• enjoy being read to and themselves retell simple narrative stories or informational texts

• use descriptive language to explain and explore
• recognize letters and letter-sound matches
• show familiarity with rhyming and beginning sounds
• understand left-to-right and top-to-bottom orientation and familiar concepts of print
• match spoken words with written ones
• begin to write letters of the alphabet and some high-frequency words

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encourage children to talk about reading and writing experiences

provide many opportunities for children to explore and identify sound-symbol relationships in meaningful con- texts

help children to segment spoken words into individual sounds and blend the sounds into whole words (for example, by slowly writing a word and saying its sound)

frequently read interesting and conceptually rich stories to children

provide daily opportunities for children to write help children build a sight vocabulary

create a literacy-rich environment for children to engage independently in reading and writing

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Phase 2: What parents and family members can do

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Phase 2: What parents and family members can do

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daily read and reread narrative and informational stories to children

encourage children’s attempts at reading and writing

allow children to participate in activities that involve writing and reading (for example, cooking, making grocery lists)

play games that involve specific directions (such as “Simon Says”)

have conversations with children during mealtimes and throughout the day

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Phase 3: Early reading and writing (goals for first grade)Children begin to read simple stories and can write about a topic that is meaningful to them.

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Phase 3: Early reading and writing (goals for first grade)Children begin to read simple stories and can write about a topic that is meaningful to them.

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First-graders can

• read and retell familiar stories
• use strategies (rereading, predicting, questioning, contextualizing) when comprehension breaks down
• use reading and writing for various purposes on their own initiative
• orally read with reasonable fluency
• use letter-sound associations, word parts, and context to identify new words
• identify an increasing number of words by sight
• sound out and represent all substantial sounds in spelling a word
• write about topics that are personally meaningful
• attempt to use some punctuation and capitalization

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support the development of vocabulary by reading daily to the children, transcribing their language, and selecting materials that expand children’s knowledge and language development model strategies and provide practice for identifying unknown words

give children opportunities for independent reading and writ-ing practice

read, write, and discuss a range of different text types (poems, informational books)

introduce new words and teach strategies for learning to spell new words

demonstrate and model strategies to use when comprehension breaks down

help children build lists of commonly used words from their writing and reading

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Phase 3: What parents and family members can do

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Phase 3: What parents and family members can do

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talk about favorite storybooks

read to children and encourage them to read to you

suggest that children write to friends and relatives

bring to a parent-teacher conference evidence of what your child can do in writing and reading

encourage children to share what they have learned about their writing and reading

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Phase 4: Transitional reading and writing (goals for sec- ond gradeChildren begin to read more fluently and write various text forms using simple and more complex sentences.

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Phase 4: Transitional reading and writing (goals for sec- ond gradeChildren begin to read more fluently and write various text forms using simple and more complex sentences.

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Second-graders can

• read with greater fluency
• use strategies more efficiently (rereading, questioning, and so on) when comprehension breaks down
• use word identification strategies with greater facility to unlock unknown words
• identify an increasing number of words by sight
• write about a range of topics to suit different audiences
• use common letter patterns and critical features to spell words • punctuate simple sentences correctly and proofread their own work
• spend time reading daily and use reading to research topics

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create a climate that fosters analytic, evaluative, and reflective thinking

• teach children to write in multiple forms (stories, informa- tion, poems)

• ensure that children read a range of texts for a variety of purposes

• teach revising, editing, and proofreading skills
• teach strategies for spelling new and difficult words • model enjoyment of reading

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Phase 4: What parents and family members can do

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Phase 4: What parents and family members can do

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continue to read to children and encourage them to read to you
engage children in activities that require reading and writing
• become involved in school activities
• show children your interest in their learning by displaying their written work
• visit the library regularly
• support your child’s specific hobby or interest with reading materials and references

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Phase 5: Independent and productive reading and writing (goals for third gradeChildren continue to extend and refine their reading and writing to suit varying purposes and audiences.

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Phase 5: Independent and productive reading and writing (goals for third gradeChildren continue to extend and refine their reading and writing to suit varying purposes and audiences.

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Third-graders can

• read fluently and enjoy reading
• use a range of strategies when drawing meaning from the text • use word identification strategies appropriately and automatically when encountering unknown words
• recognize and discuss elements of different text structures
• make critical connections between texts
• write expressively in many different forms (stories, poems, reports)
• use a rich variety of vocabulary and sentences appropriate to text forms
• revise and edit their own writing during and after composing • spell words correctly in final writing drafts

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provide opportunities daily for children to read, examine, and critically evaluate narrative and expository texts

• continue to create a climate that fosters critical reading and personal response

• teach children to examine ideas in texts
• encourage children to use writing as a tool for thinking and learning
• extend children’s knowledge of the correct use of writing conventions
• emphasize the importance of correct spelling in finished writ- ten products
• create a climate that engages all children as a community of literacy learners

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Phase 5: What parents and family members can do

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Phase 5: What parents and family members can do

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continue to support children’s learning and interest by visit- ing the library and bookstores with them

• find ways to highlight children’s progress in reading and writ- ing

• stay in regular contact with your child’s teachers about activities and progress on reading and writing

• encourage children to use and enjoy print for many purposes (such as recipes, directions, games, and sports)

• build a love of language in all its forms and engage children in conversation