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Foundations of Early Reading Instruction

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Foundations of Early Reading Instruction

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"During the first months and years of life, children’s experiences with language and literacy can begin to form a basis for their later reading success. The ideal time to begin sharing books with children is during babyhood, even with children as young as six weeks. Research consistently demonstrates that the more children know about language and literacy before they arrive at school, the better equipped they are to succeed in reading." (Burns, 2025)

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Skill Description: Understanding that print conveys meaning and the conventions of printed language (e.g., how books work, directionality of text).

Milestones:

Holds a book correctly.

Knows books are read front to back.

Understands English text is read left to right, top to bottom.

Recognizes individual letters and spaces between words.

Understands print conveys meaning.

Age/Grade Range: Preschool and Kindergarten (ages 3-5).

Assessment:

Book Handling Interview: Observe a child's interaction with a book, checking for correct orientation, page-turning, and identifying parts of the book (title, author).

Informal Observation: While reading aloud, notice if the child follows along with their finger, shows interest in the text, and attempts to mimic reading.

Evidence-Based Instruction: Shared Reading with Print Referencing: During shared reading, explicitly point to the words as you read, discussing concepts like directionality, capitalization, and punctuation.

Differentiation:

ELs: Use bilingual books or books with culturally relevant illustrations and discuss print concepts in both languages.

Dyslexia: Use multisensory strategies, like tracing letters on a textured surface while saying their names.

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Skill Description: The ability to identify and name letters of the alphabet. This includes both uppercase and lowercase letters.

Milestones:

Identifies uppercase and lowercase letters when prompted.

Recognizes the visual form of letters.

Age/Grade Range: Preschool to Kindergarten (ages 3-5).

Assessment:

Alphabet Recognition Assessment: Present children with a list of uppercase and lowercase letters and ask them to name them.

Letter Matching Games: Use letter tiles or cards and ask children to match uppercase and lowercase letters.

Evidence-Based Instruction: Multisensory Letter Exploration: Engage children in activities that involve seeing, hearing, and touching letters, such as tracing letters in sand or using playdough to form letters.

Differentiation:

ELs: Use alphabet books that feature familiar objects or words from their native language.

Dyslexia: Use tactile letters made from sandpaper or other textures to provide kinesthetic support.

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Skill Description: The understanding that spoken words are made up of individual sounds (e.g., syllables, onset and rime, phonemes). It is an auditory skill.

Milestones:

Recognizes and generates rhyming words.

Claps or counts syllables in words.

Identifies words that begin or end with the same sound.

Age/Grade Range: Preschool to 1st grade (ages 3-7).

Assessment:

Rhyme Recognition Task: Ask children to identify rhyming words from a set (e.g., "Do cat and hat rhyme?").

Syllable Counting: Ask children to clap or count the syllables in a word (e.g., "How many syllables are in butterfly?").

Evidence-Based Instruction: Rhyming Games: Use rhyming games, songs, and poems to help children recognize and produce rhymes.

Differentiation:

ELs: Use songs and rhymes in their native language to build phonological awareness in their first language, which can support English language development.

Dyslexia: Provide visual supports like pictures or symbols to represent sounds and syllables.

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Skill Description: The ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words. This is the most advanced level of phonological awareness.

Milestones:

Blends individual sounds to make words (e.g., /c/ /a/ /t/ = cat).

Segments words into individual sounds (e.g., dog = /d/ /o/ /g/).

Deletes or substitutes sounds in words to make new words.

Age/Grade Range: Kindergarten to 2nd grade (ages 5-8).

Assessment:

Phoneme Blending Task: Say sounds individually and ask the child to blend them together to say the word.

Phoneme Segmentation Task: Say a word and ask the child to say each sound in the word.

Evidence-Based Instruction: Sound Boxes - Use boxes to represent each sound in a word and have children move counters into the boxes as they say each sound.

Differentiation:

ELs: Use minimal pairs (words that differ by only one sound, e.g., ship/sheep) to help distinguish between similar sounds.

Dyslexia: Use multisensory techniques, such as tapping out the sounds on their arm or using manipulatives to represent each sound.

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"The National Reading Panel identified five key concepts at the core of every effective reading instruction program: Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary, and Comprehension. Since the panel’s report was released in 2000, these concepts have become known as the “five pillars” of early literacy and reading instruction." (Arizona Dept. of Education)

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This is a wonderful video I found on how the first five years are the most crucial in a child's life. What we do as parents and educators when they are young will set them up for a lifetime of success.

*TED talk video on Youtube. 2022

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How Every Child Can Thrive by Five | Molly Wright | TED