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Print Concepts help students understand how books and printed text works. Print carries meaning and reading text is from left to right and top to bottom. Understanding that letters and words are different along with that spaces separate words is key. It teaches students that they’re words, but not how to read them.  

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Children start to represent vowel sounds and say the names of the letters in the alphabet. At first, students correlate the sound they feel in their mouth, which is typically the first sound in the word. This is when they begin putting the alphabet to use but confuse it thinking that late is spelled LAT or that feet is spelled FET (Gunning, 2019, p. 141).

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what we say and what others say can be written down and read

not pictures, but words are read

words are made up from letters and sentences are made up from words

reading is from left to right and top to bottom (in English)

a book is read from the front to the back (in English)

(Gunning, 2019, p. 117)

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Phonological awareness is the ability to recognize and work with the sounds in a word. Understanding that a spoken word is composed of individual sounds that make up the whole word. Phonological awareness also includes being able to manipulate the important sounds including syllables, rhyming and the break down of words. (Gunning, 2019, p. 175).

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Some enter Kindergarten with knowing a little, but by Kindergarten and first grade is when they demonstrate the mastery skills.

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Similar to phonological awareness, but more specific. Focuses on being able to identify, hear and manipulate the individual phonemes in words. Realizing a spoken word is composed of a sequence of speech sounds (Gunning, 2019, p. 175). For example, knowing that mouse begins with the sound /m/ and you can manipulate the sounds /m/ to /h/ which changes the word to house. Understanding the difference between the sounds and why it changes.

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the ability to ADD different letters by using their sounds

the ability to REMOVE letters by using their sound

Substitute a letter with another one using their initial sounds and understand the different between the sounds

(Gunning, 2019, p. 158)

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By kindergarten students should be able to start adding, substituting, and deleting phonemes from one-syllable simple words. By the end of first grade students should have mastered manipulating phonemes for example, adding, substituting, and deleting individual phonemes to make new words (Arizonas ELA Standards- 1st grade).

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Can you show me:

a letter?

the front of the book?

how many words are in the sentence?

It measures if a student understands that print has meaning and understands the relationship between print and speech.

(Reading Rockets, n.d., Concepts of Print Assessment)

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Have a class discussion about reading left to right. I will be at the front with a book while everyone has their own book in their hand. Students will follow along with their finger following the demonstration I'm providing at the front of the class.

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Toddlers around three years old will begin to recognize basic rhymes and practice language activities

Students should have mastered most phonological awareness skills by the end of first grade (7y/o). They will then begin transitioning deeper into phonics by using their these skills (Gunning, 2019, p. 153).

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By the end of Kindergarten, students will be able to demonstrate understanding of rhyming recognition, blending and counting syllables, and pronouncing all segments of a word (AZED, 2016).

By the end of first grade, students will be able to distinguish long from short vowel sounds in single‐syllable words, Isolate initial, medial vowel, and final sounds, and Segment one-syllable words of three to five phonemes into individual phonemes. The ability to detect speech sounds in words is absolutely crucial for continuing literacy development. (Gunning, 2019, p. 150)

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PAST: Phonological Awareness Screening Test

PAST is a tool used to assess a student in several areas. It gives the teachers a good understanding of where the student stands in syllable levels, initial onset-rime levels, and phoneme levels (Kilpatrick, 2015).This test is used most frequently in kindergarten and first grade to identify who might require additional support.

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- Letter tiles are a very effective hands on strategy that allows students to make sound-symbol connections interactively.

- For example:

The word SUN will be spelled out with tiles. The students will point to each letter tile as they pronounce the word. The tiles give them endless possibilities for practicing new words and sounds.

As students play and experiment with new words, they become aware of the language on a more abstract level(Gunning, 2019, p. 151)

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Students should be getting tested on their skills of phonemic awareness 3 times during their kindergarten years and their first grade year to ensure they are understanding and fully grasping the content. Phonemes are sometimes very challenging for students and it is important they are not falling behind.

Rosner's Test of Auditory Analysis skills (TASS) can be used for both phonemic and phonological awareness. This assessment has students identify which words begin with the same sounds and how they can hear the identity of syllables and sounds in words

Foundations of Early Literacy Assessment (FELA) - FELA is a diagnostic test that tests basic phonological/phonemic awareness and grasp the alphabetic principles, and this includes non-word reading and spelling. This test is interpreted based off mastery of the necessary underlying skills at appropriate grade levels.

Informal Phonemic Awareness Assessment - this screening is where students are phoneme matching, isolation, blending, segmentation, and manipulation. With this test students would be questioned one on one with an instructor. An example of a question used for phoneme manipulation may be "say 'mat' without the /m/ sound and they should respond with /at/" (Phonemic Awareness Assessment).

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Change a name game - This is where students eases students into phoneme deletion and substitution in a fun way. For this instruction strategy students would gather in a circle and the teacher would secretly pick a students name but remove the first letter of their name for example "Karah" would become "arah" and student would have to identify which student the teacher is talking about. Slowly, you would have to move onto removing the different sounds. This is where students would substitute the beginning sound of the word/name with a new sound for example, replace /k/ with /f/ which turns into "Farah". As you go on you can move towards more complex sounds like /ch/ (Chard n.d.).

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Letter naming is considered an early literacy milestone because it helps children recognize letters and its going to associate them with their corresponding sounds which supports their reading development (Reading Rockets, n.d.). Fast and correct letter recognition is a good way to tell if the students will be successful in the future with things like like letter matching games, flashcards, and multi-sensory letter tracing valuable tools for mastery (Reading Rockets, n.d. The Alphabetic Principle).

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Some children start to recognize and name a few letters in preschool, but by kindergarten and first grade, they typically demonstrate mastery by accurately identifying and naming all uppercase and lowercase letters (Reading Rockets, n.d. The Alphabetic Principle).

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Checking how well kids know their letters is a very important step in helping them become stronger raeders. Reading Rockets (n.d. The Alphabetic Principle), says being able to recognize letters is a the best sign of successful reading in the future.
•Letter Naming Fluency (LNF) – DIBELS: This is a quick test where kids say as many letter names as they can in one minute. It helps teachers see if students recognize letters quickly and easily.
•Alphabet Recognition Task: The kids get shown letters that are random and then they are asked to name them and this helps teachers figure out what letters each student knows and which ones they still need to work on.

Tests like these none of my siblings went to college actually make it easier for teachers to see where students are in their learning and help them practice letters they might be struggling with.

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Recognizing letters is an important part of learning to read for students. Reading Rockets (The Alphabetic Principle) says that strong letter recognition skills help them become better readers.

• multisensory, letter Learning: Kids learn better when they use multiple senses. Things like tracing letters in sand, finger paint or building letters with playdough help them see, touch, and say the letters all at once and this method is backed by research showing that hands-on learning improves memory and understanding.

•Alphabet Songs : Singing the alphabet song or playing letter matching games makes learning letters fun and engaging for the kids so it’s more memorable also music and interactive activities can also help kids remember letters faster.

•Systematic Phonics Instruction: Teaching the letters in a planned order helps the students connect letters with sounds and systematic phonics instruction as one of the best ways to help kids learn to read

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color coordinating- have pink as the first word and blue as the last word on the page. Using these colors will help them to understanding print concepts because I could say "put your finger on the pink word" which correlates with the first word on the page.

use different fabrics- have silky fabric as the first word and rough fabric as the last word on the page. I could say "put your finger on the rough fabric" which correlates with the last word.

These differentiated strategies will support ELs and/or students with Dyslexia.

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Not everyone learns the same way and it’s important to use different strategies and ways to help all students be the most successful as pos. Reading Rockets (n.d. The Alphabetic Principle ) says that knowing letters is a big step toward learning to read. Here are a couple of ways to help different types of learners:
• For English Learners (ELs): Using pictures and visuals like alphabet charts (A for apple, B for ball) can help students connect letters to words they already know. Singing songs, using rhymes, and adding movement can also make learning more fun and easier to remember.
• For Students with Dyslexia: A hands-on approach works best. Programs like Orton-Gillingham have students trace, say, and hear letters at the same time, which helps with memory. Using letter tiles or sandpaper letters lets them feel the shape of the letters while saying the names, making it easier to learn.

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In order to differentiate for students you can incorporate different multi sensory activities like foams squares. This allows students to play with the different sounds in a word without using any paper or letters simply their hearing. For this activity students would have three different foam tabs in front of them and each would represent a different sound. For example /p/ /o/ /p/ and with these sounds the student would have to move and manipulate each tab/sound and it allows them to change the sound of each word. For example having them change /p/ /o/ /p/ into /p/ /o/ /t/ and having them identify of they moved the beginning, middle, or ending sound and what each of the tabs sounds are (Knoelk 2015).

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A differentiation strategy that can be helpful for the specific skill of Blending compound words and syllables can be the use of you hand and body. While pronouncing the word, the student will practice counting the syllables by holding their fist under their chin and counting how many times they touch. For example, when the student says Pony, their chin will touch their fist two times. This strategy helps english learners keep their words organized and will help greatly when they begin reading and writing more.

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Arizona’s English Language Arts Standards 2016. (n.d.-b). https://www.azed.gov/sites/default/files/2016/12/Kindergarten%202016%20ELA%20Standards.pdf?id=585aabc2aadebe12481b8464

Chard, D. (n.d.). Phonological awareness: Instructional and assessment guidelines. Reading Rockets. https://www.readingrockets.org/topics/phonological-and-phonemic-awareness/articles/phonological-awareness-instructional-and

Gunning, T. (2019). BibliU. https://bibliu.com/app/?++bibliuMagicToken=1qRKyazxNQ0T8TbvTt9b4VCZ3S5tK6RY#/view/books/9780134986463/epub/OPS/xhtml/fileP70010159200000000000000000021E3.html#page_118

How to assess phonemic awareness. Five from Five. (2023, November 24). https://fivefromfive.com.au/phonemic-awareness/how-to-assess-phonemic-awareness/

Kilpatrick, D. (2015). The Phonological Awareness Screening Test (PAST). https://cehs.usu.edu/teal/centers-and-labs/literacy-clinic/files/kilpatrick-resources/past-forms-a-b-c-d-2021.pdf

Knoelk, S. (2015). Orton Gillingham lesson: Phonemic Awareness, Multi-sensory Structured Language Teaching. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUqy9g2tG_g

Reading Rockets. (n.d.). Concepts of Print Assessment. https://www.readingrockets.org/topics/assessment-and-evaluation/articles/concepts-print-assessment

Reading Rockets. (n.d.). The Alphabetic Principle. Reading Rockets. https://www.readingrockets.org/topics/phonics-and-decoding/articles/alphabetic-principle.

Reading Rockets. (n.d.). Phonemic Awareness Assessment. Reading Rockets. https://www.readingrockets.org/topics/assessment-and-evaluation/articles/phonemic-awareness-assessment

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An informal assessment of the concepts of print, including what the assessment measures, when is should be assessed, examples of questions, and the age or grade at which the assessment should be mastered.