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1. Phonemic Awareness is the ability to hear and play with the smallest sounds in words, called phonemes (Phonological and Phonemic Awareness, 2025).

Classroom Activities:

1. Sound Sorting Games- Students sort picture cards by their beginning sounds.

Differentiation: Provide fewer cards for students with exceptionalities or allow the use of real objects for tactile learners.

2. Phoneme Substitution- Students change the beginning sound of words (ex, "cat to bat").

Differentiation: Provide visual support to start with simpler sound changes (only beginning sounds).

At-Home Activity: Play "I Spy" using beginning sounds. (ex. "I spy something that starts with /b/").

Supports sound recognition at home in a fun, family-centered way. Children with exceptionalities can use pictures instead of verbal responses.

Family Website: Reading Rockets https://www.readingrockets.org/topics/phonological-and-phonemic-awareness

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Explore reading basics as well as the key role of background knowledge and motivation in becoming a lifelong reader and learner. Watch our PBS Launching Young Readers series and try our self-paced Reading 101 course to deepen your understanding.

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Phonics is about connecting sounds to letters that represent them. It helps students understand that letters aren't just symbols on a page, they have sounds that come together to form words.

Classroom Activities:

1. Word Buildiing with Letter Tiles- Students use tiles to build CVC (consonant-vowel-constant) words.

Differentaiation: Use color-coded tiles or magnetic letters for students needing extra support.

2. Interactive Phonics Readers- Short decodable books focused on target phonic skills.

Differentiation: Provide enlarged print, audiobooks, or peer buddy reading.

Home Activity: Create a "Word Hunt" in magazines or around the house to find words with target sounds.

Builds connection between print and sounds in everday environments. Families can adjust difficulity (ex. single letters vs. blends).

Family Website: Starfall-Learn to Read https://www.starfall.com/h/ltr-classic/

Interactive, engaging phonics-based activities accessible to all learners.

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Vocabulary means the words we know and use when we speak, read, and write. They are the words we must know to communicate effectively.

Classroom Activities:

1. Word of the Day- Introduce a new word daily with visuals, examples, and student-created sentences.

Differentiation: Provide sentence starters or allow drawing instead of writing.

2. Interactive Word Walls- Students add words with pictures to a wall and use them in writing.

Use tactile word cards with Velcro or technology-based word walls.

At Home Activity: Read aloud a story and stop to talk about new words.

Helps children learn that meaning is context, with or without exceptionalities. Parents can act out or draw words to increase understanding.

Family Website: Scholastic W.O.R.D. https://teacher.scholastic.com/products/WordsOpenReadingDoors/index.html

Provides parents with fun, easy strategies for everyday vocabulary practice.

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Fluency is being able to read smoothly, easily without hesitation, and with expression. Fluency is sometimes confused with reading speed, but it actually involes much more than just reading quickly (Hashbrouck, Glaser, 2018).

Classroom Activities:

1. Readers Theater- Students perform scripts, practicing smooth reading with expression.

Differentiation: Shorter scripts, paired reading, or highlighted key words for support.

2. Repeated Reading- Students read the same passage multiple times to build confidence.

Differentiaiton: Provide audio recording to model fluent reading.

At-Home Activity: Echo reading (parent read a sentence, child repeats).

Build confidence and models fluent reading. Children with exceptionalities benefits form hearing strong models and having sentence frames.

Family Website: PBS Kids Reading Games https://pbskids.org/games/reading

Provides interactive reading practice that encourages fluency.

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Comprehension is the ultimate goal of reading, it's when children understand and make meaning from what they read (Adler, C, 2025).

Classroom Activities:

1. Story Maps- Students draw or complete graphic organizers of story elements (character, setting, problem, solution).

Differentiation: Use visual templates with icons for students who struggle with writing.

2. Think- Pair- Share- Students answer comprehension questions after reading, then share with a partner.

Differentiation: Provide sentence starters or oral response options.

At-Home Activity: After reading a bedtime story, ask "who, what, when, where, why" questions. This will help children think about the story and recall important details.

Family Website: Reading Rockets https://www.readingrockets.org/topics/comprehension/articles/seven-strategies-teach-students-text-comprehension

Provides strategies for families to help children retell and understand stories.

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Seven Strategies to Teach Students Text Comprehension

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Comprehension strategies are conscious plans — sets of steps that good readers use to make sense of text. Comprehension strategy instruction helps students become purposeful, active readers who are in control of their own reading comprehension. These seven strategies have research-based evidence for improving text comprehension.

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Fluency

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Vocabulary

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Comprehension

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The next component is Phonics.

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This video will discuss phonemic awareness and offer an example of the skill students need to master reading.