Foundations of Early Reading Skills by Katie Baker

Concept of Print

kbaker091618 — 2025-07-13 04:24:56 UTC

Skill: "Print awareness (also called concepts of print) is the understanding that print carries meaning, that books contain letters and words" (Reading Rockets, 2025).

Being able to recognize print, holding the book upright, and being able to turn pages one at a time from front to back, identifying front cover, back cover, and title page (Clay, M.M. 2000).

Age/Grade Range: Kindergarten ages 5-6 years

Assessment Tools: A CAP test can be used in small groups or one-on-one assessments

Evidence-Based Instruction: Intentionally pointing out features of print during read-alouds, for example "Let's look at this word, do you see the capitol letter?"

Differentiation: Sentence Frames, Repetitive Songs

Phonological Awareness

kbaker091618 — 2025-07-13 04:58:12 UTC

Skill: Phonological awareness is the ability to recognize and manipulate parts of spoken language, such as words, syllables, rhymes, and onset-rime (Reading Rockets,2025). It is an essential precursor to phonemic awareness.

Age/Grade Range: PreK to 1st grade

Assessment Tools: PALS and DIBELS

Evidence-Based Instruction: Sorting words by sound, Elkonin sound boxes.

Differentiation: ELs using visuals and incorporating sounds in both english and their home language. For students with dyslexia using multisensory methods and small group practice.

Phonemic Awareness

kbaker091618 — 2025-07-13 17:58:49 UTC

Skill: Phonemic Awareness is the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate sounds with spoken words (Reading Rockets, 2025; National Reading Panel, 2000).

Age/Grade Range: Develops Between Pre-K and 1st Grade, Mastered in Kindergarten typically (Ehri et al., 2001).

Assessment Tools: DIBELS, Teacher-created segmenting /blending checklists (Ehri et al., 2001).

Evidence-Based Instructions: Sound Matching Games, Phoneme Blending Routines (National Reading Panel, 2000; Ehri et al., 2001).

Differentiation: ELs: Provide vocabulary support with visuals and focus on sounds that differ from their home language (Reading Rockets, 2025).

Dyslexia: Use multisensory approaches like tapping sounds on fingers, and provide frequent, short, structured practice (Adams, 1990).

Letter-Naming Knowledge

kbaker091618 — 2025-07-13 18:18:48 UTC

Skill: Letter-naming knowledge is the ability to recognize and name both uppercase and lowercase letters of the alphabet, a foundational predictor of later reading success (Adams, 1990; National Reading Panel, 2000).

Age/Grade Range: Typically develops in Pre-k through Kindergarten. Most children can name all uppercase letters by the end of kindergarten (Snow et al., 1998).

Assessment Tools: DIBELS, PALS, Teacher-created alphabet flashcard assessment (Adams, 1990).

Evidence-Based Instruction: Multisensory Letter Learning, Alphabet Songs and Chants, Letter sorting activities (Adams, 1990).

Differentiation: ELs pair letters with meaningful visuals and connect to the child's home language when possible.

Students with dyslexia: Use explicit, systematic instruction paired with visuals and tactile tools (Moats, 2020).

References

kbaker091618 — 2025-07-13 18:33:39 UTC

Adams, M.J. (1990). Beginning to read: Thinking and learning about print. MIT press.
Ehri, L.C., Nunes, S.R., Willows, D.M., Schuster, B,V,m Yaghoub-Zadeh, Z., & Shanahan, T. (2001) Phonemic awareness instruction helps children learn to read: Evidence from the National Reading Panel's meta-analysis. Reading Research Quarterly, 36(3), 250-287. https://doi.org/10.1598/RRQ.36.3.2
National Reading Panel. (2000). Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. https://www.nichd.nih.gov/sites/default/files/publications/pubs/nrp/Documents/report.pdf
Reading Rockets. (2025). Phonemic awareness: The sounds of language. Retrieved from https://www.readingrockets.org/artical/phonemic-awareness