1. Phonemic Awareness (Birth to K)

Description:

Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds in spoken words. It is foundational for learning to read and write (National Reading Panel, 2000).

Critical Skills by Age Range:

• Birth to Age 3:

• Exposure to sounds, rhymes, and rhythm through songs and conversations.

• Development of sound imitation and babbling (Head Start, 2015).

• Ages 3–4 (Pre-K):

• Recognizing rhymes and syllables.

• Beginning sound awareness.

• Kindergarten:

• Blending and segmenting phonemes in simple words.

• Identifying individual sounds in spoken words (Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education [ADECE], 2020).

Assessment Tool:

Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS) – Assesses rhyming, beginning sound awareness, and phoneme segmentation (PALS, 2023).

2. Phonics (Birth to K)

Description:

Phonics involves the relationship between letters and sounds and is essential for decoding words when reading (National Reading Panel, 2000).

Critical Skills by Age Range:

• Birth to Age 3:

• Developing print awareness by seeing words and letters in the environment (Head Start, 2015).

• Ages 3–4 (Pre-K):

• Recognizing some letters.

• Beginning to associate letters with sounds.

• Kindergarten:

• Recognizing all letters and most letter sounds.

• Decoding simple consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words (ADECE, 2020).

Assessment Tool:

DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) – Measures letter naming and decoding with nonsense words (University of Oregon, 2021).

3. Vocabulary (Birth to K)

Description:

Vocabulary is the body of words children understand and use in communication. A strong vocabulary supports reading comprehension and oral expression (Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998).

Critical Skills by Age Range:

• Birth to Age 3:

• Understanding and using everyday words.

• Naming objects, people, and actions (Head Start, 2015).

• Ages 3–4 (Pre-K):

• Learning new words through reading and play.

• Using descriptive words and categories.

• Kindergarten:

• Understanding word meanings from context.

• Using a growing vocabulary to express ideas (ADECE, 2020).

Assessment Tool:

Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT) – Measures receptive vocabulary (Dunn & Dunn, 2007).

References:

• Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education. (2020). Alabama Developmental Standards for Preschool Children. https://children.alabama.gov

• Dunn, L. M., & Dunn, D. M. (2007). Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, Fourth Edition (PPVT-4). Pearson.

• Head Start Early Childhood Learning & Knowledge Center. (2015). Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework: Ages Birth to Five. https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov

• 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.

• PALS. (2023). Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening. University of Virginia. https://pals.virginia.edu

• Snow, C. E., Burns, M. S., & Griffin, P. (Eds.). (1998). Preventing reading difficulties in young children. National Academies Press.

• University of Oregon. (2021). DIBELS 8th Edition. Center on Teaching and Learning. https://dibels.uoregon.edu

1. Vocabulary (Grades 1–3)

Description:

Vocabulary is the understanding and use of words and their meanings. A robust vocabulary supports reading comprehension and oral and written communication (Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998).

Critical Skills by Grade Level:

• Grade 1:

• Determine meanings of unknown words using context clues and picture support.

• Use frequently occurring affixes and root words (Alabama ELA Standards, 2021).

• Grade 2:

• Use knowledge of prefixes and suffixes.

• Understand word relationships and shades of meaning.

• Grade 3:

• Use dictionaries and glossaries to determine word meanings.

• Identify figurative language and multiple-meaning words.

Assessment Tool:

Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT) – Measures receptive vocabulary and comprehension of word meanings (Dunn & Dunn, 2007).

2. Fluency (Grades 1–3)

Description:

Fluency is the ability to read with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression. It bridges word recognition and comprehension (National Reading Panel, 2000).

Critical Skills by Grade Level:

• Grade 1:

• Read grade-level text with purpose and understanding.

• Demonstrate accurate word recognition and begin reading aloud with expression.

• Grade 2:

• Read with accuracy, appropriate pacing, and expression.

• Self-correct errors while reading.

• Grade 3:

• Maintain fluency while reading more complex texts.

• Use appropriate phrasing and intonation to enhance comprehension (Alabama ELA Standards, 2021).

Assessment Tool:

DIBELS Oral Reading Fluency (DORF) – Assesses words read correctly per minute and reading accuracy (University of Oregon, 2021).

3. Comprehension (Grades 1–3)

Description:

Comprehension is the ability to understand, remember, and communicate what has been read. It is the goal of all reading instruction (Snow et al., 1998).

Critical Skills by Grade Level:

• Grade 1:

• Retell key details in a text.

• Ask and answer questions about characters, settings, and major events.

• Grade 2:

• Identify main ideas and supporting details.

• Describe connections between historical events or scientific ideas.

• Grade 3:

• Analyze character traits, themes, and text structures.

• Use evidence from the text to support answers (Alabama ELA Standards, 2021).

Assessment Tool:

Qualitative Reading Inventory (QRI) – Measures students’ comprehension through oral reading and recall questions (Leslie & Caldwell, 2017).

References:

• Alabama State Department of Education. (2021). Alabama Course of Study: English Language Arts. https://www.alabamaachieves.org

• Dunn, L. M., & Dunn, D. M. (2007). Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, Fourth Edition (PPVT-4). Pearson.

• Leslie, L., & Caldwell, J. S. (2017). Qualitative Reading Inventory-6. Pearson.

• 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.

• Snow, C. E., Burns, M. S., & Griffin, P. (1998). Preventing reading difficulties in young children. National Academies Press.

• University of Oregon. (2021). DIBELS 8th Edition. Center on Teaching and Learning. https://dibels.uoregon.edu