Last week, we posted about the importance of active reading. To widen the lens on the reading process in general, we are taking this week to lay out the steps students need to take to become active, fluent readers. Every one of these steps is crucial, as each skill builds upon the one before it. In this way, a strong foundation will lay the groundwork for the success that is sure to follow. With that in mind, however, it is also important to note that if any one step is not mastered, a student is likely to need some sort of learning intervention in order to catch up. As they say, first students learn to read, and then they read to learn, which is why achieving reading fluency is so central to academic success!
Early Literacy Skills
From birth, children are developing literacy skills. It’s hard to believe, but it is true! The first sounds of their parents’ voices introduce them to the concept of spoken language. Shortly after, they begin to develop awareness of their ability to communicate and get a response. Over the first twelve months of a baby’s life, they are exposed to stories, both in book form and orally, and these experiences build the foundation for understanding the concept of print and the structure of a story. Kids learn to hold a book right side up, to open it and turn the pages, and to make up their own stories as they look at the pictures. While it may come as a surprise, these early reading skills are crucial to the eventual development of a fluent reader.
At home: Give your pre-reader plenty of exposure to books with pictures, and make sure you read to them often! They are absorbing all of your reading skills, and you are planting the seed for a love of books as your kids grow.
Phonological Awareness
Around when a student enters Pre-K, they begin to develop phonological awareness. This refers to the broad concept that words are made up of sounds, that there are relationships between certain sounds, and that these sounds aren’t random. While students who are phonologically aware have not necessarily learned letter-sound correspondence yet, they can begin to identify and play with the sounds in words by playing games with rhyming and beginning sounds.
At home: Songs offer a fantastic way to introduce or reinforce phonological awareness. The rhythmic patterns of most song lyrics, combined with the rhyming words most songs contain, will help pave the way for strong phonological awareness.
Phonemic Awareness
Considered a sub-category of phonological awareness, phonemic awareness refers to a student’s ability to identify, manipulate, and produce individual sounds in words. This is where students begin to connect the printed letter ‘m,’ for example, with its name and sound. Ultimately, students who have low or limited phonological and/or phonemic awareness will inevitably also have trouble with both decoding (reading words) and encoding (spelling words), which is why these early pre-reading skills are so important to work on!
At home: Multi-sensory letter practice is a super engaging way for little ones to practice forming letters. Use any small object like buttons or beads, or more motivating edibles like cheerios, to have students "write" out their letters. Don't forget to have them "read" their creation too by naming their letter, making the sound they formed, and they can get bonus points for thinking of some words that begin with that sound!
Phonics
Phonics is the pattern of sound-symbol relationships that are at the core of reading and writing skills. When students become fluent in phonics, they are able to correctly identify, manipulate and use all standard letter combinations. A student will know the sound that the letter ‘s’ makes, and will also know that this sound changes when combined with ‘h’ to make ‘sh.’ They will be able to recognize these sounds in and out of the context of words, and even in ‘nonsense’ words (words that follow conventional phonics rules but have no meaning in the English language).
At home: Give your child plenty of practice with reading short CVC words (consonant-vowel-consonant) like "mat" or "web". Incorporate practice into your day by having him/her read you these short words in newspapers, magazines, recipes, or in the books you read to them. Also encourage your child to write as developing confidence with invented spelling, pencil grip, and letter formation is sure to lead to more success with writing down the road.
Decoding
Here is where students take all of the phonics rules they’ve learned and apply them to read words in order to make meaning from text. Kids will begin by reading simple sentences, and then they can tackle books with two sentences on a page, and then build up to pages with paragraphs, until eventually they are tackling paragraphs and chapter books. It’s a magical process to watch!
Of note with the earliest of books for budding readers is the difference between decodable texts and books that rely largely on predictable patterns. The former, like Bob books, place an emphasis on using phonics skills in order to read. These books will largely include words with a limited number of spelling patterns in order to ensure that students can independently decode the text with confidence; the latter, like this set, places more of an emphasis on using picture cues and sentence patterns to support early reading. These books do not necessarily provide a lot of opportunities for kids to practice decoding, but they are good for reinforcing sight words and learning to use pictures to make predictions while reading.
At home: If your family has a bedtime book routine (which you should if you don't!), start to give your child some reading responsibility! Let them practice their decoding skills by giving them a word, a sentence, or a paragraph at a time, depending on how much text they can handle.
Encoding
At the same time that students are practicing their decoding skills, they are also practicing encoding--using the correct (or reasonably approximate) phonics/spelling patterns to write words in order to express their ideas. Some students with certain learning disabilities, like dyslexia, might have no issues with encoding but have trouble decoding or vice versa. Both are important skills in becoming a fluent reader (and writer)!
At home: Journaling is an amazing activity for any age. The beauty of journaling for emerging readers and writers is that it gives them a place to practice their skills where no one will be looking over their shoulder to correct them. They can practice their writing in absolute peace and comfort, which will increase their confidence and make them more likely to enjoy doing it!
In Conclusion
Reading fluency is central to academic success. Once students learn to read with confidence, they will be able to read to learn. For that reason, it is especially important to make sure that students build phonemic and phonological awareness, that they master phonics, and that they use those spelling rules in order to decode and encode with fluency!