Stages of Literacy
This is the earliest stage of literacy, beginning in infancy and including exposure to sounds, books, and print.
What is pre-literacy?
Children begin to hold books correctly and turn pages during this stage.
What is emergent literacy?
Singing lullabies and nursery rhymes builds this essential early literacy skill.
What is phonological awareness?
Families can support early literacy by engaging in this nightly routine.
What is reading bedtime stories?
The ability to hear, identify, and play with individual sounds in spoken words.
What is phonemic awareness?
In this stage, children begin to recognize letters, understand that print carries meaning, and "read" familiar books from memory.
What is emergent literacy?
At this stage, children often write phonetically and begin to spell basic words.
What is beginning reading?
Talking to babies during diaper changes and routines helps build this foundation of literacy.
What is oral language development?
Community programs like library story times promote literacy through this kind of engagement.
What is early exposure to books or shared reading experiences?
Understanding the relationship between letters and sounds is called this.
What is phonics?
This stage often begins in kindergarten or first grade, when children start decoding simple words and using phonics.
What is beginning reading?
Children in this stage understand story structure and can summarize what they’ve read.
What is transitional reading?
This interactive activity, often involving pointing and naming objects, supports vocabulary growth in toddlers.
What is shared book reading or dialogic reading?
Inviting families to contribute home-language books helps support this kind of literacy environment.
What is a culturally responsive literacy environment?
This term refers to the knowledge that print has meaning and is read left to right.
What is print awareness?
In this stage, readers move from learning to read to reading to learn, often reading with greater fluency and comprehension.
What is transitional reading?
This stage includes recognizing environmental print and beginning to understand print concepts.
What is pre-literacy?
A preschool teacher sets up a dramatic play center with menus and notepads. This promotes what kind of literacy activity?
What is emergent writing or print-rich play?
Hosting literacy nights at school builds this important connection.
What is family-school partnership?
A child pretending to read a book aloud using pictures is demonstrating this.
What is emergent reading behavior?
At this final stage, readers can read fluently and automatically, using advanced comprehension and writing skills.
What is fluent reading?
Fluent readers can do this complex task, which includes inferring meaning and evaluating text.
What is comprehension?
Teachers can encourage letter recognition in preschoolers through hands-on materials like sandpaper letters, puzzles, and name cards, which supports this skill.
What is alphabet knowledge?
These community resources provide access to books, technology, and literacy programs.
What are public libraries?
The five essential components of reading instruction are phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and this.
What is comprehension?