Components of Literacy
Congress requested the establishment of the National Reading Panel in 1997. The panel, which was made up of distinguished scholars, performed scientifically based research to determine the most effective teaching reading practices. The panel identified five vital areas effective for reading instruction, including phonemic awareness, fluency, phonics, comprehension, and vocabulary (Morrow et al., 2011). Early childhood teachers must teach these skills at appropriate education levels.
Phonemic Awareness
Phonemic awareness is the recognition that words consist of different sounds. The concept also includes the ability to segment and blend back the sounds, substitute new sounds to create new words, identify syllables, and recognize rhyming words. Phonemic awareness impacts reading and spelling success. Moreover, it helps children develop the print-sound relationship necessary for reading and spelling success. Phonemic awareness in children can be acquired by chanting a poem that rhymes. Additionally, clapping the parts of words while singing a song effectively teaches phonemic awareness (Morrow et al., 2011).
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Phonics
Phonics is an instruction method that teaches children how to read alphabets and say the sounds that these letters represent. The concept is also described as a set of rules that guide how letters in spelling and sounds in spoken language are related. Phonics instruction is crucial since it provides a solid foundation for applying the alphabetic principle in learning to read. It helps children to decode unfamiliar words and serves as a memory aid. Phonics instruction can be systemic or unsystemic. Synthetic phonics is an example of systemic phonics instruction where students match sounds to letters and blend the sound to form words (Cunningham, 2011).
Fluency
Fluency is the rapid recognition of words that facilitates comprehension of the message of the text. Grouping words within a sentence into phrases to facilitate comprehension is also fluency. Teaching fluency is vital since it enhances reading accuracy, speed, and expression. These factors influence comprehension and develop automatic behavior in reading. Teachers can develop fluency using repeated reading, where students read and reread a story (Lee & Yoon, 2017). Additionally, guided repeated oral reading, such as telling students unfamiliar words, is also an effective instructional strategy.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary describes the words that children ought to know for communication with others. There are four types of vocabulary, including listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Vocabulary is critical for word recognition in young readers. Moreover, vocabulary instruction improves comprehension. Teachers can use read-alouds to help children develop new-meaning vocabulary. Teachers can also develop engagement activities to help children develop new vocabulary (Siyanova-Chanturia & Webb, 2016). Teachers should act as role models in developing vocabulary.
Comprehension
Comprehension is the ultimate goal of literacy instruction. Students are expected to connect what they have read to existing knowledge and develop a reasonable and accurate meaning. Comprehension helps students understand the different types of texts, such as stories, poetry, and informational texts. Effective comprehension instruction helps students become self-regulated in implementing comprehension strategies. Suitable instructional strategies include the use of structured discussions and note-taking (Wigfield et al., 2016). Note-taking helps develop questions for students to address during the discussions.
Interactive Read Alouds
Interactive read-aloud is a whole-group instruction strategy where the teacher reads aloud to the children and pauses for conversation. Students think about the text and respond to it in groups. Interactive read alouds expand the student’s language and vocabulary. Additionally, it also facilitates comprehension by helping students to construct meaning. Teachers can use inference and synthesis in interactive read alouds. Inference addresses what is implied while synthesis responds to new ideas (Giroir et al., 2015).
Shared Reading
Shared reading is an interactive reading experience where the teacher guides and supports the students while they join in reading a book. Shared reading develops reading fluency and sight-word knowledge. The technique also gives students the satisfaction of success, which encourages them to try more complicated texts. Teachers can use prompts for unknown words. They can also demonstrate the main components of reading (Preece & Levy, 2018). Shared reading helps students enjoy reading.
Guided Reading
In guided reading, teachers support students to read a text independently. The practice involves three sessions, including before and after reading discussion and independent reading. Guided reading helps students develop reading strategies, which gives them greater control over the reading process. Additionally, it facilitates vocabulary development (Fountas & Pinnell, 2012). Teachers can use prediction as a guided reading strategy. They can also clarify any questions about the texts.
Reading-Writing Connection
Reading is the ability to quickly and accurately decode written text, while writing refers to producing connected text that communicates an idea. Reading and writing are complementary processes of meaning construction. The concept facilitates comprehension. Additionally, it helps students examine the use of characters in a text (Lee & Schallert, 2016). Teachers can use the same terminology for reading and writing. They can also use graphic organizers.
References
Cunningham, P. M. (2011). Best practices in teaching phonological awareness and phonics. In Lesley M. Morrow & Linda B. Gambrell (Eds.), Best practices in literacy instruction (pp. 67-95). The Guilford Press.
Fountas, I. C., & Pinnell, G. S. (2012). Guided reading: The romance and the reality. The Reading Teacher , 66 (4), 268-284. https://doi.org/10.1002/TRTR.01123
Giroir, S., Grimaldo, L. R., Vaughn, S., & Roberts, G. (2015). Interactive read‐alouds for English learners in the elementary grades. The Reading Teacher , 68 (8), 639-648. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1354
Lee, J., & Yoon, S. Y. (2017). The effects of repeated reading on reading fluency for students with reading disabilities: A meta-analysis. Journal of Learning Disabilities , 50 (2), 213-224. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022219415605194
Morrow, M. L., Tracey, D. H., & Del Nero, J. R. (2011). Best practices in early literacy: Preschool, kindergarten, and first grade. In Lesley M. Morrow & Linda B. Gambrell (Eds.), Best practices in literacy instruction (pp. 67-95). The Guilford Press.
Preece, J., & Levy, R. (2018). Understanding the Barriers and Motivations to Shared Reading with Young Children: the role of enjoyment and feedback. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy , 1468798418779216. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468798418779216
Siyanova-Chanturia, A., & Webb, S. (2016). Teaching vocabulary in the EFL context. In English Language Teaching Today (pp. 227-239). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-38834-2_16
