Continuum of children's development in early reading and writing (Learning to Read and Write: Developmentally Appropriate Practices or Young Children)


Preschool
Kindergarten
First Grade
Second Grade
Third Grade









 

Phase 1: Awareness and exploration (goals for preschool)

       Children explore their environment and build the foundations for learning to read and write.

 

Children can

v     Enjoy listening to and discussing storybooks

v     Understand that print carries a message

v     Engage in reading and writing attempts

v     Identify labels and signs in their environment

v     Participate in rhyming games

v     Identify some letters and make some letter sound matches

v     Use known letters or approximations of letters to represent written language (especially meaningful words like their name and phrases such as “I love you.”)

What teachers do

v     Share books with children, including Big Books, and model reading behaviors

v     Talk about letters by name and sounds

v     Establish a literacy-rich environment

v     Reread favorite stories

v     Engage children in language games

v     Promote literacy-related play activities

v     Encourage children to experiment with writing

What parents and family members can do

v     Talk with children, engage them in conversation, give names of things, show interest in what a child says

v     Read and reread stories with predictable texts to children

v     Encourage children to recount experiences and describe ideas and events that are important to them

v     Visit the library regularly

v     Provide opportunities for children to draw and print, using markers, crayons, and pencils


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Phase 2: Experimental reading and writing (goals for kindergarten)

       Children develop basic concepts of print and begin to engage in and experiment with reading and writing.

 

Kindergartners can

v     Enjoy being read to and themselves retell simple narrative stories or informational text

v     Use descriptive language to explain and explore

v     Recognize letters and letter-sound matches

v     Show familiarity with rhyming and beginning sounds

v     Understand left-to-right and top-to-bottom orientation and familiar concepts of print

v     Match spoken words with written ones

v     Begin to write letters of the alphabet and some high frequency words

What teachers can do

v     Encourage children to talk about reading and writing experiences

v     Provide many opportunities for children to explore and identify sound-symbol relationships in meaningful contexts

v     Help children to segment spoken words into individual sounds and blend the sounds into whole words (for example, by slowly writing a word and saying its sound)

v     Frequently read interesting and conceptually rich stories to children

v     Provide daily opportunities for children to write

v     Help children build a site vocabulary

v     Create a literacy-rich environment for children to engage independently in reading and writing

What parent and family members can do

v     Daily read and reread narrative and informational stories to children

v     Encourage  achildren'sttempts at reading and writing

v     Allow children to participate in activities that involve writing and reading (for example, cooking, making grocery lists)

v     Play games that involve specific directions (such as Simon Says)

v     Have conversations with children during mealtimes and throughout the day


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Phase 3: Early reading and writing (goals for first grade)

       Children begin to read simple stories and can write about a topic that is meaningful to them.

 

First graders can

v     Read and retell familiar stories

v     Use strategies (rereading, predicting, questioning, contextualizing) when comprehension breaks down

v     Use reading and writing for various purposes on their own initiative

v     Orally read with reasonable fluency

v     Use letter-sound associations, word parts, and context to identify new words

v     Identify increasing number of words by sight

v     Sound out and represent all substantial sounds in spelling a word

v     Write about topics that are personally meaningful

v     Attempt to use punctuation and capitalization

What teachers do

v     Support the development of vocabulary by reading daily to the children, transcribing their language, and selecting materials that expand children's knowledge and language development

v     Model strategies and provide practice for identifying unknown words

v     Give children opportunities for independent reading and writing practice

v     Read, write, and discuss a range of different text types (poems, informational books)

v     Introduce new words and teach strategies for learning to spell new words

v     Demonstrate and model strategies to use when comprehension breaks down

v     Help children build list of commonly used words from their writing

What parents and family members can do

v     Talk about favorite storybooks

v     Read to children and encourage them to read to you

v     Suggest that children write to friends and relatives

v     Bring to a parent-teacher conference evidence of what your child can do in reading and writing

v     Encourage children to share what they have learned about their writing and reading

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Phase 4: Transitional reading and writing (goals for second grade)

       Children begin to read more fluently and write various text forms using simple and more complex sentences.

 

Second graders can

v     Read with greater fluency

v     Use strategies more efficiently (rereading, questioning, and so on) when comprehension breaks down

v     Use word identification strategies with greater facility to unlock unknown words

v     Identify an increasing number of words by sight

v     Write about a range of topics to suit different audiences

v     Use common letter patterns and critical features to spell words

v     Punctuate simple sentences correctly and proofread their own work

v     Spend time reading daily and use reading to research topics

What teachers do

v     Create a climate that fosters analytic, evaluative, and reflective thinking

v     Teach children to write in multiple forms (stories, information, poems)

v     Ensure that children read a range of texts for a variety of purposes

v     Teach revising, editing, and proofreading skills

v     Teach strategies for spelling new and difficult words

v     Model enjoyment of reading

What parents and family members can do

v     Continue to read to children and encourage them to read to you

v     Engage children in activities that require reading and writing

v     Become involved in school activities

v     Show children your interest in their learning by displaying their written work

v     Visit the library regularly

v     Support your child's specific hobby or interest with reading materials and references


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Phase 5: Independent and productive reading and writing (goals for third grade)

       Children continue to extend and refine their reading and writing to suit varying purposes and audiences.

 

Third graders can

v     Read fluently and enjoy reading

v     Use a range of strategies when drawing meaning from the text

v     Use word identification strategies appropriately and automatically when encountering unknown words

v     Recognize and discuss element of different text structures

v     Make critical connections between texts

v     Write expressively in many different forms (stories, poems, reports)

v     Use rich text of vocabulary and sentences appropriate to text forms

v     Revise and edit their own writing during and composing

v     Spell words correctly in final writing drafts

What teachers do

v     Provide opportunities daily for children to read, examine, and critically evaluate narrative and expository texts

v     Continue to create a climate that fosters critical reading and personal response

v     Tech children to examine ideas in texts

v     Encourage children to use writing as a tool for thinking and learning

v     Extend  kchildren'snowledge of the correct use of writing conventions

v     Emphasize the importance of correct spelling in finished written products

v     Create a climate that engages all children as a community of literacy learners

What parents and family members can do

v     Continue to support children's learning and interest by visiting the library and bookstores with them

v     Find ways to highlight children's progress in reading and writing

v     Stay in regular contact with your child's teachers about activities and progress in reading and writing

v     Encourage children to use and enjoy print for many purposes (such as recipes, directions, games, and sports)

v     Build a love of language in all its forms and engage children in conversation


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