Chall on Stages of Reading Development

Noted early childhood education theorist Jeanne Chall lays out her stages of reading development.

Stage 0. Prereading: Birth to Age 6. The Pre-reading Stage covers a greater period of time and probably
covers a greater series of changes than any of the other stages (Bissex, 1980). From birth until the
beginning of formal education, children living in a literate culture with an alphabetic writing system
accumulate a fund of knowledge about letters, words, and books. The children grow in their control over
various aspects of language—syntax and words. And they gain some insights into the nature of words:
that some sound the same at their ends or beginnings (rhyme and alliteration), that they can be broken
into parts, and that the parts can be put together (synthesized, blended) to form whole words.

Stage 1. Initial Reading, or Decoding, Stage: Grades 1-2, Ages 6-7. The essential aspect of Stage 1 is
learning the arbitrary set of letters and associating these with the corresponding parts of spoken words.
In this stage, children and adults interiorize cognitive knowledge about reading, such as what the letters
are for, how to know that bun is not bug, and how to know when a mistake is made. This stage has been
referred to pejoratively as a “guessing and memory game,” or as “grunting and groaning,” “mumbling
and bumbling,” or “barking at print,” depending on whether the prevailing methodology for beginning
reading instruction is a sight or a phonic approach. The qualitative change that occurs at the end of this
stage is the insight gained about the nature of the spelling system of the particular alphabetic language
used.

Stage 2. Confirmation, Fluency, Ungluing from Print: Grades 2-3, Ages 7-8.6. Essentially, reading in Stage
2 consolidates what was learned in Stage 1. Reading stories previously heard increases fluency. Stage 2
reading is not for gaining new information, but for confirming what is already known to the reader.
Because the content of what is read is basically familiar, the reader can concentrate attention on the
printed words, usually the most common, high-frequency words. And with the basic decoding skills and
insights interiorized in Stage 1, the reader can take advantage of what is said in the story and book,
matching it to his or her knowledge and language. Although some additional, more complex phonic
elements and generalizations are learned during Stage 2 and even later, it appears that what most
children learn in Stage 2 is to use their decoding language, and the redundancies of the stories read.
They gain courage and skill in using context and thus gain fluency and speed.

Stage 3. Reading for Learning the New: A First Step. When readers enter Stage 3, they start on the long
course of reading to “learn the new”—new knowledge, information, thoughts and experiences. Because
their background (world) knowledge, vocabulary, and cognitive abilities are still limited at this stage, the
first steps of Stage 3 reading are usually best developed with materials and purposes that are clear,
within one viewpoint, and limited in technical complexities. This is in contrast to Stage 4 where
multiplicity of views, complexity of language and ideas, as well as subtleties of interpretation are the
expected.

Stage 4. Multiple Viewpoints: High School, Ages 14—18. The essential characteristic of reading in Stage 4
is that it involves dealing with more than one point of view. For example, in contrast to an elementary
school textbook on American history, which presupposes Stage 3 reading, the textbook at the high-
school level requires dealing with a variety of viewpoints. Compared to the textbooks in the lower
grades, the increased weight and length of high-school texts no doubt can be accounted for by greater
depth of treatment and greater variety in points of view. Stage 4 reading may essentially involve an
ability to deal with layers of facts and concepts added on to those acquired earlier. These other
viewpoints can be acquired, however, because the necessary knowledge was learned earlier. Without
the basic knowledge acquired in Stage 3, reading materials with multiple viewpoints would be difficult.

Stage 5. Construction and Reconstruction—A World View: College, Age 18 and Above. When Stage 5 is
reached, one has learned to read certain books and articles in the degree of detail and completeness
that one needs for one’s purpose, starting at the end, the middle, or the beginning. A reader at Stage 5
knows what not to read, as well as what to read. To reach this stage is to be able to use selectively the
printed material in those areas of knowledge central to one’s concern. Whether all people can reach
Stage 5 reading, even at the end of four years of college, is open to study.

Chall, Jeanne. 1983. Stages of Reading Development. New York: McGraw Hill. pp. 10-24. || Amazon ||
WorldCat

Literacy can be seen as dependent on instruction, with the corollary that quality of instruction is key.
This view emphasizes the developmental nature of literacy — the passage of children through
successive stages of literacy, in each of which the reading and writing tasks change qualitatively and the
role of the instructor has to change accordingly.”

— (Chall, 1996 as referenced in Snow, 2004)

What is Scarborough's Reading Rope?
In 2001, Dr.  Hollis Scarborough created the Reading Rope using pipe cleaners to convey how the
different “strands” of reading are all interconnected yet independent of one another. For many
students, learning to read is a challenge. Scarborough's Rope captures the complexity of learning to
read. 

Scarborough's Reading Rope is made up of lower and upper strands. When all these component parts
intertwine it results in skilled and accurate, fluent reading with strong comprehension. 

 
The lower strands include:

 Phonological awareness
  Decoding

o Alphabetic principle 
o Letter-sound correspondences
  Sight recognition

 
The upper strands include:

 Background knowledge
 Vocabulary 
 Language structures
 Verbal reasoning
 Literacy knowledge

The Lower Strands

 
Phonological Awareness
It's a skill set that includes identifying and manipulating units of oral language – parts such as words,
syllables, onsets, and rimes. Did you know that you can improve your students’ ability to read
unfamiliar words without showing them a single printed letter?

 
Decoding
Decoding is the ability to apply knowledge of sound-letter relationships (phonics) to correctly
pronounce written words. Did you know that in 2019, only 35% of 4th graders were at or above
(NAEP) proficient level on the reading assessment? 

 
Sight Recognition
Our sight word memory is also referred to as our orthographic lexicon, which includes all the words
we can read accurately and effortlessly. Literate adults have a sight word memory of 30,000 to
70,000 words. Starting in 3rd grade, it is estimated that “skilled orthographic mappers” anchor 10-15
new words a day into their sight word memories. Sight word recognition is foundational to fluent
reading. 
 

The Upper Strands

 
Background Knowledge
Background knowledge is an essential component in learning because it helps us make sense of new
ideas and experiences. Readers rely on background knowledge to attend to and make sense of what
they are reading. This is especially important for readers who are still relying heavily on word
decoding rather than rapid word recognition. Having knowledge about a variety of subjects, topics,
and ideas makes it more likely that they will be able to make sense of what they are reading and more
likely that they will add to their body of knowledge.

 
Vocabulary
An extensive and rich vocabulary enables readers to make sense of what they are reading. A reader
with rich auditory and oral vocabularies will find it easier to read through texts that contain words
they have not seen in print before. If the student can use their growing decoding skills and match
their result with a word they already know the meaning of, they will be more confident in their
abilities and will spend less overall effort on reading a text. 

 
Language Structures
Syntax - The arrangement of words in a phrase or sentence. The English language has patterns and
rules for the way we order our words. It also has some flexibility and variety in acceptable patterns,
and even then, speakers and writers are allowed some leeway with these patterns.

Semantics - In linguistics, semantics is the study of the meanings of morphemes, words, phrases, and
sentences. Knowledge of the meaning of a text is essential to reading. 

 
Verbal Reasoning
Inference - a conclusion one can draw from known facts or evidence

Metaphor - a word or phrase used to say that something is another thing in order to suggest that they
are similar

 
Literary Knowledge
Print Concepts - letters vs. words, 1:1 correspondence, reading left-to-right and top-to-bottom,
spaces between written words, letter order matters, etc.

Genres of Literature – different types of books or stories defined by special characteristics

 What Is Scarborough’s Rope and How Does It Explain Teaching Reading?

Word recognition on its own doesn’t create fluent readers. If kids don’t know
what the words themselves mean, they’re not really reading. Furthermore,
understanding the meaning of words on their own isn’t really useful. Fluent
readers understand the text they’re reading as a whole, drawing meaningful
conclusions and finding important takeaways. The upper strands of Scarborough’s
Rope are incredibly key in creating strong readers.

Background Knowledge
This strand of the rope is where cross-curriculum learning can really come into
play. Kids reading a novel set in World War II Germany will get a lot more out of it
when they understand more about WWII in general. For teachers, this means
placing reading choices in context. Use reading (at any age) as part of a larger
lesson on any topic. Kids will develop a deeper understanding and improve
literacy skills at the same time. Learn more about the importance of
developing background knowledge here.

Vocabulary

Building a rich vocabulary means kids can enjoy reading a wider variety of

books. When you have to stop every few sentences to look up a word, you’re
likely to give up on reading a lot faster. Even worse is when kids don’t stop to find
out the meaning of a word, since they’ll have “read” something without
understanding it fully—or at all.

Language Structure
When we talk about language structure, we generally mean syntax (the order of
words) and semantics (the meaning of the text). English has a lot of rules for the
patterns and order of words, known as syntax. Semantics delves deep into how
words and phrases combine to create meaning and how an author’s word choice
affects that meaning. It’s a complicated topic, which good readers continue to
consider throughout their lives.

Verbal Reasoning

When it comes to Scarborough’s Rope, verbal reasoning refers to understanding

when and how words are being figurative and literal. It includes things like
metaphors, analogies, idioms, and figurative language. Kids pick up some of these
things as they grow, but classroom instruction can be helpful too. (Try these
anchor charts for teaching figurative language. )

Literacy Knowledge

Kids gain literacy knowledge by exposure to a wide array of genres and styles.
This is why a strong curriculum covers fiction, nonfiction, and poetry in all their
forms. Generally speaking, the more types of reading a child encounters, the more
advanced their literacy knowledge becomes.

How can teachers use Scarborough’s Rope?

Source: Brainspring
Many teachers find Scarborough’s Rope useful in two main ways. First, it helps
teachers themselves identify where struggling readers may need more help. For
instance, a student may be very good at sounding out the words on the page, but
lack the vocabulary or verbal reasoning to make sense of what they’re reading.
Once they identify the weak strands, a teacher can make adjustments or offer
enrichment to help that student succeed.
Second, teachers can (and should) share this model with parents. It can help them
understand why their child is struggling or why teachers use such a variety of
methods in the classroom. It’s a good tool to reinforce that reading at home is
essential to building the literacy skills kids need in school and throughout their
lives.

Scarborough’s Rope Resources

Try these free resources to learn more about this valuable literacy model.

 The Orchestra of the Reading Rope Harmony (Brainspring)

 Scarborough’s Rope Free Webinar (95% Group)
 Hang on Tight to the Rope (YouTube)

Experienced teachers know that true literacy is much more than just being able to
sound out the letters on the page. Skilled readers need to be able to master both
what the words are and what they mean. To do this successfully, they bring
together various skills like vocabulary, language structure, and verbal reasoning.
The Scarborough’s Rope model can help educators better understand what it truly
takes to create skilled readers.

What is Scarborough’s Rope?

Source: Brainspring
Dr. Hollis Scarborough invented the concept of the Reading Rope in the early
1990s. She used it to help parents understand the various skills their children
needed to master to become proficient readers. Originally, she twisted together a
model made of pipe cleaners to demonstrate her point.
In 2001, the model was published in the Handbook of Early Literacy
Research (Neuman/Dickinson). Reading teachers immediately saw how useful it
was, and it became a staple for educating new teachers and parents alike.
Scarborough’s Rope contains two main sections: Word Recognition and Language
Comprehension. Each of these comprises several smaller strands. Woven
together, these strands become the rope that represents complete skilled reading.
All the components are interconnected and interdependent. If just one strand is
weak, it affects the rope (and the reader) as a whole.

Word Recognition

Source: Payne STEAM Academy on Twitter

The lower section of Scarborough’s Rope focuses on word recognition skills.
These are the skills we tend to think of most when we talk about teaching kids
how to read. Imagine a kid sounding out the letters on a page or putting together
phonics sounds and syllables. These are the basics of word recognition.

Phonological Awareness

Put simply, phonological awareness is about understanding that words are

made up of sounds. Kids learn to speak without ever needing to see a written
word. But when they learn reading, they need to recognize that the sounds they
make with their mouths correspond with the words they see on the page. This is a
very early skill that sets the stage for what follows.

Decoding

Decoding is what we picture when we see beginning readers: kids sounding out
the words letter by letter. It includes things like phonics, letter blends, silent
letters, and more. Kids proficient at decoding can sound out all the words they see
on a page, even if they don’t know what the words mean.

Sight Words

Some words are used so frequently that it makes more sense to teach kids to
recognize them on sight. This is an extremely common method used in pretty
much every early elementary classroom today. Learn more about sight words
here.

Reading Comprehension Strategies

Making sense of the text is the primary goal of any reading task. But, this may not happen when
comprehension breakdown occurs.
Therefore, teaching reading comprehension strategies is necessary to support our students to overcome
any temporary roadblock they might encounter in reading.

Engaging students with the text is key to support them to get motivated to work out its meaning.

So, to help you out with such a process, here are 8 engaging reading comprehension strategies which
you can use in your class.

1# Graphic Organizers: Frayer Model

Graphic organizers are visual tools that display the relationships between ideas. These tools provide the
reader with a structure for brainstorming, recording bits of information, making predictions, and
arranging thoughts in a way that makes sense.

Research has shown that using graphic organizers helped activate the reader’s prior knowledge and
encouraged encoding strategies which result in increased retention.

There are numerous types of graphic organizers you can use to engage your students in reading and
develop a deeper understanding: Venn diagram, Matrix, Flow chart, Story map, etc.

In this respect, you can use the Frayer Model to teach vocabulary more effectively, thereby making texts
much easier to decode for students. How?

This graphic organizer can help students gain a deep understanding of a vocabulary concept. Students
put the new term at the centre of the model and then put the definition in one corner, facts about the
term or concept in the next corner, and examples and non-examples in the two remaining corners.

For more ideas on how to use this model check out this post here.

2# Text Coding
This can help students monitor comprehension during the reading process. As students read, they use a
simple coding system to record what they are thinking. Here are some codes to use :

V= Visualize or make a picture in my head.

Q= Question; something I don’t understand.

+= This information is new for me.

C= I can connect this information to another text, my life, or something else I read.

W= I don’t know what this word means.

!= This information is new to me.

3# Checklist

This is another strategy to use during reading. It requires that students actively read a text to confirm
true-or-false statements. So, it can help them constantly monitor a text for evidence.

In this strategy, you prepare a list of true-or-false statements on a reading. As your students read the
passage, they mark the statements as true or false. At the end of the reading, they go back to the false
statements and correct them (Devries,2004).

4# Bookmarks

Bookmarks are another tool to support students’ strategic thinking. They provide students with a visual
reminder of the strategies needed for active comprehension during the reading process.

A bookmark is simply a slip of paper that a student can keep in a book during reading. On the paper are
clues to support him as he reads.

These can be used as a tracking aid, page marker, or strategy reminder. You can use it as a piece of data
to document your student progress and learning. Here is an example from Jodi Durgin blog.

There are many templates for creating bookmarks. You can get free templates using Canva.
TemplateLAB also offers 50 Free Printable Bookmark Templates. Click here to learn more.

5# Detecting Patterns of Organization

As students read, provide them with the following questions to determine the structure of the text.
Introduce different texts so that students become proficient in using the questions to determine the
text’s structure.

• Cause and effect: How did cause lead to effect? What are people’s reactions?

• Chronology: What is the time span from the first event to last? How does the author transition to each
event? What do all the events explain?

• Compare and contrast: What’s being compared? What’re the similarities and differences? What’re the
most significant ones?

• Problem and solution: What has caused the problem? Is there more than one solution? Has the
problem been solved, or will it continue into the future? (Dixon et al.,2012).

6# Questioning the Author

This reading comprehension strategy encourages students to be active during reading. This is by
questioning the author of the text. Beck et al, (1997) suggested these specific steps you can use for this
purpose :

Select a passage.

Decide appropriate stopping points that will support students in developing a deeper understanding of
the passage.

Create questions to encourage critical thinking for each stopping point, such as the following :

a) What’s the author trying to say?

b) Why do you think the author used the following phrase?

c) Does this make sense to you?

d) Why do you think the author chose to use this phrase or wording in this specific spot?

e) How has the author let you know that something has changed?

7# 3-2-1 Strategy

This strategy helps students discover the purpose of a text. Students are asked to identify three
discoveries they made during reading, two interesting ideas, and one question they still have after
reading (Zygouris, et al.,2004).

8# Website Walk
In this strategy, you identify a website that features videos, articles, charts, diagrams, and/ or maps
focused on one topic. Have your students in small groups or individually, find an example of each
feature listed earlier and then share how that feature enables them to better understand the text at
hand (Dixon et al, 2012).

These are the 8 Engaging Reading Comprehension Strategies that can make your students effective
readers. Use them with any type of texts to create more engaging reading tasks. I hope this will help. All
the best!

References

Afflerbach,P.,Pearson,P.D., & Paris,S.G.(2008). Clarifying differences between reading skills and reading
strategies. The Reading Teacher,61 (5), 364-373.

Beck, I.L., McKeown, M.G., Hamilton, RL.,& Kucan, L.(1997). Questioning the author: An approach for
enhancing student engagement with text. Newark DE: International Reading Association.

Devries, B.(2004). Reading assessment and intervention for the classroom teacher. Scottsdale, AZ:
Holcomb Hathaway.

Dixon,B.,Mainville,S.,Farquer,T.&Gray,T.(2012). Common Core teaching and learning strategies: English

and language arts, reading informational text, Grades K-5. Springfield: Illinois State Board of Education.

Zygouris-Coe,V.,Wiggins,M.B., & Smith,L.H.(2004). Engaging students with text: The 3-2-1 strategy. The
Reading Teacher,58(4),381-384.

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