CHAPTER 1: THE IMPORTANCE OF READING

Definition of Reading
• One of the four language skills that aid language learning. Reading is both a
receptive and active process or skill.
• Unlike speaking, it is a skill that must be systematically taught in a structured
way.
• The primary goal of reading is to achieve comprehension, the capacity to
understand meanings from a text.
• According to Goodman (1967), reading is a selective process. It involves
partial use of available minimal language cues selected from perceptual input
on the basis of the reader’s expectation. As this partial information is
processed, tentative decisions are made to be confirmed, rejected, or refined
as reading progresses.
• Reading is a complex system of deriving meaning from print that requires all
the following:
o (1) the skills and knowledge to understand how phonemes, or speech
sounds, are connected to print;
o (2) the ability to decode unfamiliar words;
o (3) the ability to read fluently;
o (4) sufficient background information or schema and vocabulary to foster
reading comprehension;
o (5) the development of appropriate active strategies to derive meaning
from print; and,
o (6) the development and maintenance of a motivation to read
(National Reading Panel, 2002).
• “Reading is a process of constructing meaning in which the reader is an active
participant. Meaning doesn't flow automatically from the text to the reader;
rather, the text contains clues that the reader uses to generate meaning”
(Karen, 2004, p.26).
• Reading involves asking questions to the text, and the essence of
comprehension lies in getting the questions answered (Huffman, 1998).
 Definition of Reading Comprehension
• It entails the capacity to grasp the content of a written work, analyze its
information, and accurately interpret the author's intended message (Grabe
and Stoller, 2002).
• It represents a cognitive process through which a reader chooses facts, data,
or concepts from written materials, determines the author's intended
meanings, establishes connections with prior knowledge, and assesses their
relevance and value in achieving the reader's personal goals (Veeravagu et al.,
2010).

Skills Involved in Reading Comprehension

1. identifying a purpose for reading
2. previewing
3. predicting
4. asking questions
5. making predictions
6. relating the text to prior knowledge
7. summarizing
8. connecting one part of the text to another
9. recognizing text structure

Levels of Reading Comprehension

• Literal – reading the lines
• Inferential – reading between the lines
• Appreciative
• Critique
• Essential
• Evaluation – reading beyond the lines
 The Reading Process
• WORD RECOGNITION – the ability to identify and decode individual words
in a text; considered as the building blocks of reading
• COMPREHENSION – the ability to understand and make sense of the
information presented in a text
• FLUENCY – the ability to read a text smoothly, accurately, and with
appropriate speed

Two Views of Reading

SIMPLE VIEW OF READING
• Gough and Tunmer (1986)
• There are two basic processes integral to reading – decoding and language
comprehension.
• Decoding is the ability to translate text into oral language; then the reader
uses their knowledge of the language to make sense of the decoded message.

READING ROPE
• Dr. Hollis Scarborough (2001)
• The different elements of language comprehension and word recognition
must be interconnected to achieve skilled literacy.
• Reading is a multifaceted cognitive process that represents reading
acquisition.
 Five Essential Components of Reading
• PHONEMIC AWARENESS – the ability to recognize and manipulate individual phonemes,
which are the smallest units of sound in a language

• PHONICS – understanding the relationship between phonemes (sounds) and

graphemes (letters and letter combinations)

• VOCABULARY – spoken and written words a reader recognizes and

comprehends

• COMPREHENSION – the ability to understand and make meaning from the

text

• FLUENCY – the ability to read a text smoothly, accurately, and with

appropriate speed; reading with expression and without hesitation

Why is reading important?

• Improves vocabulary skills – Reading exposes you to a wide array of words
and phrases.

• Develops comprehension – Reading allows you to gain a better grasp and

understanding of the things around you. It also improves your critical thinking
abilities.

• Develops critical thinking skills – Reading exposes you to different kinds of

writing which can help develop your critical thinking skills since you are
required to think and process information.

• Sharpens the memory – With all the information that you remember and
learn, your memory becomes better. As you create new memories, new
pathways are created and existing ones are strengthened.

• Improves results at school – Reading is fundamental to academic success. It

makes you more creative, open to new ideas, and empathetic to other people.
• Improves analytical skills – Reading requires you to analyze every detail
carefully and consider all the aspects of the text.

• Builds Confidence – Reading enhances numerous skills and together can

build your confidence.

• Helps with socialization – Reading provides topics for discussion and

common interests in social settings.

• Broadens horizons – Reading exposes individuals to different cultures,

perspectives, and experiences.

• Improves writing skills – Exposure to well-written material, whether in

novels, essays, or articles, can improve your writing style and techniques. Thus,
making you a better writer.

• Heightens focus and concentration – Reading demands sustained attention,

which can improve focus and concentration over time.

• Makes you more empathetic – Reading allows readers to step into the shoes
of diverse characters and understand their emotions, fostering empathy.

• Develops emotions – Reading builds a connection between the reader and

the writer. Although you haven’t met him yet, you get to know him and connect
to him on an emotional level through reading.

• Creates leaders – Many successful leaders attribute their success to avid

reading.
• Allows you to learn at your own pace – Reading allows individuals to learn
and absorb information at their own pace. Readers can pause, reread, or
explore further as needed, promoting effective learning.
 STAGES OF LITERACY DEVELOPMENT

Definition of Literacy Development

It refers to the process through which individuals acquire and enhance the
skills and knowledge necessary for reading, writing, and effectively engaging with
written language. It encompasses a range of abilities and competencies that enable
individuals to become proficient and literate members of society

Five Stages of Literacy Development

STAGE 0: PRE-READING OR PSEUDO READING (6 months to 6 years old)
• pretends to read, and gradually develops the skills to retell stories when
looking at pages of books previously read
• able to name letters of the alphabet, write own name, and play with books,
pencils, and paper
• can understand thousands of words but can read few (if any) by 6 years old

STAGE 1: INITIAL READING AND DECODING (6 to 7 years old)

• learns the relation between letters and sounds and between print and spoken
words
• able to read simple texts containing high-frequency words and phonically
regular words, and uses skills and insight to “sound out” new words
• In relation to writing, the child is moving from scribbling to controlled
scribbling to non-phonetic letter strings.

STAGE 2: CONFIRMATION AND FLUENCY (7 to 8 years old)

• can read simple, familiar stories and selections with increasing fluency
• This is done by consolidating the basic decoding elements, sight vocabulary,
and meaning context in the reading of common topics.
• The learner’s skills are extended through guided read-aloud of more complex
texts.
STAGE 3: READING FOR LEARNING THE NEW (9 to 13 years old)
• Reading is used to learn new ideas, gain new knowledge, experience new
feelings, to learn new attitudes, generally from one or two points of view.
• There is time spent balancing the consolidating of constrained skills (spelling,
grammar, fluency) whilst providing ample opportunities to explore topics
through reading, writing, speaking, listening, and viewing.
• By this time, the learner has transitioned to a stage where he or she is
expected to learn from their reading.

STAGE 4: MULTIPLE VIEWPOINTS (15 to 17 years old)

• reading widely from a broad range of complex materials, both expository and
narrative, and are asked to apply a variety of viewpoints
• required to access, retain, critique, and apply knowledge and concepts
• consolidating general reading, writing, and learning strategies whilst being
required to develop more sophisticated disciplinary knowledge and
perspectives

STAGE 5: CONSTRUCTION AND RECONSTRUCTION (College level and

beyond)
• Reading is used for one’s own needs and purposes (professional and
personal).
• Reading serves to integrate one’s knowledge with that of others to synthesize
information and to create new knowledge.
• Reading and writing are purposeful, strategic, often specialized and
anchored.
• Literacy stratifies greatly in adulthood since reading and writing habits are
shaped by educational, cultural, and employment factors that become
increasingly diverse in the post-school landscape.
• In professional and specialized settings, individuals are required to synthesize
information from a diverse range of sources in order to form conclusions, shape
audiences’ views, and navigate multiple points of view (or perspectives)
 Definition of Phonological Awareness
Rhyming
It is a linguistic and poetic device in the English language where two or more words
or syllables have similar sounds at the end of their respective words.
These similar sounds are typically found in the last stressed syllables of the words and create
a pleasing and rhythmic effect when spoken or written together. Rhyming is commonly used
in poetry, song lyrics, and even in everyday language to create patterns, emphasize words, and
enhance the overall auditory appeal of the text.

Alliteration
It is a literary device in the English language where a series of words in a sentence or phrase
begin with the same consonant sound. It is used for stylistic and rhythmic purposes in writing
and speech. Alliteration adds a musical quality to the language and can make phrases or
sentences more memorable.

Sentence Segmentation
It is a phonological awareness skill that involves recognizing and breaking down spoken
language into its constituent sentences. It is the ability to perceive where one sentence ends,
and another begins within spoken discourse.

Syllables
Syllables are the individual units of sound within a word. In spoken language, words are often
divided into syllables, each of which typically contains one vowel sound, although there can be
exceptions. Syllables help determine the pronunciation and rhythm of words.

Onset
In reading, the term onset refers to the initial consonant or consonant cluster that occurs at
the beginning of a syllable or a word. It is a crucial element in phonological awareness, which
is the ability to recognize and manipulate the individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken
language. Identifying the onset of a word helps readers decode and pronounce words more
accurately and is an essential skill for early literacy development, especially when learning to
read and spell.

Rimes
In reading, the term rimes (sometimes spelled as "rhymes") refers to the part of a word that
includes the vowel sound and any consonant sounds that come after it within a syllable.
Rimes are also known as "word families" or "phonograms." Rimes share the same or similar
vowel and consonant sounds and are often used in early literacy instruction to help children
recognize common patterns in words.
 CHAPTER 2: FOUNDATIONS OF PHONEMIC AWARENESS
UNDERSTANDING PHONEMES
Definition of a Phoneme
• The term originated from the French word ‘phoneme’, coined in the early 1870s by the
French linguist Dufriche-Desgenettes.
• It is the smallest unit of speech distinguishing one word (word element) from another.
• For example, the word ‘dog’ is made up of three phonemes – ‘d’, ‘o’, and ‘g’. These are
not the written letters but the spoken sounds. On the other hand, the word ‘chain’,
although made up of five letters, only contains three phonemes – ‘ch’, ‘ai’, and ‘n’.

Kinds of Phonemes
In the English language, there are 44 phonemes in total – which are divided into 19
consonants, 7 digraphs, 5 ‘r-controlled’ sounds, 5 long vowels, 5 short vowels, 2 ‘oo’ sounds,
and 2 diphthongs

Consonant Phonemes
• /b/, /d/, /f/, /g/, /h/, /j/, /k/, /l/, /m/, /n/, /p/, /r/, /s/, /t/, /v/, /w/, /y/, /z/
• Consonants x, q, and c do not have unique phonemes

Vowel Phonemes
• Short vowels – /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, /u/
• Long vowels – /ā/, /ē/, /ī/, /ō/, /ū/

Digraph Phonemes
• Consonant Digraphs (a combination of two
• consonants that represent one sound) – /ch/, /sh/, /ng/, /th/ (voiced), /th/ (unvoiced),
/zh/, /wh/
• Vowel Digraphs – /ai/, /ay/, /ee/, /e

R-Controlled Phonemes
• /a(r)/, /ā(r)/, /i(r)/, /i(r)/, /u(r)/

‘oo’ Vowel Phonemes

• /oo/, /ōō/

Diphthongs
• /ow/, /oy/
 Articulatory Phonetics
It is the branch of phonetics concerned with describing the speech sounds of the
world's languages in terms of their articulations, that is, the movements and/or
positions of the vocal organs (articulators).

The Articulators

Voiced Sounds
• Sounds that make our vocal cords vibrate when they are produced.
• Voiced vowels: /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, /u/
• Voiced consonants: /b/, /d/, /g/, /j/, /l/, /m/, /n/, /ng/, /r/, /sz/, /th/, /v/,
/w/, /y/, /z/
Voiceless Sounds
• Sounds that are produced from air passing through the mouth at different
points.
• Voiceless consonants: /ch/, /f/, /k/, /p/, /s/, /sh/, /t/, /th/
Manner of Articulation
• A stop involves a complete closure of the articulators, preventing the escape of
the air.
• /p/, /t/, /k/, /b/, /d/, /g/

• The fricatives are sounds that are produced with a close approximation between
the articulators, which allows the air to escape with some friction.
• /f/, /v,/ /θ/ (voiceless th), /ð/ (voiced th), /s/, /z/, /ʃ/ (sh), /ʒ/ (zh), /h/

• The affricates are the sequence of stop plus fricative. The articulators get together
and then the release stage is done progressively producing friction.
• /ʧ/ (ch), /ʤ/ (j)

• The nasal sounds happen when there is a velic opening and there is a complete
obstruction at some point in the mouth so that airflow escapes only through the
nose.
• /m/, /n/, /ŋ/ (ng)

• The glide sounds are produced with little obstruction of the airstream. These are
also known as semivowels.
• /y/, /w/, /j/

• The liquid sounds are produced in the oral cavity with some obstruction of air
stream in the mouth, but there is no friction in the production of these sounds.
• /l/, /r/
 Place of Articulation

• The bilabial sounds are produced by

bringing both lips together.
• /p/, /b/, /m/

• The labio-dental sounds are produced by touching the

bottom lip to the upper teeth.
• /f/, /v/

• The interdental sounds are produced

by putting the tip of the tongue
between the teeth. • /θ/, /ð/

• The palatal sounds are produced by raising the front part

of the tongue to the palate.
• /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /ʧ/, /ʤ/, /ʝ/

• The velar sounds are produced by

raising the back of the tongue to the
soft palate or velum.
• /k/, /g/, /ŋ/

• The glottal sounds are produced by

restricting the airflow through
the open glottis or by stopping the
air completely at the glottis.
• /h/, /Ɂ/
 PHONEMIC AWARENESS VS. PHONICS
PHONEMIC AWARENESS PHONICS
• According to Yopp (1992), it is the ability to • It focuses on letter-sound relationships,
hear and manipulate the sounds in spoken specifically matching phonemes (sounds)
words and the understanding that spoken to graphemes (letters that represent
words and syllables are made up of sounds).
sequences of speech sounds. • visual and auditory
• oral and auditory

Components of Phonemic Awareness

• Rhyming – identifying words that rhyme or producing words that rhyme
• Isolation – identifying a specific sound in a word
• Segmentation – pulling apart the sounds in a word in order
• Deletion – taking a sound off of a spoken word
• Substitution – changing a sound in a word to another sound
• Blending – putting together sounds to make a word
 PHONEMIC AWARENESS ACTIVITIES
• Sing songs and nursery rhymes: Rhymes help children understand that sounds in the
language have meaning and follow certain patterns. Have fun reading and reciting songs
and nursery rhymes together and exaggerate the rhyming words to highlight the
different sounds in each word.
• Encourage listening: Encourage the child to listen closely and pronounce the sounds in
words. Help them listen for individual sounds in words, pull them apart, and put them
together
• Speak slowly and use repetition: If the child is struggling to hear sounds within a word,
say the word slowly and repeat the word if necessary. This will make it easier for them to
hear the individual sounds. The goal is to help them develop an “ear for sounds”.
• Create word cards: Write some words that have three sounds on separate pieces of
card, e.g. cow, bat, dog, lip, sun, pot. Let the child choose a card, read the word together,
and then hold up three fingers. Ask them to tell you the first sound they hear in the
word, then the second, then the third.
• Create a print-rich environment: Printed words allow children to see and apply
connections between sounds and letters. Make an effort to draw your child's attention
to sounds by saying and pointing to letters at the same time.
• Play “I Spy the Sound”: “I Spy the Sound” is a fun way to build phonemic awareness. In
this variation of “I Spy”, spy words that begin with a certain sound, rather than a letter.
• Word games: Have fun inventing word games based on listening, identifying, and
manipulating the sounds in words. Begin a word game with the child by asking questions
like, “What sound starts the word __________”, “What sound ends the word
__________”, “What words start with the sound __________”, or “What word rhymes
with __________”.
• Write together: Sit down with your child to write a greeting card or a shopping list
together while slowly sounding out the word sounds you write. This will help your child
understand that words are made up of different sounds that come together to create
meaning
• Play board games: Family board games like Junior Scrabble or Boggle are fun ways to
play with words and sounds. Place an emphasis on the sounds in words and encourage
the child to do the same.
• Read aloud regularly: Read slowly while pointing to each sound, and encourage the
child to repeat them too.
• Fun phonemic awareness activities online: Reading Eggs features hundreds of fun and
interactive online lessons that build essential phonics and phonemic awareness skills.
Based on solid scientific research, the program has been shown to increase children's
reading skills in just 15 minutes a day.
 Key Terminologies in Phonemic Awareness
• Phoneme – A phoneme is a speech sound. It is the smallest unit of spoken language and
has no inherent meaning (National Reading Panel, 2000).
• Phonemic Awareness – The ability to hear and manipulate the sounds in spoken words,
and the understanding that spoken words and syllables are made up of sequences of
speech sounds (Yopp, 1992). Phonemic awareness involves hearing language at the
phoneme level.
• Phonics – The use of the code (sound-symbol relationships) to recognize words.
• Phonological Awareness – The ability to hear and manipulate the sound structure of
language. This is an encompassing term that involves working with the sounds of
language at the word, syllable, and phoneme level.
• Continuous Sound – A sound that can be prolonged (stretched out) without distortion
(e.g., r, s, a, m).
• Onset-Rime – The onset is the part of the word before the vowel; not all words have
onsets. The rime is the part of the word including the vowel and what follows it.
• Segmentation – The separation of words into phonemes
 CHAPTER 3: COGNITIVE PROCESSES IN READING
Reading as a Cognitive Process
Reading as a cognitive process involves the process of memory and recall.

PHASE 1: THE ENCODING PROCESS

Definition of Encoding
• It is a biological process that begins when individuals use their senses
(sensory information).
• It allows for the perceived stimuli to be converted into important
information to be stored in the brain

Definition of Word Recognition

• It refers to the ability of an individual to accurately and swiftly identify and comprehend
written words in a text based on their visual and phonological properties.
• Without word recognition, every word would have to be decoded through phonics every
time it was read.

Components of Word Recognition

• Phonological – the sound representation of words
• Orthographic – the visual representation of words
• Semantic – the meaning of words
Significance of Word Recognition
• The ability to accurately and automatically recognize words, even without
semantic context, is a hallmark of skilled readers (Stanovich, 2000).
• It is a linchpin skill that enables access to and processing of written language
and influences reading comprehension (Perfetti, 2007).
• It is necessary for comprehension – the ultimate goal of reading.

Tips in Developing Word Recognition

• Repetition of words appropriate for a student’s phase of word learning and level
of skill.
• Drills using flashcards, games, etc. (five to twenty words the student does not
recognize instantly and accurately).
• Create plenty of opportunities for independent reading.

Definition of Decoding
It is the process of translating print into speech by rapidly matching a letter or
combination of letters (graphemes) to their sounds (phonemes) and recognizing
the patterns that make syllables and words.
 Significance of Decoding
Decoding is the foundation on which all other reading instruction – fluency, vocabulary,
comprehension, etc. – are built. It is essential for students learning to read since memorizing
letter patterns and their sounds allows students to eventually focus on higher-level literacy
skills, like comprehension and writing.

Definition of Word Formation

• The process that allows us to create new words with grammatical resources already
available within a language.
• This must obey the rules of the language, i.e., its grammar.

Word Formation Processes

THE BUILDING BLOCKS
• Stem – a morpheme, or a word, to which other morphemes can attach.
• Affix – a morpheme that attaches only to a stem.

AFFIXATION
o In this word formation process, an affix is attached to a stem.
o There are different types of affix, according to their distribution –
▪ prefix (beginning), infix (middle), and suffix (end).
o According to meaning, affixes can be of two types –
▪ derivational (new lexical meaning) and
▪ inflectional (adding a grammatical meaning)
• COMPOUNDING – It involves attaching a stem to another stem.
• BACKFORMATION – It involves removing from a word a part of it that is perceived as an
affix.
• CLIPPING – Words are used in shortened form by subtracting one or more syllables from
a word.
• ACRONYM – It involves joining together the initial letters of the words and is pronounced
as one word
• BLENDING – It takes segments from words and joins them together in a new word that
retains meaning characteristics from the original words.
• BORROWING – It is the process of taking words from other languages.
• COINAGE – New words are coined or invented from existing material to represent a new
invention or development.
 Definition of Reading Comprehension
• It entails the capacity to grasp the content of a written work, analyze its information, and
accurately interpret the author's intended message (Grabe and Stoller, 2002).
• Reading comprehension relies on two abilities that are connected to each other: word
reading and language comprehension.

Fundamental Skills – Reading Comprehension

• Know the meaning of words
• Understand the meaning of a word from a discourse context
• Follow the organization of a passage and to identify antecedents and references in it
• Draw inferences from a passage about its contents
• Identify the main thought of a passage
• Ask questions about the text
• Answer questions asked in a passage
• Visualize the text
• Recall prior knowledge connected to text
• Recognize confusion or attention problems
• Recognize the literary devices or propositional structures used in a passage and determine
its tone
• Understand the situational mood
• Determine the writer's purpose, intent, and point of view, and draw inferences about the
writer (discourse semantics)

Reading Comprehension Strategies

• Skimming • Synthesizing
• Scanning • Determining important ideas
• Extensive reading • Inferring
• Intensive reading • Using background knowledge
• Visualizing • Questioning
• Monitoring and repairing understanding
 PHASE 2: THE STORING PROCESS
Definition of Storing
• It is the process by which all important bits of information are placed in the long-term
memory systems.
• Once the information has been encoded and stored, it must be retrieved in order to be
used

Definition of Short-term Memory (STM)

• It is also referred to as the “working memory” and occurs in the prefrontal cortex.
• It refers to a cognitive system that temporarily holds and manipulates information
necessary for various mental tasks, such as problem-solving, reasoning, learning, and
comprehension.
• It stores information within milliseconds and its capacity is limited to seven items only.

Definition of Long-term Memory (LTM)

• It occurs in the hippocampus of the temporal lobe.
• Bits of information that are stored here can be retrieved.
• It has unlimited content and storage capacity.

Definition of Skill Memory (SM)

• It is processed in the cerebellum which transmits information to the basal ganglia.
• It stores automatic learned memories such as tying a shoelace, riding a bicycle, using a
computer, and so on.

PHASE 3: THE RETRIEVING PROCESS

Definition of Retrieving
• It is defined as “the process of obtaining or extracting information or material” (Oxford
Dictionary, 2019).
• Retrieval of information may only be possible if it is in the long-term memory. The needed
information should be made mappable in order to be retrieved.

4 Ways to Retrieve Information

• Recall means the retrieval of information without being cued.
• Recollection involves reconstruction or logical structures of information down from the
memory lane.
• Recognition makes the information mappable after it is experienced again.
• Relearning makes the information easy to retrieve if it is learned again.
 CHAPTER 4: EARLY LITERACY EXPERIENCES
Definition of Early Literacy
• It refers to the foundational skills and abilities that children develop before they can
read and write independently.
• Components of early literacy include phonological awareness, vocabulary development,
print awareness, phonemic awareness, narrative skills, alphabet knowledge, print
motivation, and letter sound correspondence.

Young children must develop early literacy skills in order to be successful

with formal reading and writing in school.

Definition of Emergent Literacy

• It refers to how children at a young age interact with books and other printed texts
even though they could not actually read and write in the conventional sense.
• The period of emergent literacy starts at birth and continues through the preschool
years (Learning about Literacy, 2009).
• Important emergent literacy skills include alphabet knowledge, phonological awareness
and memory, rapid automatized naming of letters and objects, and writing letters
(National Early Literacy Panel, 2009)
 Knowledge
Areas of
Emergent
Literacy

Emergent Literacy Skills

• Vocabulary building
• Learning how language works and how to use language to tell stories, share ideas and ask
questions
• Learning how to hold books
• Learning to identify different types of books like storybooks, fact books, poetry,
cookbooks, etc.
• Learning to write by drawing and scribbling
• Playing with the sounds of language through songs, rhymes and tongue twisters
• Building knowledge of the world around them
• Understanding letter-sound connections
• Developing a love of literacy (reading and writing)
The Importance of Storytelling
• Increases young children’s vocabulary, as they encounter broad range of new words
through story, which supports the development of their oral and written language skills
• Enhances comprehension skills
• Enhances reading skills
• Improves listening skills
• Provides opportunities to learn new information
• Enhances a child’s creativity
• Promotes development and ability to focus and concentrate
• Helps build social, communication, and emotional skills
• Helps the child learn about the world, his own culture, as well as the culture of others

Definition of Reading Readiness

• A child learns to read when he/she is perfectly ready.
• It is the purposeful process of preparing a child for reading. It is a stage when a child
changes from being a non-reader to a reader.
• It includes encouraging or motivating a child to read and engage him/her to want to read

Critical Skills for Reading Readiness

• PRINT AWARENESS – the understanding that the print on a page represents words that
have meaning and are related to spoken language
• LETTER KNOWLEDGE – enables a child to recognize the letters of the alphabet and to
know the names and sounds of each
• PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS – the ability to hear and identify the various sounds in
spoken words
• LISTENING COMPREHENSION – the ability to understand the meaning of words heard
and to relate to them in some way
• MOTIVATION TO READ – the child’s eagerness and willingness to read
 How to Know if the Child is Ready to Read?

Indicators that a child is ready to read (Watson, 2014):

• Pretends to be a reader
• Holds a book the right way
• Turns pages at appropriate times
• Can discuss what is happening and relate it to his/her own experiences
• Focuses on the print and realizes that it is conveying a message
• Makes inferences on both what is read and seen in the pictures
• Enjoys stories being reread and chimes in regularly
• Likes to turn the pages and knows when to
• Will make attempts to reread the story from memory and pictures cues
Skills that signify that a child is ready to learn to read:
• Age-appropriate oral language development and vocabulary
• Enjoyment with stories and books
• Ability to discriminate and manipulate individual sounds of language
• Understanding of the basic print concepts
• Understanding of the alphabetic principle
• Ability to differentiate shapes
• Ability to recognize at least some letters of the alphabet