i. Parents often read to infants, who understand the purpose of books.
ii. Toddlers understand the structure of simple stories.
iii. Three year olds can identify and repeat familiar books and stories, and understand the nature of text.
iv. Four year olds can recognize their own names and some letters, and may pretend to read.
v. Five year olds may recognize the alphabet and some words, especially those with clearly distinguishable context, like ŇstopÓ printed on a red octagon.
vi. Six year olds can read simple books, with predictable stories.
vii. Children with less experience will need different, and more basic, literacy experiences. viii. The International Reading Association and NAEYC have produced a joint position statement regarding developmentally appropriate practice in literacy instruction (available on the IRAŐs website at http://www.reading.org/research/standards/).
6. Our understanding of childrenŐs decoding of print has changed with the concept of phonemic awareness, so that phonics are de-emphasized..
A) Phonemic awareness is defined as the ability to recognize and manipulate the component sounds in wordsi. Phonemic awareness is a cluster of related skills that are highly correlated with reading success. Specific skills include rhyming, recognition of the first sound in a word, and the ability to segment a word.
ii. Activities such as clapping beats, completing repetitive story rhymes and making word lists with the same primary letter encourage phonemic awareness.
iii. Elkonin boxes help children recognize the different sounds (not letters) in a word, and can be useful for children who need additional sound practice.
iv. Phonemic awareness (the awareness of sounds) should not be confused with phonics (the relation between letters and sounds, or decoding).
B) Phonics instruction is currently prominent in the professional and popular press. There is agreement that phonics is a critical literacy skill. There is debate regarding when and how phonics instruction should occur.
i. Research promoting direct and early phonics instruction has been criticized on methodological grounds (e.g. small sample size, special needs populations, inappropriate outcomes measures).
ii. Systematic phonics instruction does not require whole-class instruction or commercially produced curricula. Instead, careful observation of children will allow teachers to provide specific phonics activities appropriate for individual childrenŐs needs. iii. Whole language programs usually incorporate activities that will promote understanding of phonics.
iv. Phonics instruction is complicated by differences in childrenŐs spoken language and phonemic awareness. Instruction on the relationship between letters and sounds should acknowledge childrenŐs dialects.
v. Balanced is an inappropriate term for literacy instruction, because equal time should not be given to direct instruction and other reading and writing experiences.
vi. Children should not receive direct instruction for letter-sound relationships that they already know. Hence, whole group phonics instruction is often inappropriate for part of the class. Conversation and discussion may be more appropriate for different childrenŐs individual needs.
vii. Good phonics instruction should
a) Develop the alphabetic principle
b) Develop phonological awareness
c) Facilitate understanding of letters
d) Avoid boring, rule-based worksheets and direct instruction.
e) Include practice in reading words that leads to automatic word recognition
f) Be only one component of reading instruction
viii. The Center for Improvement of Early Reading Achievement suggests the following age norms regarding phonics:
a) Kindergarteners should know many letter-sound relationships and begin to understand the relationship between letter-sequence and sound-sequence.
b) First graders should decode phonetically regular one-syllable words and self-correct word choice when reading, based on context and meaning.
c) Second graders should decode unfamiliar one-syllable words using letter-sound relationships or phonograms, and decode multisyllabic words via structural knowledge.
d) Third graders should be able to recognize simple words automatically and decode most multisyllabic words.