Learning to Read and Write: Developmentally Appropriate Practices for Young Children, part 4:

Continuum of Children's Development in Early Reading and Writing

Note: this list is intended to be illustrative, not exhaustive. Children at any grade level will function at a variety of phases along the reading/writing continuum.

Phase 1: Awareness and exploration (goals for preschool)

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

Children can

• enjoy listening to and discussing storybooks
• understand that print carries a message
• engage in reading and writing attempts
• identify labels and signs in their environment
• participate in rhyming games
• identify some letters and make some letter-sound matches
• 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

• share books with children, including Big Books, and model reading behaviors
• talk about letters by name and sounds
• establish a literacy-rich environment
• reread favorite stories
• engage children in language games
• promote literacy-related play activities
• encourage children to experiment with writing

What parents and family members can do

• talk with children, engage them in conversation, give names of things, show interest in what a child says
• read and reread stories with predictable text to children
• encourage children to recount experiences and describe ideas and events that are important to them
• visit the library regularly
• provide opportunities for children to draw and print, using markers, crayons, and pencils

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

• enjoy being read to and themselves retell simple narrative stories or informational texts
• use descriptive language to explain and explore
• recognize letters and letter-sound matches
• show familiarity with rhyming and beginning sounds
• understand left-to-right and top-to-bottom orientation and familiar concepts of print
• match spoken words with written ones
• begin to write letters of the alphabet and some high-frequency words

What teachers do

• encourage children to talk about reading and writing experiences
• provide many opportunities for children to explore and identify sound-symbol relationships in meaningful contexts
• 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)
• frequently read interesting and conceptually rich stories to children
• provide daily opportunities for children to write
• help children build a sight vocabulary
• create a literacy-rich environment for children to engage independently in reading and writing

What parents and family members can do

• daily read and reread narrative and informational stories to children
• encourage children's attempts at reading and writing
• allow children to participate in activities that involve writing and reading (for example, cooking, making grocery lists)
• play games that involve specific directions (such as "Simon Says")
• have conversations with children during mealtimes and throughout the day

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

• read and retell familiar stories
• use strategies (rereading, predicting, questioning, contextualizing) when comprehension breaks down
• use reading and writing for various purposes on their own initiative
• orally read with reasonable fluency
• use letter-sound associations, word parts, and context to identify new words
• identify an increasing number of words by sight
• sound out and represent all substantial sounds in spelling a word
• write about topics that are personally meaningful
• attempt to use some punctuation and capitalization

What teachers do

• 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
• model strategies and provide practice for identifying unknown words
• give children opportunities for independent reading and writing practice
• read, write, and discuss a range of different text types (poems, informational books)
• introduce new words and teach strategies for learning to spell new words
• demonstrate and model strategies to use when comprehension breaks down
• help children build lists of commonly used words from their writing and reading

What parents and family members can do

• talk about favorite storybooks
• read to children and encourage them to read to you
• suggest that children write to friends and relatives
• bring to a parent-teacher conference evidence of what your child can do in writing and reading
• encourage children to share what they have learned about their writing and reading

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

• read with greater fluency
• use strategies more efficiently (rereading, questioning, and so on) when comprehension breaks down
• use word identification strategies with greater facility to unlock unknown words
• identify an increasing number of words by sight
• write about a range of topics to suit different audiences
• use common letter patterns and critical features to spell words
• punctuate simple sentences correctly and proofread their own work
• spend time reading daily and use reading to research topics

What teachers do

• create a climate that fosters analytic, evaluative, and reflective thinking
• teach children to write in multiple forms (stories, information, poems)
• ensure that children read a range of texts for a variety of purposes
• teach revising, editing, and proofreading skills
• teach strategies for spelling new and difficult words
• model enjoyment of reading

What parents and family members can do

• continue to read to children and encourage them to read to you
• engage children in activities that require reading and writing
• become involved in school activities
• show children your interest in their learning by displaying their written work
• visit the library regularly
• support your child's specific hobby or interest with reading materials and references

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

• read fluently and enjoy reading
• use a range of strategies when drawing meaning from the text
• use word identification strategies appropriately and automatically when encountering unknown words
• recognize and discuss elements of different text structures
• make critical connections between texts
• write expressively in many different forms (stories, poems, reports)
• use a rich variety of vocabulary and sentences appropriate to text forms
• revise and edit their own writing during and after composing
• spell words correctly in final writing drafts

What teachers do

• provide opportunities daily for children to read, examine, and critically evaluate narrative and expository texts
• continue to create a climate that fosters critical reading and personal response
• teach children to examine ideas in texts
• encourage children to use writing as a tool for thinking and learning
• extend children's knowledge of the correct use of writing conventions
• emphasize the importance of correct spelling in finished written products
• create a climate that engages all children as a community of literacy learners

What parents and family members can do

• continue to support children's learning and interest by visiting the library and bookstores with them
• find ways to highlight children's progress in reading and writing
• stay in regular contact with your child's teachers about activities and progress in reading and writing
• encourage children to use and enjoy print for many purposes (such as recipes, directions, games, and sports)
• build a love of language in all its forms and engage children in conversation

Go to:

Overview

Part 1: Statement of the issues and review of the research

Part 2: Statement of the position and recommendations for teaching practices and policies

Part 3: References

Part 4: Continuum of children's development in early reading and writing