The “Big 5” of Reading

February 2006

Reading Skills DevelopmentPre-Reading

StageDecoding

StageFluency Stage

Comprehension Stage

-Letter and Sound Knowledge

-Concepts about Print

-Blending and Segmenting

-Reading Skills and Strategies

-Phrasing and Chunking Text

-Automatic Word Recognition

-Speed and Accuracy

-Expression and Intonation

-Answering and Generating Questions

-Recognizing Story Structure

-Retelling Events

-Summarizing Information

Good readers are active and think as they read.

Good readers use meta-cognitive strategies to think about and have control over their reading.

(Put Reading First, 2001 p. 49)

Assessment Tools

Running Records or Rigby Benchmark DIBELS Observation Survey Informal Reading Inventories (IRI) Words Their Way Core Reading program assessments Fluency checks High Frequency Word Lists

Assessment (Continued) Observation is a powerful assessment

tool.Teachers can determine students’

understanding of the reading process and knowledge of reading strategies.

Make them tell you what they are thinking as they read.

We use all of these things to help group our students and drive our instruction.

The Big 5! Daily

Phonemic Awareness Phonics Fluency Vocabulary Comprehension

Phonemic AwarenessPre K-Grade One

Phonemic awareness is the ability to notice, think about, hear, and manipulate the sounds or phonemes that compose words in spoken language.

It involves: Segmenting-pulling apart words into sounds Blending-putting sounds back together Manipulating-adding, deleting and substituting these

sounds

Phonemic Awareness (continued)

Phonemes are the smallest units of sound in spoken words /m/ /a/ /p/First Second Third

Phonemic awareness is an auditory skill that consists of multiple components and does not involve print.

Research says….

Explicitly and systematically teaching children to manipulate phonemes significantly improves children’s reading, comprehension and spelling abilities.

Phonemic awareness is a strong predictor of later reading success.

Phonological Awareness ContinuumType Description Example

Phonemic Awareness Blending phonemes into words, segmenting words into individual phonemes, and manipulating phonemes in spoken words

/k/ /a/ /t/

/sh/ /i/ /p/

/s/ /t/ /o/ /p/

Onset and Rimes Blending and segmenting the initial consonant or consonant cluster (onset) and the vowel and consonant sounds that follow (rime)

/m/ /ice/

/sh/ /ake/

Syllables Combining syllables to say words or segmenting spoken words into syllables

/mag/ /net/

/pa/ /per/

Sentence Segmentation

Segmenting sentences into spoken words

The dog ran away.

1 2 3 4

Alliteration

Rhyme

Producing groups of words that begin with the same initial sound

Matching the ending sounds of words

ten tiny tadpoles

cat, hat, bat, sat

PhonicsGrades K-3 and for students not at grade level.

Phonics Instruction teaches children the relationship between the letters (graphemes) of the written language and the individual sounds (phonemes) of spoken language.

Phonics teaches children to use these relationships to read and write. It is a tool, not an end of itself.

Phonics helps children learn and use the alphabetic principle.

Research says… When introduced in Kindergarten and First

Grade, explicit systematic phonics instruction is significantly more effective than alternative programs that provide nonsystematic or no phonics instruction.

Phonics improves word recognition, spelling and reading comprehension. This is not the old workbook and worksheets to just fill

in a letter. It is making words, finding patterns in books and using phonics patterns in writing.

FluencyGrades 1-5

Fluency is the ability to read a text accurately and quickly (automaticity).

Fluency is the ability to read text with accuracy at an appropriate rate, and with appropriate expression/phrasing (prosody).

Fluency (continued) Fluent readers focus on and can devote attention to

comprehension.

Non-fluent readers focus on decoding.

Fluency is important because it provides a bridge between word recognition and comprehension.

Fluency develops from practice. Students need to read and re-read and re-read appropriate books at their independent level.

Fluency can be very motivating to students.

Techniques for Developing Reading Fluency

Repeated Reading Partner Reading Echo Reading, Choral Reading Chunking Tape-Assisted Reading Readers’ Theater Timed Reading Read Alouds

Research says…

Repeated and monitored oral reading improves fluency.

Repeated reading can benefit most students throughout elementary school, as well as struggling readers at higher grade levels.

It develops because students are given opportunities to practice reading with a high degree of success.

VocabularyGrades K-5

Vocabulary refers to words we must know to communicate effectively.

Oral vocabulary refers to words that we recognize in listening (receptive) or use in speaking (productive).

Written vocabulary refers to words we recognize in reading (receptive) or use in writing (productive).

Research says…

Becoming literate requires knowing thousands of words.

Gaps in vocabulary start in preschool. Word knowledge in preschool correlates to

comprehension in upper elementary. Vocabulary is central to learning. Lots of exposure to books and wide reading are

essential. Instruction can make a difference.

What Can We Do to Close the Gap?

Explicit robust vocabulary instruction: Offers rich information about words and their uses. Provide frequent and varied opportunities for students

to think about and use words. Enhance students’ language comprehension and

production. Connect new words with prior experiences. Include labeling and classifying sorts.

Tier One: Basic Words

The most basic words; rarely require instruction. clock baby happy boy sit to run

Tier Three: Low-Frequency Words

Seldom used, often limited to specific domains isotope lathepeninsulaprospectoroutrider

Tier Two: Rich Words

High Frequency words Instruction with these words can add

productively to a student’s language abilitycoincidenceabsurddelicious fortunateeager

Tier Two Words

Generate a list of possible words which describe a picture.

Beat the Parent“I’m thinking of a word” ex. Happy

What’s in the bag?Each child gets one bag, looks inside, and

chooses six words that describe the item.

ComprehensionGrades K-5

Reading comprehension is best facilitated by systematically teaching students a variety of techniques and systematic strategies to assist in the following: Recall information Question generation Answer questions Summarize information Sequence events Learn new vocabulary Monitor their comprehension Recognize story structure Organize information using graphic organizers

Research Say… Monitor as they are reading Create mental images Determine what is important Infer while reading Synthesize Make connections

Text to selfText to textText to world

Comprehension Framework

Before Reading:Set a purpose for reading.Preview the text to:

Activate and build background knowledge Introduce vocabulary Make predictions

Comprehension Framework (continued)

During Reading:Stop for reactions, comments, and predictions.

After Reading:Help your child:

Determine important ideas and summarize. Draw conclusions and make inferences. Focus on story structure and themes.

Comprehension Strategies

Think AloudBegin reading a passage aloud while your

child listens or follows along. When you come to a trouble spot, stop and think through it aloud while they listen to what you have to offer.

Comprehension Strategies

Listening Thinking ActivityPreview the text and make predictions based

on the title. As you read aloud stop and think out loud making connections or changing predictions.

Just Right Books

The availability of appropriate reading materials greatly impacts children’s literacy development. The more books the better the reading achievement. (Routman 2002)

Students need texts that they can read accurately, fluently, and with good comprehension (Allington 2001 & 2005)