The components of reading are oral language, phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, and writing. For each reading component, you will find a definition, why it is important, evidence-based practices, and resources. Also included is information to differentiate instruction: grade-specific Student Progress Records, Information to Guide Instruction, and Instructional Routines.
Oral language is the system of words and word combinations used to communicate with others through speaking and listening. We use oral language to express and comprehend knowledge, ideas, and feelings. Oral language allows us to connect words, to communicate, and to understand. It is the foundation on which all emergent literacy and later reading is built. Strong oral language skills are key to successfully communicating ideas, needs and goals, and to developing personal relationships with family and friends.
Download Oral Language Resources PDF for essential information about how educators can support students’ oral language development.
Video 1: Inferential Language, Read Aloud & Discussion from IES.
This video depicts a kindergarten class engaging in a read aloud and discussion (5:12).
Video 2: Inferential Language, Read Aloud & Discussion from IES.
This video depicts a third grade class engaging in a read aloud and discussion (5:24).
Phonological awareness is the understanding that spoken language can be broken down into parts and the ability to manipulate those parts at the word, syllable, onset-rime, and phoneme level. Phonemic awareness is the ability to notice, think about, and work with the individual sounds in spoken words. Phonemic awareness is a developmental level of phonological awareness. Think about the size of the unit of language you are focusing on--if you are working with a broad focus of words or syllables it is phonological awareness. If you are working with a narrow focus of individual sounds (phonemes), it is phonemic awareness. The ultimate goal of phonological awareness instruction is to help students develop an awareness that words are composed of individual sounds, or phonemes, and to develop the ability to manipulate individual sounds in words. Phonological awareness helps students benefit more from phonics instruction and is directly related to reading ability.
Phonological Awareness Resources
Phonological Awareness: Key Terms and Definitions for Teachers PDF for teachers to use as a quick reference.
Video 1: The Literacy Tree from IES.
This animation illustrates foundational literacy skills in the form of the “literacy tree” and how foundational literacy skills contribute to reading comprehension (2:16).
Video 2: Phonological Awareness Continuum from IES.
This animation describes the phonological awareness continuum and its levels: word, syllable, onset-rime, phoneme (4:56).
Video 10: Sentence Segmentation from IES.
This video depicts a small group of kindergarten students engaging in a sentence segmentation activity using manipulatives (5:16).
Video 15: Phonemes Linked to Letters from IES.
This video depicts a small group of first grade students engaging in a phonemes linked to letters activity using Elkonin boxes, manipulatives, and letter-tiles (4:52).
Student Progress Records, Information to Guide Instruction, and Instructional Routines
Progress monitoring data and teacher observation determine the type of phonological awareness instruction and practice individual students need. Use these Student Progress Records to record individual student progress in phonological awareness and to form groups for differentiated small group instruction. Some features in these documents will only function when opened in Adobe Acrobat 2020 or later versions.
The information in the tables below can help you learn more about the instructional needs of your students and guide your instruction with specific groups and/or individual students. If the student cannot demonstrate the skill, you can implement the aligned Instructional Routine during small group instruction.
Kindergarten
| Can the student demonstrate this skill? If not, implement the aligned instructional routine. |
Instructional Routine | Aligned B.E.S.T. Standard |
|---|---|---|
| The student can identify and produce alliterative and rhyming words. | Phonemic Awareness: Rhyme | ELA.K.F.1.2b |
| The student can identify the initial sound of spoken words. | Phonemic Awareness: Isolation | ELA.K.F.1.2d |
| The student can blend phonemes in single-syllable spoken words. | Phonemic Awareness: Blending | ELA.K.F.1.2f |
| The student can segment phonemes in single-syllable spoken words. | Phonemic Awareness: Segmenting | ELA.K.F.1.2f |
First Grade
| Can the student demonstrate this skill? If not, implement the aligned instructional routine. |
Instructional Routine | Aligned B.E.S.T. Standard |
|---|---|---|
| The student can blend single-syllable spoken words with at least five phonemes. | Phonemic Awareness: Blending | ELA.1.F.1.2c |
| The student can segment single-syllable spoken words with at least five phonemes. | Phonemic Awareness: Segmenting | ELA.1.F.1.2d |
Phonics is the relationship between graphemes (letters) and the phonemes (sounds) they represent. Phonics is also used to describe reading instruction that teaches these relationships (often referred to as sound-symbol correspondences). The goal of phonics instruction is to help children use sound-symbol correspondences to read and write words.
Phonics instruction helps students learn the alphabetic principle (the understanding that there are systematic and predictable relationships between written letters and spoken words). This helps students learn to read familiar words with accuracy and decode unknown words. This process proves true for regular (e.g., mat) and irregular (e.g., phone) words. Once students are able to read words quickly, reading connected text becomes more fluent, and more cognitive energy can be devoted to comprehension, and less on decoding words.
Video 17: Letter–Sounds from IES.
This video depicts a whole group of K/1 students engaging in a phonemes linked to letters activity using letter-sound cards, mini-whiteboards, and markers (5:03).
Video 29: Decodable Words in Isolation and in Text from IES.
This video depicts a small group of first grade students engaging in a decodable words in isolation and in text activity using letter-cards and pocket charts (7:43).
Video 32: Word Reading Strategies from IES.
This video depicts a small group of third graders engaging in a word reading strategies activity as they read a text about fishing (4:17).
Student Progress Records, Information to Guide Instruction, and Instructional Routines
Progress monitoring data and teacher observation determine the type of phonics instruction and practice individual students need. Use these Student Progress Records to record individual student progress in phonics and to form groups for differentiated small group instruction. Some features in these documents will only function when opened in Adobe Acrobat 2020 or later versions.
The information in the tables below can help you learn more about the instructional needs of your students and guide your instruction with specific groups and/or individual students. If the student cannot demonstrate the skill, you can implement the aligned Instructional Routine during small group instruction.
Kindergarten
| Can the student demonstrate this skill? If not, implement the aligned instructional routine. |
Instructional Routine | Aligned B.E.S.T. Standard |
|---|---|---|
| The student demonstrates knowledge of the most frequent sound for each consonant. | Phonics: Letter-Sound Correspondence | ELA.K.F.1.3a |
| The student can decode consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words. | ELA.K.F.1.3c | |
| The student can encode consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words. | Phonics: Writing Simple Words | ELA.K.F.1.3d |
First Grade
| Can the student demonstrate this skill? If not, implement the aligned instructional routine. |
Instructional Routine | Aligned B.E.S.T. Standard |
|---|---|---|
| The student can decode words using knowledge of spelling-sound correspondences for common consonant digraphs, trigraphs, and blends. | Phonics: Decode and Write Words with Blends | ELA.1.F.1.3a |
| The student can decode and encode regularly spelled one-syllable words. | Phonics: Decode and Write Words | ELA.1.F.1.3c |
| The student can decode words that use final –e and vowel teams to make long-vowel sound. | Phonics: Decode and Write Words with the “Silent e” | ELA.1.F.1.3f |
Second Grade
| Can the student demonstrate this skill? If not, implement the aligned instructional routine. |
Instructional Routine | Aligned B.E.S.T. Standard |
|---|---|---|
| The student can decode regularly spelled two-syllable words with long and short vowels. | Phonics: Two-Syllable Words | ELA.2.F.1.3b |
Third Grade
| Can the student demonstrate this skill? If not, implement the aligned instructional routine. |
Instructional Routine | Aligned B.E.S.T. Standard |
|---|---|---|
| The student can decode words with common Greek and Latin roots and affixes. |
Phonics: Identify Base Words and Suffixes to Read Multisyllabic Words #1 Phonics: Identify Base Words and Affixes to Read Multi-Syllabic Words #2 |
ELA.3.F.1.3a |
| The student can decode multisyllabic words. | Phonics: Words with More Than One Syllable (CV/C) Rule A | ELA.3.F.1.3c |
Fluency is the ability to read out loud accurately, at an appropriate rate, and with prosody (proper phrasing, intonation, and expression). Fluency emerges gradually over time through supported and repeated practice in automatic word recognition and reading connected text. The successful development of fluency depends on an individual acquiring phonemic awareness, accurate letter-sound correspondence, sound blending, and spelling pattern and morpheme recognition. Oral reading practice with feedback from the teacher is necessary. The goal of fluent reading is to improve comprehension through the ability to recognize words automatically, accurately, and with prosody.
Eventually, all words become “sight words” as they are repeatedly read correctly in text. It is the students’ ability to recognize very large numbers of words “at a single glace” that is one of the most important factors underlying the development of reading fluency in the early elementary grades. When students read fluently, they are not focusing on decoding words, but instead they can actively construct meaning as they read.
Download Fluency Resources PDF for essential information for teaching students to become fluent readers.
Video 34: Repeated Reading from IES.
This video depicts a third grade student engaged in repeated reading (4:06).
Video 35: Partner Reading from IES.
This video depicts a second grade class engaging in a partner reading (3:04).
Video 36: Choral Reading from IES.
This video depicts a small group of third grade students engaged in choral reading (2:51).
Video 37: Echo Reading from IES.
This video depicts a small group of third grade students engaged in echo reading (1:21).
Student Progress Records, Information to Guide Instruction, and Instructional Routines
Progress monitoring data and teacher observation determine fluency instruction and practice individual students need. Use these Student Progress Records to record individual student progress in fluency and to form groups for differentiated small group instruction. Some features in these documents will only function when opened in Adobe Acrobat 2020 or later versions.
The information in the tables below can help you learn more about the instructional needs of your students and guide your instruction with specific groups and/or individual students. If the student cannot demonstrate the skill, you can implement the aligned Instructional Routine during small group instruction.
Kindergarten
| Can the student demonstrate this skill? If not, implement the aligned instructional routine. |
Instructional Routine | Aligned B.E.S.T. Standard |
|---|---|---|
| The student can recognize and read with automaticity grade-level high frequency words. | Fluency: High Frequency Word | ELA.K.F.1.4 |
First Grade
| Can the student demonstrate this skill? If not, implement the aligned instructional routine. |
Instructional Routine | Aligned B.E.S.T. Standard |
|---|---|---|
| The student can read grade-level texts with accuracy, automaticity, and appropriate prosody or expression. | Fluency: Reading Text with Proper Expression | ELA.1.F.1.4 |
Second Grade
| Can the student demonstrate this skill? If not, implement the aligned instructional routine. |
Instructional Routine | Aligned B.E.S.T. Standard |
|---|---|---|
| The student can read grade-level texts with accuracy, automaticity, and appropriate prosody or expression. | Fluency: Reading Text with Appropriate Phrasing and Proper Expression | ELA.2.F.1.4 |
Third Grade
| Can the student demonstrate this skill? If not, implement the aligned instructional routine. |
Instructional Routine | Aligned B.E.S.T. Standard |
|---|---|---|
| The student can read grade-level texts with accuracy, automaticity, and appropriate prosody or expression. | Fluency: Reading Text with Appropriate Phrasing and Proper Expression | ELA.3.F.1.4 |
Vocabulary refers to knowledge about the meanings, uses, and pronunciation of words. Vocabulary is often categorized as oral vocabulary (listening and speaking) and print vocabulary (reading and writing). The goal of vocabulary instruction is to provide students with an understanding of the meaning and use of words so that they can comprehend what they are reading and communicate effectively. The role of vocabulary instruction in the classroom is to expand the oral vocabulary while developing an extensive print vocabulary.
Video 9: Academic Vocabulary in Text from IES.
This video depicts a second grade class engaging in an academic vocabulary in text activity (6:53).
Student Progress Records, Information to Guide Instruction, and Instructional Routines
Progress monitoring data and teacher observation determine vocabulary instruction and practice individual students need. Use these Student Progress Records to record individual student progress in vocabulary and to form groups for differentiated small group instruction. Some features in these documents will only function when opened in Adobe Acrobat 2020 or later versions.
The information in the tables below can help you learn more about the instructional needs of your students and guide your instruction with specific groups and/or individual students. If the student cannot demonstrate the skill, you can implement the aligned Instructional Routine during small group instruction.
Kindergarten
| Can the student demonstrate this skill? If not, implement the aligned instructional routine. |
Instructional Routine | Aligned B.E.S.T. Standard |
|---|---|---|
| The student can identify and sort common words into basic categories, relating vocabulary to background knowledge. | Vocabulary: Identify and Sort Common Objects into Categories | ELA.K.V.1.3 |
First Grade
| Can the student demonstrate this skill? If not, implement the aligned instructional routine. |
Instructional Routine | Aligned B.E.S.T. Standard |
|---|---|---|
| The student can identify and use picture clues, context clues, word relationships, reference materials, and/or background knowledge to determine the meaning of unknown words. | Vocabulary: Using Context Clues to Determine Word Meaning | ELA.1.V.1.3 |
Second Grade
| Can the student demonstrate this skill? If not, implement the aligned instructional routine. |
Instructional Routine | Aligned B.E.S.T. Standard |
|---|---|---|
| The student can identify and use base words and affixes to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words in grade-level content. | Vocabulary: Base Words and Prefixes | ELA.2.V.1.2 |
| The student can identify and use context clues, word relationships, reference materials, and/or background knowledge to determine the meaning of unknown words. | Vocabulary: Multiple Meaning Words in Context | ELA.2.V.1.3 |
Third Grade
| Can the student demonstrate this skill? If not, implement the aligned instructional routine. |
Instructional Routine | Aligned B.E.S.T. Standard |
|---|---|---|
| The student can identify and apply knowledge of common Greek and Latin roots, base words, and affixes to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words in grade-level content. | Vocabulary: Determine the Meaning of a Word using Knowledge of Base Words and Affixes | ELA.3.V.1.2 |
| The student can use context clues, figurative language, word relationships, reference materials, and/or background knowledge to determine the meaning of multiple-meaning and unknown words and phrases, appropriate to grade level. | Vocabulary: Multiple Meaning Words in Context | ELA.3.V.1.3 |
Comprehension refers to the understanding of the meaning of a passage and the context in which the words occur. Reading comprehension depends on various underlying components including decoding (the ability to translate words in print into speech), knowledge of word meanings (vocabulary), fluency, the ability to understand and interpret spoken language, and knowledge of text structure. Skills that support the development of reading comprehension include both language-comprehension skills as well as word-reading skills. Difficulty in word reading limits reading comprehension in the early stages of learning to read. However, as reading connected text becomes more fluent across the grade levels, students rely more on language comprehension to comprehend what is read. The goal of comprehension instruction is for students to gain understanding from written language.
Video 4: Narrative Language, Prediction from IES.
This video depicts a kindergarten class engaging in a prediction activity (4:59).
Video 5: Narrative Language, Retell from IES.
This video depicts a first grade class engaging in a retell activity using a graphic organizer (5:14).
Student Progress Records, Information to Guide Instruction, and Instructional Routines
Progress monitoring data and teacher observation determine comprehension instruction and practice individual students need. Use these Student Progress Records to record individual student progress in comprehension and to form groups for differentiated small group instruction. Some features in these documents will only function when opened in Adobe Acrobat 2020 or later versions.
The information in the tables below can help you learn more about the instructional needs of your students and guide your instruction with specific groups and/or individual students. If the student cannot demonstrate the skill, you can implement the aligned Instructional Routine during small group instruction.
Kindergarten
| Can the student demonstrate this skill? If not, implement the aligned instructional routine. |
Instructional Routine | Aligned B.E.S.T. Standard |
|---|---|---|
| The student can describe the main character(s), setting, and important events in a story. | Comprehension: Identify Story Grammar | ELA.K.R.1.1 |
First Grade
| Can the student demonstrate this skill? If not, implement the aligned instructional routine. |
Instructional Routine | Aligned B.E.S.T. Standard |
|---|---|---|
| The student can use main story elements at the beginning, middle, and end for a literary text. | Comprehension: Retelling the Main Events of a Story in Sequence | ELA.1.R.3.2a |
Second Grade
| Can the student demonstrate this skill? If not, implement the aligned instructional routine. |
Instructional Routine | Aligned B.E.S.T. Standard |
|---|---|---|
| The student can explain an author’s purpose in an informational text. | Comprehension: Identify and Discuss the Author’s Purpose | ELA.2.R.2.3 |
Third Grade
| Can the student demonstrate this skill? If not, implement the aligned instructional routine. |
Instructional Routine | Aligned B.E.S.T. Standard |
|---|---|---|
| The student can explain the development of an author's purpose in an informational text. | Comprehension: Identify and Discuss the Author’s Purpose | ELA.3.R.2.3 |
| The student can summarize a text to enhance comprehension: a. Include plot and theme for a literary text. b. Use the central idea and relevant details for an informational text. | Comprehension: Create a Summary from Expository Text | ELA.3.R.3.2 |
| The student can compare and contrast how two authors present information on the same topic or theme. | Comprehension: Compare and Contrast the Topics in Two Texts | ELA.3.R.3.3 |
Writing is one of the most complex processes and means of communication. It involves simultaneously applying multiple skills with the goal of using symbols to communicate thoughts and ideas. It is a fundamental part of engaging in professional, social, community, and civic activities. Writing is a skill that is learned with its own set of rules and structure. Writing skills are developed through systematic and explicit instruction. These skills include:
- Learning capitalization, punctuation, spelling, and handwriting;
- Generating text (clearly expressing your thoughts, elaborating on details and word choice);
- Applying the writing process (planning, revising, and editing); and
- Writing knowledge (understanding your audience and how to clearly communicate with them).
Students should develop an early foundation in writing in order to communicate their ideas effectively and efficiently.
The Teaching Elementary School Students to Be Effective Writers: Instructional Tips Based on the Educator’s Practice Guide highlights key concepts and relevant how-to steps from the practice guide that are actionable and supported by evidence.
Video: Instructional Strategies for Teaching Writing to Elementary Students from IES.
This video provides a brief discussion of the importance of teaching students to be effective writers and shares research-based practices from IES practice guides and the Instructional Strategies for Teaching Writing to Elementary Students infographic. (5:45)
Student Progress Records, Information to Guide Instruction, and Instructional Routines
Progress monitoring data and teacher observation determine writing instruction and practice individual students need. Use these Student Progress Records to record individual student progress in writing and to form groups for differentiated small group instruction. Some features in these documents will only function when opened in Adobe Acrobat 2020 or later versions.
