THE FIVE AREAS

OF
READING INSTRUCTION

By Dena Morgan

Phonemic Awareness Instruction

Phonological Awareness includes identifying and working with the individual sounds of spoken words. Learning activities
should include work with:
• Words (comprised of individual phonemes)
• Syllables
• Onsets and rimes (c/at)
• Rhyming

Phonemic Awareness (a subset of phonological awareness) is the ability to hear, identify and manipulate individual sounds
(phonemes) in words.
• English has 41 individual phonemes

You will know your students have good phonemic awareness when they can:
√ Identify words from a list that begin with the same sound
√ Isolate the beginning and ending sounds of words
√ Segment (c/a/t/) and blend (c/a/t/ = cat)
√ Phoneme deletion (spark without the s is park), addition (if you add s to the beginning of park is spark) or substitution
(change the b in bun to an f makes fun)

Phonics Instruction
Phonics is the understanding of the relationship between phonemes and graphemes. Learning to read words is dependent on good
phonemic awareness.
Grapheme: visual representation of phonemes
• one letter (a,b,c) or
• groups of letters (qu, ph, ch, igh)
• Learning to spell depends on the ability to distinguish individual sounds in words
There are many good phonics programs available targeting the various stages of decoding and spelling.

Fluency Instruction
Fluency is the ability to read a text accurately with appropriate pacing intonation and expression. Reading fluency is the bridge
between word recognition (phonics) and comprehension.
Fluent readers are able to:
• Recognize words automatically
• Group words into phrases
• Attend to punctuation
• Adjust their pace
• Use inflection

Activities that promote reading fluency are:

• Audio-Assisted Reading (following along to a recording of a fluent reader)
• Choral Reading (reading aloud in unison)
• Partner Reading (pair a more fluent reader with a less fluent reader)
• Reader's Theater (reading from a script with rich dialogue)
• Shared or Guided Reading

Vocabulary and Content Instruction

Vocabulary development includes listening, speaking, reading and writing. Growth in one area promotes growth in another.
Comprehensive vocabulary instruction includes:
• A focus on meaning not definitions
• Classifying or grouping words
• Engaging in content rich discussions
• Playing with morphology (add prefixes, suffixes, etc)
• Identify and reviewing unknown words

Activities that promote vocabulary development involve representing words in a variety of ways:
• Dictionary definition
• Synonyms and/or Antonyms
• Part of speech (noun, verb, etc)
• Classification (what group does it belong to)
• Comparison (alike or different)
• Real-life examples
• Graphic version (drawings, pictures, symbols)
• Role playing
• Repeated Readings (promotes comprehension as well)

Text Comprehension Instruction

The goal of comprehension instruction is to have students become independent, strategic, and metacognitive readers.

Effective Instruction involves the explicit teaching (through think aloud modelling) of a variety of comprehension strategies at
developmentally appropriate stages.

As readers develop they should:

• Understand the different types of text and how they are organized
• Have effective word solving strategies
• Know how to use text features
• Know their purpose for reading
• Monitor their understanding as they read
• Access their background knowledge before reading
• Make predictions
• Visualize what they are reading
• Make connection to their own life and other texts
• Ask meaningful questions
• Summarize
• Synthesize information from other sources
• Use graphic organizers to record their thoughts
References:

Armbruster, Bonnie B, et al. (2001). Put Reading First: The Research Building Blocks for Teaching Children to Read. Kindergarten
through Grade 3.

Pressley, Michael “Comprehension Instruction: What Works.” ReadingRockets.org, Reading Online,

September 2001. Retrieved from https://www.readingrockets.org/article/comprehension-instruction-
what-works

Shanahan, Timothy. “Five Things Every Teacher Should Know About Vocabulary Instruction.”
ReadingRockets.org, Shanahan on Literacy, September 2019. Retrieved from
https://www.readingrockets.org/blogs/shanahan-literacy/five-things-every-teacher-should-know-
about-vocabulary-instruction

https://www.readingrockets.org/teaching/reading-basics/fluency