2. 5 Essential Elements of Reading By Ophelia Williams EDUC 303.001

3. Essential Elements of Reading In 2000, the National Reading Panel (NRP) issued a report that identified 5 areas that they found critical for effective reading instruction: 1.Phonemic Awareness 2.Phonics 3.Fluency 4.Vocabulary 5.Comprehension

4. Phonemic Awareness The ability to notice, think about, identify, and work with the discrete sounds in spoken words. Students practice by listening to poems, rhymes, stories with repetitive refrains, and language patterns. Reading aloud to children and engaging them in word-play activities help to build phonemic awareness.

5. Phonics Involves the relationship between letters and individual sounds, and helping children to recognize there are relationships between written letters and spoken words. Magnetic letters are a great tool to teach children to recognize sound-spelling patterns

6. Fluency The ability to read text with accuracy, appropriate rate, expression, and phrasing. Take children to local libraries to encourage reading. Fluency develops with practice – children become more fluent readers the more they read!

7. Vocabulary Refers to the knowledge of words, their definitions, and context. Children need good vocabulary skills to communicate effectively. Children love games – play games to test their knowledge of different words. Introduce new books to familiarize them with new and difficult words.

8. Comprehension Refers to the ability to understand what one is reading. Children with strong comprehension skills are able to relate the text they are reading to what they already know, while constructing new knowledge and understanding. You can help improve comprehension skills by encouraging children to make predictions, ask questions, and form opinions while reading.

9. THE END Brought to you by Ophelia Williams.