Stages of Literacy Development

Literacy begins at birth. Prior to schooling literacy is made possible by providing children with a literacy-rich environment in which they are able to participate in literacy activities and interact with item such as books, paper, markers, etc.

Literacy experiences prior to schooling develop: Interest in books Interest in environmental print Enjoyment in reading with an adult Ability to describe pictures in books Ability to label pictures Beginning stages of writing

The Four Stages of Literacy During the Early Years of Schooling Emergent ( Pre-School – 1st ) Early ( 1st – 2nd ) Early Fluent ( 2nd – 3rd ) Fluent ( 3rd - 4th )

Characteristics of Emergent Readers and Writers: Understand that written words have meaning Begin to match spoken words with the print Pretend to read by turning pages of books and inventing stories using the pictures Identify some letters and some letter sound associations Recognize some words and letters in books or in their environment Inconsistent with the concepts of word and letter Write some letters Write in scribbles or strings of random letters Read their writing, but may not be able to re-read it later Match some words to print

Experiences for Emergent Readers and Writers: Seeing reading and writing modeled by adults Reading predictable books with pictures Experimentation with writing Build letter and sound recognition Rhyming and word play Oral and written language activities

Characteristics of Early Readers: Understand that reading needs to make sense Attentive to print Identify most letters by name Able to use some letter/sound knowledge to decode some words Aware of some punctuation and capitalization, but may not use them consistently in their writing and reading Recognize some sight words Use pictures, story patterns, context, and phonics to read

Characteristics of Early Writers: Use spaces between words, inconsistently Spell using some sound/letter associations Able to re-read own writing most of the time May mix upper and lower case letters and may reverse some letters

Experiences for Early Readers/Writers: Exposure to shared and guided reading Modeling and teaching of strategies to figure out words and make sense of print Games and activities to increase sight word recognition Games and activities to build phonemic awareness Encouragement to write using invented spelling Language experience activities Discussing and retelling stories read aloud

Characteristics of Early Fluent/Fluent Readers: Recognize many words in and out of context Apply phonics and other strategies to figure out new words Monitor their reading for meaning and self correction Read with increased fluency, accuracy, and expression

Early Fluent/Fluent Writers: Use drafting, revising and editing in their writing Express their ideas more elaborately Use more conventional spelling Increase their use of punctuation

Experiences for Early Fluent/Fluent Readers/Writers: Opportunity to read and discuss challenging texts Practice reading for meaning using comprehension strategies Reading to build accuracy, fluency, and expression Silent reading Continue writing using strategies for revision and editing Discussing a variety of literacy types

At this point.. Literacy skills move from learning to read and write to learning from reading and writing.