Science of Teaching Reading Resource Guide

Phonemic awareness is “the ability to distinguish and manipulate the 44 fundamental sounds (phonemes) that comprise spoken English” (Rickenbrode & Walsh, 2013).

Explicit, brief phonemic awareness instruction is one of the best predictors of early reading. Phonemic awareness instruction should include activities, such as: rhyming, blending, or segmenting sounds.

Phonics is the knowledge of the relationship between the sounds (phonemes), letters, or combinations of letters (graphemes).

Early, explicit, and systematic phonics instruction in the sound-spelling combinations should begin with the most frequently encountered combinations and proceed from there.

Fluency is “the ability to accurately and rapidly read isolated and connected English text” (Rickenbrode & Walsh, 2013).

Students should achieve reading automaticity prior to fluency development, so that children’s working memory is not overwhelmed with decoding. Fluency skill development also benefits from explicit instruction and practice.

There is receptive and expressive vocabulary (Hennessy & Moats, 2020, xcvi). Receptive vocabulary is the ability to understand language from listening or reading, and expressive vocabulary is the ability to share language through speaking or writing (Hennessy & Moats, 2020, xcvi).

The use of a variety of practices is ideal when developing children’s receptive and expressive vocabulary.

Comprehension is the “ability to integrate new information with prior knowledge and to derive meaning from novel texts” (Rickenbrode & Walsh, 2013).

Explicit comprehension strategy instruction, such as using graphic organizers, summarizing, and asking and answering questions during reading have all been identified as effective, research-based approaches for developing student comprehension.