Phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension are the five essential components of an effective, comprehensive reading program. A variety of print-based and online instructional resources and strategies can be used to teach these components in small group or individual sessions from pre-kindergarten through high school. Formative and summative assessments including DIBELS, DRP, PALS, and curriculum-based measures provide data to monitor student progress, identify areas of difficulty, and adjust instruction accordingly.

1. Balancing Literacy
Janeen M. Harris
Foundations in Reading

2. Phonemic Awareness
Phonemic awareness is the ability to identify and manipulate the sounds letters
represent, including blending sounds to make words, creating rhyming patterns,
and counting phonemes
Phoneme Isolation
Phoneme Identity
Phoneme Categorization
Phoneme Blending
Phoneme Segmentation
Phoneme Deletion
(McEwan, 2009)

3. Instructional Resources
Print based Non-print
Print based and online activity are appropriate for K-2nd
grade students.
(www.pbs.org) (www.k12reader.com)

4. Instructional Strategy
Timing and Grouping
Phonemic awareness should be a priority in pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and early first grade reading instruction. Studies have
found that young children benefit the most from short instructional sessions (up to 30 minutes long) offered in small group settings.
Teachers working with small groups should focus on between 2 and 3 phonemic awareness skills at a time to help children solidify
these important pre-reading abilities.
Segmentation activities
Objectives: Students will be able to segment various parts of oral language.
Activity:
Early in phonological awareness instruction, teach children to segment sentences into individual words. Identify familiar short poems
such as "I scream you scream we all scream for ice cream!" Have children clap their hands with each word.
As children advance in their ability to manipulate oral language, teach them to segment words into syllables or onsets and rimes. For
example, have children segment their names into syllables: e.g., Ra-chel, Al-ex-an-der, and Rod-ney.
When children have learned to remove the first phoneme (sound) of a word, teach them to segment short words into individual
phonemes: e.g., s-u-n, p-a-t, s-t-o-p.
(www.hillsboroschools.net)

5. Authentic Assessment
Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills-DIBELS IS APPROPRIATE FOR ALL STUDENTS LEARNING TO READ IN
ENGLISH WITH A FEW EXCEPTIONS:
1. Students who are deaf
2. Students who have fluency-based speech disabilities
(e.g., stuttering-oral apraxia)
3. Students who are learning to read in a language other than English
4. Students with severe disabilities
a. Reading is not on the IEP
b. Reading is on the IEP but long-term goal is functional use of
environmental print
Yopp-Singer Test of Phoneme Segmentation
Description
 The Yopp-Singer Test of Phoneme Segmentation is a list of 22 common words.
 Students are given the words and asked to break each word apart (segmentation).
 individually administered by teacher, instructional assistant, paraprofessional
 timeframe: 5 – 10 minutes per child
 It was originally designed for English speaking kindergarteners; however , it has also proven useful with first grade students
and older children.
(www.pcbow.net)

6. Phonics
Phonics is an understanding of the alphabetic principle and ability to apply this
knowledge in the decoding of unfamiliar words.
Focuses solely on the letters and sounds of words
Helps children learn to read and spell.
Help students understand which letters are used to form words.
(McEwan, 2009)

7. Instructional Resources
Alphabet activities-Alphabet knowledge is a significant predictor of future reading success. Students at the earliest stages of reading
require instruction in letter names and formation among other critical pieces of early literacy instruction (i.e., phonological awareness
and phonics instruction, concept of word development using connected text, vocabulary and comprehension development through read
alouds, writing opportunities to practice their developing knowledge of letters and sounds).( online)
Analogy Books-The goal of an analogy book is to emphasize the utility of using what you know to read and spell other words with
similar parts. For example, if you know the –at rime as in cat, then you know how to read and spell hat, mat, sat, and pat. While doing
analogy-based work, teachers should explicitly talk about the similarities of the words. The sound, pattern, and position of the target
feature of phonics/spelling instruction should be emphasized. Students can review their analogy books and refer to them when reading
or spelling unknown words.(print based)
www.readingfirst.virginia.edu/profdev/phonics/iadpss.html

8. Instructional Strategies
Word Sorts:Have ready an assortment of words on cards. Have students work in small groups to sort
the words according to word patterns. Have students start with an open sort, allowing each group to
determine which word patterns they want to use. Then, have them sort given a set of guidelines,
such as open syllables or closed syllables. Extensions: allow students to cut words out of
newspapers or magazines to add to their sorts, gluing them onto construction paper.
Word building:This activity builds a chain of words that will help students become aware of rimes in
words. Using a pocket chart, place the letters a and n in the chart. Have the students say each sound
and then blend the sounds. Place another an underneath the first letters, this time adding a b to the
beginning. Have the students say each sound and then blend the sounds. Continue this procedure
through the alphabet using as many letter combinations as possible to show the rime.
www.student.fcgu.edu

9. Assessment Strategy
Letter Sound Knowledge- Simply put, phonics is the connection between letters and sounds. PALS provides you with an assessment
of letter sound knowledge that will allow you to align instruction to meet the letter sound needs of your students. Students must have a
firm grasp of letters and their corresponding sounds, so you should take note of the automaticity of their responses. As with letter
recognition, there is a significant difference between the student who knows 20 letter sounds automatically and the student who knows
20 letter sounds only after given time to think and process. The procedure for this task is outlined on the PALS
website.www.pals.virginia.edu
Scholastic Phonics Inventory- SPI identifies students in Grades 3-12+ who lack foundational reading skills.As a server-based program
with a high concurrency rate, SPI can screen hundreds of students at one time.SPI makes four skills-based recommendations that
directly correspond to Tiers II and III in any RTI implementation. Tier III recommendations place students within the scope and
sequence of an explicit and systematic decoding intervention.SPI provides three equivalent forms for benchmarking and progress
monitoring purposes. Automated reporting in five preformatted reports provides data on the individual student level to the district
level.www.scholastic.com

10. Fluency
Fluency is the ability to read so effortlessly and automatically that working
memory is available for the ultimate purpose of reading—extracting and
constructing meaning from the text. Fluency can be observed in accurate,
automatic, and expressive oral reading and makes possible, silent reading
comprehension. (McEwan, 2009)
Readers have very little difficulty decoding text.
Readers can process more than one word at a time with their eyes.
Readers have a large base of core words from which to draw.

11. Instructional Resources
Print-based- Fluency Formula- is a reading program designed to supplement the fluency component in a school’s
core reading program. Fluency Formula is designed to help all students in grades 1-6 develop fluency at the
different levels of reading from identification of letters to reading connected text. Daily lesson of 10-15 minutes
target a specific skill necessary for fluent and effortless reading. (www.fcrr.org)
Non-print based-Online Leveled Reading Books- The Raz-Kids K-6 are animated leveled books and interactive
quizzes give educators choices. Students listen to books read aloud, read with vocabulary and pronunciation
support, and read without support. They read freely in the bookroom. Or, teachers easily limit students to
appropriate reading levels and specific books and track student reading progress. Students can practice reading to
improve reading comprehension and reading fluency anywhere with Internet access. (www.raz-kids.com)

12. Instructional Strategies
Choral Reading- Choral reading is simultaneous oral reading of text by a small group or class of students. The text
is displayed on an overhead projector or everyone has a copy of the text. (McEwan, 2009)
Taped Reading- Students read aloud once or twice shore passages of text at their independent reading levels and
then record the passage via a tape recorder. The tapes are then replayed as students follow along with the text
while monitoring their oral reading. (McEwan, 2009)

13. Assessment Strategies
Reading Fluency Monitor--The Reading Fluency Monitor is an assessment by Read Naturally instrument that
allows teachers to monitorstudent progress. Fall, winter, and springadministrations are recommended. Grade-
levelpassages are available for grades 1–8, as wellas a software program for reporting and recordkeeping.
(www.fcrr.org)
The ―Pets‖ fluency passage is leveled in a unique pyramid design: the first paragraph is at the first grade (Fleish-
Kincaid) reading level; the second paragraph is at the second grade level; the third paragraph is at the third grade
level; the fourth paragraph is at the fourth grade level; the fifth paragraph is at the fifth grade level; the sixth
paragraph is at the sixth grade level; and the seventh paragraph is at the seventh grade level. Thus, the reader
begins practice at an easier level that builds confidence and then moves to more difficult academic language
through successive approximation. As the student reads the fluency passage, the teacher will be able to note the
reading levels at which the student has a high degree of accuracy and automaticity. Automaticity refers to the
ability of the reader to read effortlessly without stumbling or sounding-out words.
(www.penningtonpublishing.com)

14. Vocabulary
Vocabulary represents the breadth and depth of all words we know, the words
we use, recognize and respond to in meaningful acts of communication (Vacca,
Cacca, Gove, Burkey, Lenhart& McKeon 2012).
Classified as having four components:
o Listening
o Speaking
o Reading
o Writing

15. Instructional Resources
Word Generation is a research-based vocabulary program for middle school students designed to teach words through language arts,
math, science, and social studies classes. The program employs several strategies to ensure that students learn words in a variety of
contexts.The program consists of weekly units that each introduces 5 high-utility target words through brief passages outlining
controversies currently under debate in this country. (www.scoe.org)
myvocabulary.com-A free site that allows students at high-elem., junior high and high school levels, teachers and life-long learners to
acquire and retain vocabulary. Each free session has three levels. Each level has 3 puzzles with 12 words each (36 total words in a
session) and contains seven (7) additional activities/exercises that help develop vocabulary. It is continuously
updated.(www.myvocabulary.com)

16. Instructional Strategy
Semantic Mapping – is a strategy that shows readers and writers how to organize important information. During vocabulary activities,
it provides a visual display of how words are related to other words. Semantic mapping is good for K-12 students. (Vacca, Cacca,
Gove, Burkey, Lenhart& McKeon 2012).
Predictogram- used to sort vocabulary words into categories according to literary elements such as setting, characters, conflicts, and
resolution.Predictograms teach students how to utilize context clues to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words when reading
fiction. It is a graphic organizer for sorting words into categories according to the elements of plot. Appropriate for grades K-8.
(www.scholastic.com)

17. Assessment
The Vocabulary Recognition Task (VRT) is a teacher-constructed yes-no task used to estimate vocabulary recognition in a content
area (Stahl, 2008). Like the VKS, it combines self-report with demonstrated knowledge. Stahl applied the VRT with second graders
reading at a mid-first-grade level. The purpose was to identify content-related words that the students could both read and associate
with a unit of study. (www.readingrockets.org)
The Word Meaning Test (WMT) is an assessment of expressive vocabulary. It is an oral test that you will give to your learners
individually. Scores are given as Grade Equivalents (GE) from grade 1-12.For the WMT, you score the test in ―real time‖; that is, you
will have to decide whether a learner has given a correct response while you are giving the test (this is so because the number correct
on each level determines which level you will give next, as explained in the section above). (http://lincs.ed.gov)

18. Comprehension
Comprehension is the extraction or construction of meaning from text using the
seven cognitive strategies of highly skilled readers as appropriate. (McEwan
2012)
In order to comprehend text, students must be able to: (1) decode what they
read; (2) make connections between what they read and what they already know;
and (3) think deeply about what they have read. One big part of comprehension
is having a sufficient vocabulary, or knowing the meanings of enough words.
(www.readingrockets.org)
Most complex aspect of reading
Requires reader to draw upon general thinking skills.
Skills develop and improve over time through instruction and practice.

19. Instructional Resources
Abcteach.com features over 1,000 multi-page reading comprehension activities,
complete with study questions and is appropriate for grades K-12.
www.abcteach.com
Reading games for kids are a great help for parents and teachers who are looking
for fun ways to develop healthy reading habits in children. The virtual world
here at JumpStart has a fun collection of games to encourage reading in kids.
This activity is appropriate for grades K-5. (www.jumpstart.com)

20. Instructional Strategies
Directed Reading-Thinking Activity(DR-TA)- builds critical awareness of the reader’s role and responsibility in interacting with the
text. It involves readers in the process of predicting, verifying, judging and extending thinking about the test material. (Vacco,Vacco,
Gove, Burkey, Lenhart& McKeon 2012)
Circular Story Map- uses pictures to depict the sequence of events leading to the problem in the story. The strategy is useful for
students whose strengths include visual representation. Appropriate for grades K-5. (Vacco,Vacco, Gove, Burkey, Lenhart&
McKeon 2012)

21. Assessment
DRP Core Comprehension Tests are designed to guide, monitor, and support students in their achievement of the grade-level Common
Core State Standards (CCSS) for ELA and Literacy and, subsequently, to assist in their preparation for postsecondary education and
career training. The tests gauge how students are advancing toward these goals; determine their functional reading complexity levels;
and provide diagnostic information about their comprehension and the enabling skills that support comprehension. Test results help
classroom teachers, literacy coaches, and reading specialists—as well as local-, district-, and state-level administrators—support the
development of each student’s reading power. Appropriate for grades 1-12. (www.questarai.com)
Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) are a set of assessments used for universal screening and progress
monitoring in grades K-6. They are standardized, efficient and extensively researched.They help educators identify students who may
need additional literacy instruction in order to become proficient readers. DIBELS can be an integral part of most RTI programs.
(www.dibels.uoregon.edu)