Next Steps?
Phonemic awareness
Emerging/Developing
Instructional Focus:
Use Elkonin boxes, picture cards, and hand clapping for medial sounds; practice swapping middle sounds orally with teacher modeling.
Core Competencies:
Communication
Use gestures/sounds to signal recognition
Critical Thinking
Notice sound changes in playful contexts
Personal Responsibility
Practice daily with others
Developing/Proficient
Instructional Focus:
Engage in word ladders (tap → top → tip); encourage independent segmenting/blending.
Core Competencies:
Communication
Explain sound switches aloud
Critical Thinking
Predict spelling/pronunciation changes
Personal Responsibility
Track progress with sound journals
Proficient/Extending
Instructional Focus:
Create multisyllabic sound swaps (e.g., “candle” → “cattle”); apply in writing.
Core Competencies:
Communication
Model strategies for others
Creative Thinking
Invent new word games
Social Responsibility
Lead sound-based challenges for others
Phonics
Emerging/Developing
Instructional Focus:
Explicit teaching; multisensory practice (sand tracing, magnetic letters). Focus on one pattern at a time.
Core Competencies:
Communication – orally identify and write words with target phonics.
Critical Thinking – sort pictures/words into sound categories.
Personal Responsibility – track mastered sounds on a chart.
Developing/Proficient
Instructional Focus:
Read decodable texts; highlight patterns; compare digraphs (ch vs. sh).
Core Competencies:
Communication – explain differences aloud.
Critical Thinking – look for vowel team patterns across texts.
Personal Responsibility – apply strategies in independent reading.
Proficient/Extending
Instructional Focus:
Apply patterns in multisyllabic/academic words (e.g., “photograph,” “caution”); analyze exceptions.
Core Competencies:
Communication – teach others word families.
Critical Thinking – investigate etymology/spelling rules.
Creative Thinking – use phonics knowledge in writing for effect.
Sight word reading
Emerging/Developing
Instructional Focus:
Daily flashcards, tactile spelling (skywriting, sand tracing), repeated reading of phrases
Core Competencies:
Communication – read aloud word banks
Critical Thinking – sort sight words by features (same endings)
Personal Responsibility – practice independently with digital tools
Developing/Proficient
Instructional Focus:
Use sight words in meaningful sentences; embed in guided reading.
Core Competencies:
Communication – write/illustrate sentences with target words.
Critical Thinking – group words by usage frequency.
Personal Responsibility – set weekly sight word goals.
Proficient/Extending
Instructional Focus:
Extend to 300+ Fry words; challenge with rapid reading in context; encourage word games.
Core Competencies:
Communication – apply words in extended oral/written storytelling.
Critical Thinking – analyze which words are harder/easier to retain.
Social Responsibility – support peers in sight word games.
Oral Retelling
Emerging/Developing
Instructional Focus:
Use story maps with pictures for sequencing beginning–middle–end
Core Competencies:
Communication – retell with sentence starters
Critical Thinking – identify “what happened first/next/last”
Personal Responsibility – reflect on what was remembered
Developing/Proficient
Instructional Focus:
Retell with clear structure including setting, characters, problem, and solution
Core Competencies:
Communication – use transition words and complete sentences
Critical Thinking – notice cause-effect links
Personal Responsibility – self-check inclusion of all story elements
Proficient/Extending
Instructional Focus:
Retell with elaboration, character perspective, and author’s message
Core Competencies:
Communication – vary tone/voice for characters
Creative Thinking – retell with a twist ending
Social Responsibility – adapt stories for younger peers
Oral Reading Fluency and Comprehension
Emerging/Developing
Instructional Focus:
Choral reading, echo reading, and short passages for fluency; comprehension checks with “who/what/why/when/how” questions
Core Competencies:
Communication – practice phrasing aloud
Critical Thinking – answer literal questions
Personal Responsibility – monitor progress with fluency graphs
Developing/Proficient
Instructional Focus:
Repeated reading with expression; retell after reading; answer inferential questions
Core Competencies:
Communication – adjust pacing/intonation
Critical Thinking – explain inferences with text clues
Personal Responsibility – set accuracy/rate goals
Proficient/Extending
Instructional Focus:
Read extended passages with expression; comprehension discussions on theme, bias, or author’s intent
Core Competencies:
Communication – lead peer discussions
Critical Thinking – evaluate arguments or perspectives
Social Responsibility – recommend texts to others
Spelling
Emerging/Developing
Instructional Focus:
Use sound boxes/Elkonin boxes to map phonemes → graphemes
Focus on high-frequency words and simple CVC patterns
Provide tactile practice (letter tiles, magnetic letters, sand writing)
Core Competencies:
Communication – orally stretch and segment words while spelling
Critical Thinking – match sounds to letters with teacher prompts
Personal Responsibility – set small goals (e.g., 3–5 new words per week)
Developing/Proficient
Instructional Focus:
Practice spelling patterns (digraphs, blends, long vowels, vowel teams)
Apply word study: word sorts, spelling journals, dictation sentences
Encourage self-correction using spelling strategies (chunking, syllables)
Core Competencies:
Communication – explain thinking when choosing a spelling pattern.
Critical Thinking – compare words with similar/different spellings
Personal Responsibility – check/edit own writing with word lists
Proficient/Extending
Instructional Focus:
Expand to multisyllabic and academic vocabulary
Analyze morphology: prefixes, suffixes, Greek/Latin roots
Apply encoding knowledge in authentic writing (stories, reports)
Core Competencies:
Communication – teach spelling strategies to others
Critical Thinking – explore word origins and spelling exceptions
Creative Thinking – play with word building in poetry or creative writing