"The Big 5" of Literacy
Phonemic Awareness
The ability to identify and manipulate individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words.
How can I help my child with phonemic awareness?
1) Play rhyming games together.
2) Say a word and ask your child what sound they hear at the beginning/middle/end of the word.
3) Read rhyming books to your child.
Phonics
A method of teaching people to read by correlating sounds with letters or groups of letters in an alphabetic writing system.
How can I help my child with phonics?
1) Practice alphabet recognition.
2) Play phonics games together (ex. magnetic letters, Bananagrams, flashcards, Spelligator, Zingo, Boggle, Scrabble.)
3) Read phonics books to your child.
Fluency
The ability to read with speed, accuracy, and proper expression. In order to understand what they read, children must be able to read fluently whether they are reading aloud or silently.
How can I help my child with fluency?
1) Daily practice of reading/ re-reading books and short passages.
2) Sight words and word family lists.
3) Model fluent reading while reading to your child.
Vocabulary
The knowledge or words, including their structure (morphology), use (grammar), meanings (semantics), and links to other words (word/semantic relationships).
How can I help my child with vocabulary?
1) Read aloud to your child daily and talk about the books.
2) Listen to your child read and talk about the books together.
3) Play word games.
4) Practice using new words in conversation.
5) Use words to describe your surroundings.
Comprehension
The understanding and interpretation of what is read. To be able to accurately understand written material, children need to 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.
How can I help my child with comprehension?
1) Read aloud to your child daily and talk about the books.
2) Listen to your child read and talk about the books together.
3) Have your child state the 5 W's (who, what , where, when why) after reading.
4) Practice questioning while reading (I wonder why...)
5) Periodically stop while reading a book and make predictions.
** Keep reading and writing activities fun. Enjoy your time together reading, writing and talking! **