Essential elements of reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, comprehension, fluency, and vocabulary

¶ … 2000, the National Reading Panel developed and publicized a report that included give critical areas that need to be addressed in order to provide effective reading instruction: 1) Phonemic awareness, 2) Phonics, 3) Fluency, 4) Vocabulary, and

Comprehension (National Reading Panel, 2012). Too, we must realize that not all children become phonemically aware at the same age or grade level. Some preschool children can segment and even understand multi-syllabic words, which some even in 2nd grade cannot. However, using the 5 basic steps, it is possible to provide a standards-based program that logically defines and emphasizes basic reading skills (Neuman and Dickinson, 2006). We can think of each portion of the 5 steps as building blocks towards fluency, with one logically contributing to the other through a series of exercises, drills, and finally mastery of each level.

Phonemic Awareness -- Is the ability to notice and cognate discreet sounds in spoken words. The ability to be able to discriminate is the awareness and is important as a basis for reading. Children first develop phonological awareness, which is the ability to hear and understand various sounds in language. Ways to encourage this development are connecting, sorting and manipulating sounds and rhymes -- nursery rhymes particularly help children associate specific and discrete sounds with specific letters, and then begin to make the jump to understanding a sound can equal a shape and symbol (Cunninghman, 2008).

Phonics takes this a step further; and is the relationship between letters and individual sounds. Phonics as a method is helping the child take phonemic awareness and learn that there is a correspondence between sounds a spelling of words. The goal, of course, is to allow beginning readers to decode words by sounding them out -- or blending the sound-spelling patterns until they learn that the picture on the page has several commonalities between different words (Teaching Phonics, 2012).

Comprehension -- Is the ability to understand mentally what one is reading; more than just decoding or sounding out. Literal comprehension is the ability to understand the factual information read (The dog is black -- the reader correlates what a dog is and that the dog is a particular color). Inferential comprehension is the ability to understand the relationship between the text and personal experience (Betty hid under the desk so the dog would not see her; the reader understand Betty must be scared because this particular dog is mean) (What are the Five, 2009).