November 2006: Sight Word

A sight word is a word that a child instantly recognizes and reads without having to figure, or sound it out.  One commonly used list of sight words is the Dolch Word List. The words on the list are some of the most frequently used words in the English language, so they are important for young readers to master.

For a version of the Dolch Word list, go to click here.

October 2006: Print knowledge

Print knowledge refers to a child's understanding of books, printed letters and words. Some print knowledge skills are: recognizing printed letters of the alphabet, knowing that print carries a message and being aware of how books work. 

September 2006: Book knowledge

Book knowledge refers to understanding basic concepts about books and reading, such as how to hold a book, how to turn the pages, and how to follow text from left to right and from top to bottom.

Summer 2006: Vocabulary

Vocabulary is the knowledge of words and word meanings, both orally and in print. In other words, a reader’s vocabulary refers to the words a reader knows and understands. It is important for children to know the meanings of a wide range of words so that they can understand what they are reading.

June 2006: Fluency

Fluency is the ability to read a text accurately, quickly, and with proper expression and comprehension. Building fluency is important for beginning readers. As young readers build fluency, they do not have to concentrate as much on decoding words, and can focus their attention on what the text means.

May 2006: Phonological Awareness

Phonological awareness is the understanding that spoken language can be broken into smaller units of sound such as words, syllables, onset and rime, beginning and ending sounds, and phonemes.

April 2006: Onset and Rime

Onsets and rimes are parts of words in spoken language. These units are smaller than syllables but may be larger than phonemes.

An onset is the initial consonant sound of a syllable (the onset of bag is b-; of swim is sw-).

The rime is the part of a syllable that contains the vowel and all that follows it (the rime of bag is -ag; of swim is -im).

March 2006: Phoneme

A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound in spoken language. There are about 44 distinct phonemes in the English language. Phonemes, when blended together, make words. For example, the word cat consists of three phonemes, /k/ /a/ /t/, which make a single sound when blended, /kat/.