Game-Changing Research Fuels Life‑Changing Literacy

Phonemic Awareness

Phonemic awareness, a subset of phonological awareness, refers to the understanding that there are individual sounds, or phonemes, in words. For example, the spoken word "sit" has three distinct phonemes, /s/ /I/ /t/. Phonemic awareness additionally includes the ability to isolate, identify, categorize, blend, segment, add, delete, substitute, and reverse individual phonemes.

Phonics and Word Recognition

Phonics refers to the relationship between sounds (phonemes) and spellings (graphemes). Phonics instruction helps beginning readers understand the relationship between letters and sounds to recognize and decode words..

Fluency and Vocabulary

Fluency refers to the ability to read accurately, at an appropriate pace, and with suitable expression. Fluency allows the reader to focus less on decoding, contributing to accurate, deep comprehension and greater motivation to read.

Vocabulary comprises knowledge of words and their meanings. Vocabulary development goes beyond basic sight words and involves words that are rich in meaning, including conversational, general academic, and domain-specific words. Students build oral vocabulary through listening, which in turn helps them better comprehend text read aloud to them. Oral vocabulary also helps readers recognize and make sense of words they see in print.

Comprehension

Comprehension refers to the ability to understand what you are reading. This involves making connections to what you’ve read and what you already know and drawing conclusions about the text.