Step 3: Early Reader Stage

Rachel WalkerPrint Awareness, Tips for Parents, News

Most children at the first grade level are or will become early readers. They know how to use early reading strategies and can read appropriately selected text independently after a story introduction
given by a teacher (Pinnell, 1996).

Early readers begin to attend to print and apply the phonetic value (International Reading Association & National Association for the Education of Young Children, 1998; Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998) of letters in order to read. They commonly look at beginning and ending letters in order to decode unfamiliar words (Clay, 1991; Pinnell, 1996b; Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998). Children in this early reading period also begin to attend to more than one source for cues while reading. Attention is paid to meaning cues, grammatical cues, and prior knowledge on a limited basis (Clay, 1991; Holdaway, 1979; International Reading Association & National Association for the Education of Young Children, 1998; Pinnell, 1996b; Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998). These children are able to recognize a small number of words on sight

  • Develops instant word recognition
  • Gains an increasing understanding of print conventions
  • Can read for enjoyment and for information
  • Expands vocabulary

Read on to learn more about each stage:

Step 4: Fluent Reader Stage

Step 5: Advanced Fluency Stage

Return to earlier stages:

Step 1: Foundation Stage

Step 2: Emergent Reading Stage

About the Author:

Rachel Walker

Publishing Director | Flying Start Books

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