The Building Blocks of Reading

Jennifer Partrick
Mar 23, 2009

In order to read fluently, all learners go through the same stages. So, the question is, what do we need to know and be able to do in order to read? Beginning readers need to know how to manipulate and play with sounds, match sounds to symbols, recognize chunks in words, memorize a large body of high frequency words, and understand how books work. Most importantly, learning to read is directly related to sounds; hearing sounds, producing sounds, and manipulating sounds. Without this part, phonemic awareness, many students never learn to become fluent readers.

Beginning readers must recognize that books are meant to be read. They must understand that books are organized in specific ways and that words are organized in specific patterns which work together to carry meaning. In order to read, beginning readers must be able to track words, read from left to right, move down one line at a time, move to the next page when finished reading a page, and read the words. In order to read the words one must break the code, the code being the alphabet. As beginning readers break the code, they are also memorizing a large body of words that are consistently used in most books. These words are often referred to as High Frequency words. In order for readers to become fluent they must be able to recognize and call these words accurately and automatically, so that time can be given to decoding unknown words. Simultaneously, comprehension is taking place. As the reader is calling or recognizing words, the words are translated to meaning so that the reader comprehends what is written.

Blended with comprehension and word calling or word recognition is reading rate. Readers read different books at different rates, and that must be considered, as students are expected and encouraged to read at specific rates in order to pass timed reading tests. If students can call words or read fluently but do not comprehend what they read, what is the purpose of reading? For whom is the student reading? Rather, as soon as students begin interacting with books, comprehension should always be the outcome and the purpose for reading. If comprehension is always the purpose when reading, then we should be able to eliminate word callers. How are word callers developed? For many students, understanding how words work is at the heart of their problems. They most likely do not fully understand that letters and sounds are related and that blending the sounds in different ways produces words. Also, memorizing sounds and symbols is often difficult for these students.  Add the layer of chunking to the difficulty they have with letter and sound relationships, and many of these students give up. How can we avoid this pitfall?

Much time must be spent on phonemic awareness. Students must be able to play with sounds to make words, recognize sounds at different parts within words, recognize and produce rhyming words, manipulate sounds to form different words, and add and delete sounds to form words. As students learn to read, they rely on their understanding of phonemic awareness to help them navigate the minefield of reading words. In order to decode, students must match sound to symbol. They must put sounds together to form words. They learned to do that when playing with sounds- phonemic awareness.  Students' ability to write or read a rhyming word is supported by their ability to hear the rhyme and translate the sounds to letters. Manipulating chunks that they learned in phonemic awareness supports students' ability to decode words by using chunks they know from one word to help them decode a new word.

Too often, phonemic awareness is overlooked or bypassed to the detriment of students. Phonemic awareness plays a vital role in learning to read. Phonemic awareness, sound phonics instruction, reading practice, and exposure to listening to stories supports students' ability to learn to read.

Refer to Learning to Read K-2 for more information and ideas.