What are the Essential Components of Reading?

The evidence supports a focus on four essential components that are critical for developing readers at any age, including adult learners.

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Getting "Print" Skills Off the Page

Alphabetics

Alphabetics refers to phonemic awareness and decoding skills. Phonemic awareness is about speech sounds only. Decoding makes the connection between letters and the sounds they represent. When we talk about phonics instruction we refer to training in the use of letter-sound relationships to identify words in reading or to approximate the spelling of words. Phonics instruction builds decoding skills, which depend to a large extent on phonemic awareness

Beginning: know print concepts, phonological awareness, letter names, and letter/sound patterns for reading/spelling one-syllable words in isolation and context
Intermediate-Advanced: know syllable/prefix/root/suffix patterns for reading/spelling multi-syllable words in isolation and context

Fluency

Fluency refers to oral or silent reading that is rapid, efficient, and largely free of errors in word identification. But fluency is more than speedy, accurate word reading; a fluent reader also uses appropriate phrasing and expression. A fluent reader knows how to group words into phrases, where to pause, and what to emphasize. In other words, fluent reading sounds
like speech.

Beginning: read taught letter names, letter/sound patterns, word lists, phrases, sentences, and short paragraphs correctly and quickly
Intermediate-Advanced: read modeled, longer texts with 90-95% accuracy, at an efficient speed or rate, in meaningful phrases, and with some expression

Getting "Meaning" Skills Off the Page

Vocabulary

Vocabulary refers to the words understood or used by a person. Oral vocabulary is the words we understand and use in speaking and listening. Our reading vocabulary is the store of words we can read and understand.

Beginning: know and understand a variety of Tier 1 or basic words and become familiar with high-frequency Tier 2 or academic words
Intermediate-Advanced: know more Tier 2 or academic or abstract words and learn Tier 3 or subject-specific words in multiple contexts

Comprehension

Comprehension is the process of simultaneously extracting and constructing meaning through interaction and involvement with written language. Comprehension entails three elements:

- - - - The reader who is doing the comprehending
        
        The text that is to be comprehended
        
        The activity in which comprehension is a part
Beginning-Intermediate-Advanced: read a text closely to determine key details, examples, inferences, main ideas, or themes; describe connections or relationships between persons, events, steps, ideas, or concepts; understand a variety of text structures

Click "Next" to read about how the 4 essential components of reading are interrelated.