Children's Literacy
Development

Reading
Development

Reading Development Phases

Phase 1:
Awareness and Exploration

Phase 2:
Experimental Reading

Phase 3:
Early Reading

Phase 4:
Transitional Reading

Phase 5:
Independent and Productive Reading

third grade

extend and refine literacy skills

second grade

greater fluency and comprehension

First grade

being reading simple stories

begin to develop strategies for
comprehesion

Sight words and fluency

Kindergarten

Basic understandings of print:
top to bottom, left to right

letters and letter-sound
relationships

Birth- Preschool

logographic knowledge

Pretend-reading

Begin to identify some letters
and letter-sound relationships

Facts

Children see written words everywhere

Children enjoy being read to and begin to
engage in sustained reading activities during
phase two.

Oral Language
Development

Steps in Oral Develpoment

Babies Listen to spoken words and
begin to communicate using sounds
and gestures

5 months- simple words

1 year- one word phrases

Toddlers- 3 word sentences

Preschool- larger vocabulary from listening
to others and reading books

sentences become longer/more complex

begin to talk about their experiences

Facts

the rate of vocabulary development is strongly
influenced by how much the child is exposed to
oral communication from parents.

Toddlers often come up with original speech
utterances that are not copies of adult verbalizations,
so it is argued that this is evidence of an independent
emerging language system.

By the time that children enter Kindergarten, many
may have a vocabulary of 10,000 words or more.

By age 3, children of professional families know about
1100 words, children of working-class families know
about 750 words, and children of welfare-recipient families
know just 500 words.

Writing
Development

The Importance of Scribbling

Early Scribbling

Controlled Scribbling

Scribble Drawing

Name Scribbling

the intent is to make their
writing look like words

pictographic in expression

between 4 and 6

scribbles have meaning

begin to understand the difference
between drawing and writing. They
start to use letters, usually beings
with their name.

systematic, repeated marks
(circles, lines, dots.squares)

between 3 and 6

also called scribble writing

random marks on paper

learn that whatever is in
their hands is what makes
the marks.

The Importance of Invented Spelling

Signal that the child is beginning to
analyze speech sounds in print.

The more practice that a child
gets, the more progress they
will make towards conventional
writing.

Notes the importance of ideas
in writing rather than the
correctness.

encourages students to take
responsibility and take risks.

Facts

Many children benefit from different
writing utensils.

Lev Vygotsky believed that
the gestures made in infancy
lead to writing.

Exploration is needed for
Writing Development

Early scribbles are not usually representational
so teachers and parents should refrain from asking
what a picture is unless the child is eager to talk
about it.