Oral Language Oral language is the ability to produce and comprehend a spoken language.

This includes vocabulary and grammar. We use oral language when we listen and when we talk. We teach oral language through experiences that are full of speech, discussion, and conversation. Some specific activities that can help build oral language are: sharing time, nursery rhymes, poetry, singing, and literacy-enriched play. For teaching oral language directly to limited-language students, teachers can use self-talk and think-alouds, paralleltalk, repetitions, and expansions (where the teacher has the student elaborate). Oral language is important to teach because it is our primary way to communicate with one another. If a student does not have any oral language skills, they will not be able to speak or listen to someone else. It is also the foundation for written language. Alphabet Knowledge Alphabet knowledge is one of the foundations for decoding written language. Alphabet knowledge is the name and sound associated with each printed letter. It is also a foundational skill in literacy that links to ease and mastery sound/spelling correspondences, decoding, word reading accuracy and fluency, and comprehension. We teach alphabet knowledge through formal and informal experiences. Alphabet knowledge instruction should begin each day with direct teaching and review of letter names and sounds, followed by activities for students to practice the names and sounds. Some of these activities are: alphabet flashcards (teacher should make sure to mix up the order of the cards), alphabet books, and even students own names. The alphabet song (though it is a popular choice) is not beneficial because students tend to memorize the song rather than associate the letter sound with the printed letter. Alphabet knowledge is important to

teach because children who are confident with letters will be in a better position to focus on words and recognize that words are composed of patterns of letters. Understanding the association between printed letters and their sounds is a critical first step toward the ability to decode words. Print Awareness Print awareness is the knowledge of print conventions. Whenever we reference print, we are using print awareness. Children with print awareness understand that print has different functions depending on the context of where in which it appears. For example, menus list food choices, a book tells a story, a sign can announce a favorite restaurant or warn of danger. Print awareness is also knowing that print is organized in a certain way. An example of this is that we read from top to bottom and left to right. We teach print awareness through explicit instruction where we model the different concepts of print. For example, a teacher could say, students we read from left to right and top to bottom. The teacher could have a few sentences on the board, and a copy for each student, and then tell the students to watch as he/she reads. The teacher would then read the sentences from top to bottom and left to right, pointing at each word as he/she goes along. The teacher would then have the students follow with him/her as she/he reads the sentences a second time. Phonemic Awareness Phonemic awareness comes under the umbrella term phonological awareness or the understanding that streams of speech can be segmented into individual words. Phonemic awareness is the ability to detect, identify, and manipulate phonemes in spoken words. Phonemes are the smallest unit of sound. For example, the word tan has three

phonemes /t/a/n/. Separating a word into its phonemes is called segmenting and when we put the sounds together this is called blending. Segmenting and blending are the two most important aspects used in phonemic awareness. Although letters are often associated with sounds, combining letters with sounds is not phonemic awareness. Phonemic awareness is important to teach because students understanding of blending phonemes together to form spoken words will help them to later understand that printed letters can be blended together in reading printed words-phonics. When teaching phonemic awareness keep it simple and explicit. Teachers can use activities where students are rhyming, blending, or segmenting to help students reach a deeper understanding. Phonics Phonics is where students understand the relationship between phonemes (spoken language) and graphemes (which are used in written language) and then uses this relationship to understand how to spell and read. It is a strategy taught to students to help them decode words they do not know rather then skipping over the words. Phonics is also where students connect phonemes to letters and then applies that to text. When teaching phonics it is important that the instruction is explicit. A phonics lesson should always include: a phonemic awareness warm-up, introduction to sound spelling, blending words, sight words, the use of decodable text, and word work. If teachers are not having students apply what they are learning to actual text it will not be beneficial to the students. Teachers should also remember that when teaching phonics they must stay pure to phonemic awareness.

Fluency Fluency is where word recognition connects to comprehension. In order for students to understand what they read, children must be able to read fluently. Students who do not read fluently sound awkward and choppy. When reading aloud, fluent readers read in sentences/phrases and add expression appropriately. Their reading also sounds smooth and full of intonation. For fluency to be achieved accurate reading is needed. Fluent reading frees up a readers mind so that the reader can focus on the meaning of the text. Fluency must be taught through explicit instruction and teacher modeling. When teaching fluency it is important to focus on one element instead of teaching fluency as a whole. If a teacher decides to teach rate he/she should not instruct students to read faster but instead to read the best that they can. When choosing text to use for practice, narratives are usually preferable. Fluency is an important concept to be taught because it will help readers comprehend what they are reading which will often motivate students to read more often. Vocabulary Vocabulary is all the words within a language that are familiar to a person. Vocabulary begins with oral language or the exposure to an unfamiliar word. Teaching vocabulary is more than teaching word meaning. It involves specific word instruction, word learning strategies, and word consciousness. Vocabulary is important because readers can connect the word to its meaning (that has developed through their exposure to that word). When teaching a vocabulary lesson the teacher should say the word, state the definition, give examples, and ask for other examples to incorporate the word into background knowledge. Then, have students use the word and provide ways for the

students to have multiple exposures to the word. Teachers should remember to choose words that are directly out of text where the students will read or hear in a read-aloud. Also, make sure that the definitions given match the meanings used in the text. Comprehension Comprehension is the understanding of what is read. To comprehend text, readers must first decode what they read, make connections between what they read and what they know, and then think deeply about what was read. Comprehension combines reading with thinking and reasoning. All other concepts that are taught before this are to help students comprehend what they are reading. It is important to help students learn comprehension strategies because if students do not comprehend what they read, reading becomes useless. There are two factors that impact comprehension: reader based factors (i.e. phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, etc.) and text based factors (i.e. quality of text, narrative vs. expository, etc.) When teaching a comprehension lesson in younger grades, teachers should use just one strategy to focus on and have a graphic organizer that fits the strategy perfectly. However, multiple strategy instruction is our ultimate goal because that is what adult readers use. When teaching strategies it is imperative for the teacher to think aloud and let the students know what the teacher is thinking as he/she reads. A comprehension lesson should follow this order: activate background knowledge, explain, model, guided practice, feedback, and the application. Comprehension lesson should always lead to writing. A helpful tool that can be used with comprehension is a teacher read aloud. Reading aloud gives teachers a perfect opportunity to teach comprehension because it does the decoding work so all students can participate in meaning making.