What are the essential elements of good reading instruction?
Good reading instruction utilizes strategies and programs that provide explicit and systematic instruction in five components of reading. Those components are: • Phonemic Awareness the ability to hear, identify, and play with individual sounds (or phonemes) in spoken words • Phonics an understanding that there is a relationship between the letters of written language and the sounds of spoken language • Fluency the capacity to read text accurately and quickly • Vocabulary the knowledge of words students must have to communicate effectively • Comprehension the ability to understand and gain meaning from what has been read Good reading instruction includes explicit and systematic instructional strategies. Good reading instruction also requires a coordinated instructional sequence, aligned with instructional materials, and allows ample practice opportunities.
