Hello! I’m Swapna Medidi, a holistic wellness coach. Today I like to present information about stages of reading.
Reading plays a crucial role in understanding and integrating the principles of Wellness 360, which encompasses 12 essential elements of holistic well-being. These elements include physical, emotional, intellectual, social, spiritual, environmental, financial, occupational, cultural, relational, creative, and digital wellness.
Understanding the stages of reading is crucial in supporting literacy growth for any one. In this article, I will share insights into the five stages of reading development, providing a roadmap for the natural progression to become proficient readers, each stage building on the previous one and setting the foundation for lifelong literacy skills.
Stage 1: Pre-Literacy/Starting Readers:
When readers begin to show an interest in reading and voluntarily pick up a book, the pre-reading/emergent reader stage begins.
At this stage, readers will:
- Understand that words in books tell a story or give information
Example:
knowing that the words on a page explain the pictures or tell a story
- Get comfortable with handling books.
Example:
knowing how to hold a book and turn the pages.
Comment on pictures in the book, with some help
Example:
Talking about what they see in the illustrations.
- Have a good understanding of spoken language .
Example:
Being able to talk effectively and understand what others say.
- Connect some related stories to their own experiences.
Stage 2: Reading/Early Readers
During this stage, readers become more involved in the reading process and start to feel like confident readers as their self-confidence grows.
At this stage, readers will:
- Start to memorize parts of the story
Example: Remembering key details or phrases.
- Begin taking risks with new words and phrases .
Example: Trying to pronounce new words without hesitation.
- Use illustrations to help understand the story .
Example:looking at pictures to get clues about the text
. Start to predict unknown words using visual cues
Example:
Guessing a word based on the first letter and the context.
Stage 3: Interactive/Developing Readers
During this stage, readers become more fluent. They start using various reading strategies in combination with self-correcting and reading for meaning.
At this stage, readers will:
- Understand that text has meaning.
Example: Grasping the deeper message or information conveyed by the text.
- Self-monitor by using illustrations
Example:
Using images to help clarify and support their understanding of the text.
- Understand how to tell a story.
Example: Recognizing narrative structure and key elements of storytelling.
- Independently use comprehension and prediction strategies
Example: Summarizing what they’ve read and anticipating what will happen next.
- Make educated guesses when predicting and adapt their predictions as needed .
Example:
Revising their predictions based on new information they encounter in the text.
Stage 4: Discovery/Transitional Readers
Readers at this stage have developed strong phonetic knowledge and a broad vocabulary, enabling them to read fluently. They enjoy discussing what they have read and sharing their thoughts.
At this stage, readers will:
- Recognize an increasing number of words
- Use multiple reading strategies and have enhanced comprehension
- Read with improved fluency and speed
- Use illustrations and text to self-monitor and self-correct
- Read unknown words using knowledge of phonemes and spelling patterns
- Understand how to read with expression using punctuation marks
- Choose books to learn about subjects of interest
- Enjoy reading books as part of a series
Stage 5: Applying/Independent Readers
At Stage 5, readers are consistent and independent in their reading. They engage with longer and more complex texts and choose books for specific purposes.
During this stage, adult readers are:
- Confident and independent readers
- Self-monitoring on a regular basis
- Reading for different purposes
- Reading longer texts and obtaining the information they need
- Aware that what they read can help form their opinions
- Reading texts from different points of view
- Learning to read between the lines and analyzing what they have read
- Reading more complex texts while expanding their comprehension and vocabulary
Readers will move through the stages at their own pace and may even alternate between two stages at the same time, particularly if their decoding skills are more advanced than their comprehension skills.
Conclusion
Understanding the five stages of reading development is crucial for everyone involved in the learning process. These stages provide a roadmap for how readers progress from initial interest to full independence and fluency.
