There are five components of reading: vocabulary, phonemic awareness, phonics, comprehension, and fluency.
Table of Contents
- History of the 5 Components of Reading Instruction
- The 5 Essential Components of Reading Instruction
History of the 5 Components of Reading Instruction
Reading instruction in the United States has undergone a lot of changes over the years. In the 1980s and 90s, educators were divided on the best way to teach children to read. The “reading wars” pitted the phonics camp, which believed in teaching children the phonetic code and giving them the tools for literacy, against the whole language camp, which focused on learning whole words as units and prioritizing the meaning of the text over accuracy of reading.
In 2000, Congress appointed a panel to review all the research and try to end the Reading Wars once and for all. They published the National Reading Panel Report: Teaching Children to Read, which identified 5 essential components of effective reading instruction. This report was based on a meta-analysis of over 100,000 research studies on reading instruction and made specific recommendations for where to focus instruction and what approaches would be most helpful for children’s development as readers.
The 5 Essential Components of Reading Instruction
Montessori educators will recognize many of these components from different areas of their classroom. If you are just getting started with incorporating the science of reading in your classroom, we suggest doing an inventory of your current practices and shelf activities to see how you are already incorporating these components, and where there may be some gaps.
Montessori and the Science of Reading
Explore concepts and find evidence based activities to teach skilled reading.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary refers to the words that a person knows and understands. A child with a strong vocabulary is able to read more efficiently and with more understanding. This allows them to focus on the meaning of the text, rather than struggling to understand the individual words.
Self Assessment: Review all areas of your classroom and identify the key ways that you help students develop a rich bank of vocabulary. Consider the Language, Sensorial, Practical Life, Cultural, and Math curriculum areas.
Phonemic Awareness
Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear and manipulate the individual sounds, or phonemes, in words. This allows children to understand that words are made up of smaller units of sound. Phonemic awareness is part of a larger skill set called phonological awareness, which includes the ability to hear and manipulate sounds in words, syllables, and onsets and rimes.
Self Assessment: Review the sound games in the oral language section of your Language Album and identify which lessons fall in this category.
Learn more about Phonemic Awareness and how to add it to your classroom and daily schedule.
Phonics
Phonics involves teaching children the relationships between the sounds of spoken language and the letters or groups of letters that represent those sounds in written language. This helps children learn to decode, or sound out, new words. Phonics is especially important for children who are just starting to learn to read, because it gives them the tools they need to tackle unfamiliar words. Some children are able to figure out the phonetic code on their own simply through exposure to enough written text, but the majority of children cannot. If we do not explicitly teach the phonetic code, the child has to depend on memory and will be unable to decipher unfamiliar words.
Self Assessment: Review the sandpaper letters and reading lessons in your Language Album. Do you see a sequence of explicit and systematic steps for guiding children through the phonetic code of the English language?
Comprehension
Comprehension is the ability to understand and make meaning from what is read. It is the ultimate goal of reading, and it requires the integration of all the other components of reading, including phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, and vocabulary. When children can comprehend what they are reading, they are able to fully understand and engage with the text, which can lead to a deeper appreciation and enjoyment of reading.
Self Assessment: Review your current practices and identify the ways you are checking for comprehension. In the early childhood classroom most comprehension skill development will happen through spoken rather than written language.
Fluency
Fluency is the ability to read smoothly, accurately, and with expression. It’s important for children to develop fluency in order to read with comprehension. Fluency also helps children read more quickly and with more confidence, which can make reading more enjoyable for them.
Self Assessment: Review your Language Album for suggestions on helping children practice reading. Are your students getting enough practice and support in your classroom?
There’s More to the Story
While the 5 Essential Components of Reading highlight some critical aspects of reading development, there are some other models that provide a better picture of how the components work together and fill in some gaps.
Let’s take a look at Scarborough’s Reading Rope.