How can you help your child become a better reader? By exposing them to the five domains of reading! The five domains of reading are five components that all of us must master to become better readers. When reading with your child at home check to see how many of the five domains you are practicing!
- Phonemic Awareness: The ability to understand that each word is made up of sounds. We can tell how many sounds are in a word, which words rhyme or even change a word by changing one sound.
- Phonics: The ability to know which letters make which sounds. We can decode (sound out) words while we read. We can spell words based on phonics patterns.
- Vocabulary: The ability to understand what a word means. We can give a definition or use the clues in the story to help us determine the meaning. The more words you know the more you will understand the story!
- Fluency: The ability to read quickly, accurately and with expression. We can read smoothly, we don’t have to sound out each word and we can change our voice for different characters or punctuation.
- Comprehension: The ability to understand what happened in the story and why. Comprehension makes us dive deep. We analyze the characters, plot, and purpose of the story. We can answer questions before, during and after reading that show we understood the text as a whole.
