READING CONTINUUM
On the road to literacy each child moves through the following stages in becoming a reader. The
stages that you will find most first graders working in (reading text which requires some support and
guidance) are Early, Developing, and Transitional. It would be unusual for a child to pass through all
three in any given year. Typically a child may work in the same stage for a school year or longer.
The continuum is helpful for parents in knowing where their child has been in terms of skills and
knowledge acquired and also where their child is going. As a child moves from one stage to the next
some of the descriptors in each will apply. The continuum is more like a path than a ladder.
Sometimes the path is narrow and thick with new skills to be integrated and sometimes it straightens
out and gives a learner time to consolidate, solidify, and understand more deeply the reading
process.
1. READING AWARENESS (or Pre Reading)
Chooses books and has favorites
Holds book correctly, turns pages
Knows start and end of book
Listens and responds to literature
Pretends to read
Knows some letter names
Interested in environmental print like stop signs and words on cereal boxes
Begins to make links between his life when listening
2. EMERGENT
Uses illustrations to tell stories
Knows many letter sounds and letter names
Memorizes pattern books and familiar books
Knows print flow (left to right, up to down)
Chimes in when reading familiar books
Begins to recognize rhymes
Recognizes some words in context
Reads some environmental print
Reads familiar books with word patterns
3, EARLY
Sees self as reader
Knows most letter sounds and names
Recognizes some sight words
Retells story
Relies heavily on picture cues
Vocalizes when reading to self
Word centered; word by word reading, stilted fluency
Reads early reader and picture books with pattern, repetition, and rhyming
4. DEVELOPING
Relies on illustrations and print
Uses sentence structure, meaning, and phonics
Chunking words into phrases
Retells beginning, middle, end with some details
Has basic sight word vocabulary
Begins to read punctuation
Begins to read silently
Makes meaningful word substitutions
Self-corrects
Reads easy chapter books like "Henry and Mudge" and "Nate the Great"
5. TRANSITIONAL
Uses all cueing systems
Uses punctuation to enhance comprehension
Begins to understand inferential and implied meanings
Reads text with longer, more complex sentence structures
Begins to retell with an understanding of motivation and interpretation
Developing knowledge of story elements (characters, plot, problem resolution)
Reads silently for extended periods
Uses reference materials with guidance
Reads chapter books that have smaller print, complex structure, and familiar settings like "The
Boxcar Children" and Junie B. Jones books.
6. INDEPENDENT
Automatic use of cueing systems, integrated
Understands books with less familiar settings
Reads between the lines: interential and implied meanings
Identifies literary devices like similes, metaphors, and onomatopoeia
Reads medium to higher level chapter books like "Encyclopedia Brown" and "Bunnicula"
