Stage 0

As a child is developing from six months to six years of age, they are going through Stage 0 of the Chall’s Stages of Reading Development. In this stage, it is very important that a parent/caregiver and teacher are reading aloud to the child frequently, as well as, supporting the child’s curiosity. The child will begin to “read” a story by retelling what they remember from it being read to them prior. The child will learn how to hold the book and understand text goes left to right and top to bottom from observing how their caregiver and teacher read to them. He or she will know the letters of the alphabet and be able to write their own name in print. Children learn best through play and hands-on activities, so it is crucial that they are exposed to books and have opportunities to play with letters, blocks, pencils, and paper.

Three Instructional Strategies for the Classroom:

Parent/Caregiver Recommendation:

*The teacher provides a list of age appropriate books for the parent/caregiver to read aloud to their child at home.

Stage 1

When the child reaches the ages six and seven they emerge into Stage 1 of the Chall’s Stages of Reading Development. This stage is the initial reading and decoding stage. The child begins to receive oral instruction in the classroom to explore each letter and what sound it makes. The teacher will provide the students with various activities to support the students learning the connection between written and spoken language. The child will be able to read stories with high frequency words, such as and, the, was, it etc. and sound out one syllable words that are unfamiliar to them. To best support the student in this stage, the parent/caregiver and teacher should read books aloud to the students that are above grade level like the series Junie B. Jones by Barbara Park to expose them to new words and ideas. 

Three Instructional Strategies for the Classroom:

Parent/Caregiver Recommendation:

Stage 2

The child will enter Stage 2 of the Chall’s Stages of Reading Development when they are seven to eight years old. This is the confirmation and fluency stage, where teachers will continue to instruct students on how to sound out unfamiliar words and use their decoding skills of sounding out each letter and blending it all together. The teacher will also have students reading independently and with partners using familiar texts to support learning to read fluently with expression. The child will be improving their fluent reading skills, using their decoding skills, and knowledge of sight words. To support the child further, a parent/caregiver and teacher could set a timer and have the child read a familiar text. This will show how many words they can read per minute. Another way to support how to fluently read is modeling for the child by reading a line with expression and following punctuation, then having the child read the next line with the same fluency and expression. 

Three Instructional Strategies for the Classroom: