- Phonological awareness: The ability to recognize and manipulate the individual sounds (phonemes) within spoken language. This is the foundation of learning to read and spell.
- Phonics: The ability to connect letters to sounds and to use this knowledge to decode written words.
- Sight word recognition: The ability to recognize and read common words automatically.
- Fluency: The ability to read smoothly, accurately, and with appropriate expression.
- Vocabulary: The knowledge of words and their meanings.
- Comprehension: The ability to understand what has been read, including the main ideas, supporting details, and the overall structure of the text.
- Making connections: The ability to connect what has been read with prior knowledge and experience.
- Evaluating: The ability to analyze and judge the information presented in the text.
- Synthesizing: The ability to combine information from multiple sources to form a new understanding.