Phonics is a reading method that stresses the relationship between letters and their associated sounds. Phonics begins with letter recognition. Beginning readers must know the names of letters when they see them in random order. They also need to recognize letters as being either uppercase or lowercase. This is crucial because students should immediately associate a letter with its sound to begin to read independently. Proficiency in this skill is a major predictor of success in reading.
Phonemic awareness is evident when the reader understands that words are made from individual sounds, called phonemes. This involves the ability to hear and produce sounds in words and delete or substitute sounds to make new words. Phonemic awareness is entirely sound-based, unlike phonics, which focuses on letter-sound correspondence. Teachers use phonemic activities daily in kindergarten and first grade to reinforce these skills. They focus on helping students learn the initial sound for each letter of the alphabet and hear and produce rhyming sounds.
Once phonemic awareness has been established, children progress to decoding or sounding out words. They usually start with grade-level books that contain simple, three- or four-letter consonant-vowel-consonant words. They point to each letter, say its sound, then blend the sounds together to make the word. This is the stage where phonics and phonemic awareness come together and reading actually begins.
Fluency is the ability to read accurately with expression and at an appropriate rate conducive to comprehension. Fluent readers are so proficient with phonics and phonemic awareness skills that they can segment words quickly as they read. They do not spend too much time on decoding and can understand and remember what they read. Fluency is the result of the phonological awareness the reader has achieved.