Phonemic awareness is understanding the sounds of words. This skill begins when children identify sounds in their spoken language and how it occurs in written language in words. Preschoolers will work with rhymes, beginning or ending sounds and hearing the parts of words known as syllables perhaps by clapping out the beat of the words. When children can separate out the different sounds of a word, they're actually discerning the different phonemes of words, or the building blocks of words.
Another crucial skill children must master to become successful readers is understanding and using phonics. This is when children learn the alphabet and the corresponding sounds and sound combinations and begin to connect the letters and sounds. Once the student has become proficient at this the next stage will involve blending the sounds into words or sounding out words. This is an early stage of reading where a child isn't quite an independent reader but is getting closer to that point.
When a reader has reached the point of no longer slowly sounding out each sound but has gotten to a point of so quickly recognizing the word in print on a page, the student will be a more fluent reader. Fluency is an important skill in reading and helps a child to become an independent reader and a more confident reader as well. Additionally, without fluency, a reader can't focus on what the text they're reading is about, as all the focus will be on decoding the words individually.
Students need to come to their reading material with a sense of the meanings of words. If a student has mastered phonics and successfully sounds out words and builds some speed or fluency, he will still struggle without having a vocabulary to aid them. This occurs from other encounters with words, stories, conversation and related activities that show the child what a word means in a context and how to use that word.
Comprehension is the final stage of reading success for a learner. When a student has passed the other stages, possesses a sufficient vocabulary or vocab solving skills and is fluent, then comprehension is possible. Comprehension is the key stage of reading because without the understanding of what is read, reading is useless. If a person can read instructions, hears the words, sounds them out speedily and successfully but doesn't comprehend the instructions, the learner will be lost and unable to complete any project described. Practice is an important way to build comprehension in young readers. Allowing them access to a variety of texts and the opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of it is vital.