Learning+To+Read

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When a child begins their journey into reading, their early development of literacy begins by learning the principles of phonics. The teaching of reading, through phonics, involves various different techniques and teaching approaches that the teacher can use to help the child comprehend learning to read. When a child learns to read, there are four main levels that they go through, which are: -Emergent phase -Early Phase -Transitional Phase -Extending Phase

The books used in the first stage of a childs reading will contain the __Emergent__ phase. In this phase the child will read books that: -use a direct match between text and illustralition -use high-frequency words -use word count ranges from 0-50 -use simple story lines -use a range of punctuation -use familiar oral language like structures.

The books used in the second stage of a childs reading will contain the __Early__ phase. In this phase the child will read books that:    -use concepts that are familiar -more text types are used -text length increases -use longer sentences -use different syntactic patterns -use more of a story in the text -use illustrations that still offer support but they begin to diminish -use different placement of texts.

The books used in the third stage of a childs reading will contain the __Transitional__ phase. In this phase the child will read books that: -use use topics that increasingly go beyond the child's experiances. -use a range of fiction and information texts -sentence length and syntax varies -layout and placement of tet varies -use diagrams, other graphical features and a variety of illustrations -the conceptual load is increased.

The books used in the fourth stage of a childs reading will contain the __Extending__ phase. In this phase the child will read books that:    -use more complex stories abd a greater conceptual load is required -narratives have more complex plots and characters -more information details in information texts -use larger variety of text types -less illustrative support is provided -use of more complext text features -text varies in sentence length and strength.

**__Print Awareness __**
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Teaching print awareness is an important aspect which helps show children how books are structured and how to read them effectively. Text are structured in various ways and depending on the culture where a child is brought up, can change the way a child is taught to read. In western culture a book is read from the front page to the end page and the text is read from left to right then top to bottom and usually contain illustraions. However in some cultures, the texts are read in the reverse mode, ie. from top to bottom __then__ left to right (displayed in the chinese culture). So by teching print awareness, it makes sure children know the structure of books, and also that different texts have different structures.

 **__Phonics__**
Phonics is an instruction in the sound-letter relationship used in reading and writing. Phonics involves understanding the alphabetic principle. The alphabetic principle is an understanding that spoken language is made up of sounds, and sounds can be mapped or linked to written letters.

/c/ /a/ /t/

This example above shows how one word, 'CAT', can be broken up into the sound letter relationship. For this example, the word 'CAT' has three phonemes, C, A and T.