Section II: Early Literacy Introduction Teaching Reading Sourcebook 2 nd Edition

Early Literacy Knowledge Early literacy knowledge can be the best predictor of a student’s later reading success. The foundational skills of print awareness, letter knowledge, and phonemic awareness are interrelated and work together to form early literacy development. Research suggests that the three domains develop simultaneously rather than in a linear fashion.

Foundational Skills of Literacy Print awareness includes the knowledge of the forms and functions of print. Letter knowledge includes knowing the names and shapes of the letters as well as knowing the sounds each letter represents. The understanding that a spoken word can be broken into individual sounds is phonemic awareness.