9: Practical Assessment Toolkit: Decoding Reading Readiness & Phonics (Grades R-3)

Developing reading readiness and phonics skills is a critical component of the English Home Language curriculum in the Foundation Phase. This toolkit provides practical assessment pointers to identify key milestones in a child's journey towards independent reading.

Key Indicators for Reading Readiness (Grade R - Early Grade 1 Focus):

• Print Awareness: Does the child understand that print carries meaning? Do they know that we read from left to right and top to bottom?
• Book Handling Skills: Can the child hold a book correctly, turn pages, and identify the front and back covers?
• Picture Comprehension: Can the child "read" a story from pictures, predicting what might happen next?
• Letter Recognition: Can the child identify and name most uppercase and lowercase letters?
• Rhyming Words: Can the child identify and produce rhyming words?
• Syllable Awareness: Can the child clap out syllables in words?

Key Indicators for Phonics Skills (Grade 1-3 Focus):

• Sound-Letter Correspondence: Can the child associate sounds with their corresponding letters (e.g., knows 'a' makes the /a/ sound, 'b' makes the /b/ sound)?
• Blending: Can the child blend individual sounds together to form a word (e.g., /c/-/a/-/t/ = cat)?
• Segmenting: Can the child break a word down into its individual sounds (e.g., cat = /c/-/a/-/t/)?
• Decoding CVC words: Can the child read simple consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words (e.g., 'dog', 'sun')?
• High-Frequency Words: Can the child recognize common "sight words" instantly without needing to sound them out (e.g., 'the', 'and', 'is')?
• Word Attack Strategies: Does the child attempt to sound out unfamiliar words using phonic knowledge?

Contexts for Observation:

• Story Time: Observe how children engage with books, point to words, or attempt to 'read' known words.
• Phonics Games: During activities involving letter sounds, word families, or rhyming.
• Shared Reading: Note how children participate in reading aloud, tracking words, and predicting outcomes.
• Independent Work: Observe attempts to decode words during early writing or reading tasks.

By providing these specific indicators, you will be able to identify a child's progress in developing the foundational skills necessary for reading success.