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Getting to Know Your Readers and Writers

Every fall, teachers are introduced to a new classroom of students who are excited to learn. However, as most teachers already know, although students may be in the same grade, they all are nevertheless unique, as they come to school with individual strengths and needs. No matter if you are a new or veteran teacher, you undoubtedly spend much of the first few weeks of school getting to know your students and building a classroom community. It’s fun to learn about students’ families, hobbies, likes and dislikes, cultures, and learning preferences, as this lays a valuable and essential basis for literacy instruction.

One important piece of getting to know students is learning who they are as readers and writers. What kind of books do they like to read? Do they read at home? Where do they like to read? What stories do they have to tell? What languages do they speak? Just like students come to school with different hobbies, interests, and reading preferences, they also enter school at different levels as readers and writers. Because of this, teachers must quickly learn what their students can do so they can determine their specific needs. Although the path will be different for each student, there is a developmental progression that children go through as they learn to become independent readers and writers. And to make matters a bit more complicated, the reading and writing stages are closely aligned, which can make finding the right path for each student a bit of a challenge, at best (Tyner, 2019).

Therefore, when planning language arts instruction for students, teachers should identify which reading and writing stage their students are in. If teachers have a good understanding of what is typical at each particular stage, they will be better able to plan effective instruction. This type of knowledge is very important because although students may be in the same grade, they are likely to be in different reading and writing stages. Furthermore, although many resources may target each individual stage to age and grade level, the fact is that students may not follow these age designations perfectly. For example, students who are learning English for the first time, have a learning disability, or have had interrupted schooling may be in a reading and writing stage that is typical of a younger student. Because students have varied backgrounds, it is important that teachers understand and are comfortable teaching students from all reading and writing developmental stages.

Different Types of Readers and Writers

Every teacher knows that students can vary widely in their developmental stage as it relates to both reading and writing. The grade level the student is in can provide an approximation of the developmental stage, but we all know that many factors come into play that can either hinder or boost a student’s skills and abilities. So, regardless of what grade level you teach, it is imperative that you review all the developmental stages, as discussed below.

Emergent

The emergent stage is the first stage in reading and writing development. These students are typically nonreaders with little alphabet knowledge (Tyner, 2019). However, there are many skills that emergent readers possess. Check out the chart below for an overview of this stage (Reading Rockets, 2024a).

Stage	Grade Range	Emergent readers may be able to...
Emergent	PreK - K	name some letters of the alphabet. understand that writing conveys meaning. uses “scribble” for writing. recognize some words or letters in environmental print (e.g., Target, McDonalds, a stop sign, etc.).

Older students may also be in the emergent stage if they are ELLs and just learning English for the first time or have a learning disability. Although these students are at a similar reading/writing level as kindergarten students, they should still be placed in a classroom with their age-level peers (Tyner, 2019).

Beginning

The next developmental stage is known as the beginning stage because these students are beginning to understand how print and the reading and writing process work. Many beginning readers and writers can track print from left to right and even do a return sweep if there is a second line of print. Beginning readers and writers understand that letters make up words and that words are separated by white space (Tyner, 2019).

Beginning readers and writers also recognize some high-frequency words. In fact, at the end of this stage, they will recognize as many as 50 high-frequency words (Tyner, 2019). They are also able to use picture cues to help them with reading comprehension. Using picture cues and their beginning reading knowledge allows beginning readers and writers to do simple writing about reading activities (Tyner, 2019). Check out the chart below for an overview of this stage (Reading Rockets, 2024b).

Stage	Grade Range	Emergent readers may be able to...
Beginning	Kindergarten – Grade 1	name the letters of the alphabet. identify the sounds many letters make. understand the concept of a word. recognize some high-frequency words. correctly identify the first sound or letter of a word when writing. perform simple writing about reading responses.

To succeed in the beginning stage of reading and writing, teachers also need to help students develop their oral language. Oral language is crucial because it allows students to attach meaning to what they are reading. Developing oral language and vocabulary is especially important for English language learners at this stage (Ford & Palacios, 2015).

Transitional

The next developmental stage is an important one. This stage, called transitional, is when many reading and writing skills begin to take off. Transitional readers and writers can decode many one-syllable words with short vowels, consonant blends, and consonant digraphs. Using their decoding skills allows students in this stage to read and write independently with little teacher modeling. Students at this stage also typically use comprehension strategies alongside decoding (Tyner, 2019). Check out the chart below for an overview of this stage.

Stage	Grade Range	Emergent readers may be able to...
Transitional	Grade 1 – Grade 2	decode one-syllable words with short vowels, consonant blends, and consonant digraphs. begins to decode words with common vowel patterns. use comprehension strategies to understand the books they are reading. write in response to reading. read and correctly write many high-frequency words. use punctuation and capitalization correctly.

ELLs in the transitional stage may be able to read in their native language but may need specific phonics instruction to learn to read in English. For example, students who learn to read in Spanish also learn the five vowels (a, e, i, o, u). However, in Spanish, each of these vowel letters only makes one sound. In contrast, in English, these five letters can make twelve different vowel sounds. Consequently, ELL students need direct instruction to learn how to decode words in English (Ford & Palacios, 2015).

Fluent

The next stage, fluent readers and writers, is when students start to become mature readers and writers. In this stage, students can read with more speed, accuracy, and even expression. They recognize many words without conscious attention. They also read for a purpose and use comprehension strategies in more complex texts. Check out the chart below for an overview of this stage.

Stage	Grade Range	Emergent readers may be able to...
Fluent	Grade 2	read with speed, accuracy, and expression. read a variety of genres for a purpose. use comprehension strategies. recognize many words without conscious attention. begin to master words with less frequent vowel patterns. write a well-constructed paragraph.

Sometimes students in this stage use their phonics knowledge to read accurately and fluently, but because of limited vocabulary, they may not fully understand what they are reading. This is especially true for English language learners. Therefore, teachers need to make sure that explicit vocabulary instruction is included throughout the day (Antunez, n.d.).

Independent

And finally, students become independent readers and writers! Independent readers decode multi-syllabic words accurately. They also recognize and use prefixes, suffixes, and complex digraphs and blends when decoding and writing. In this stage, students read to gain knowledge. In addition, they write to communicate knowledge or their own message. Students in this stage focus on an author’s message and higher-level comprehension strategies (Tyner, 2019). Check out the chart below for an overview of this stage.

Stage	Grade Range	Emergent readers may be able to...
Independent	Grade 3+	decode multi-syllabic words correctly. understand and use prefixes and suffixes when decoding and writing. use higher-level comprehension strategies. write multiple paragraphs. use a variety of sentence types and structures. read a variety of genres. read for a purpose.

So Many Stages = Differentiation

Clearly, readers and writers change a lot from the time they are in the emergent stage until they are in the independent stage. Although most students progress through these stages in the same order, they will not necessarily spend the same amount of time in each stage. Moreover, as previously mentioned, students’ backgrounds may make specific stages more challenging, thereby changing the timeline as to when they progress to the next stage. Therefore, differentiation in the literacy classroom is key.

There are many times during the day when teachers can differentiate instruction. For example, during whole group instruction, teachers can strategically call on specific students based on their academic needs. Likewise, teachers can differentiate student assignments by giving each student an appropriately challenging task. Another way teachers can provide differentiation is simply through the amount of support each student receives. For example, some students may need frequent teacher check-ins while others are able to work independently (for the most part). Finally, teachers can differentiate by helping students choose books that are challenging, but accessible.

Another key time that teachers should offer differentiated instruction is during small group time. Small-group instruction is a great opportunity for differentiation because teachers can focus on what a particular group of students specifically needs. The next section in this unit outlines basic foundational information and best practices in small-group instruction to ensure that all students do in fact get what they need.

It is worth noting that since all students have different needs, small-group instruction is not just for struggling readers. Rather, all students should be put into a group to work on their next steps in literacy learning. This means that high-level readers may be working on analyzing complex texts or expanding their reading repertoire. Some students may be working on independent reading habits, and some may be learning basic English vocabulary. Teachers may differentiate the amount of time each student is seen in a group, giving more small-group time to struggling readers.

All Students Learn to Read and Write!

Young students in the emergent reading and writing stage do not yet have the skills to read or write; however, these students are still excited about reading and writing! Quality literacy instruction helps students progress seamlessly through the developmental reading and writing stages. Each stage builds on the one before as students progress in their reading and writing abilities.

Teachers should use knowledge of the reading and writing stages to plan effective literacy instruction. Although students are in the same grade, they are most assuredly at different reading and writing stages. Therefore, teachers need to assess their students to determine which stage they are in, and which type of instruction will be most beneficial. This type of assessment and differentiated instruction helps all students learn to successfully read and write.

Are you curious? Want to take a deep dive on this topic?

To learn more about leveraging small group practices to better support readers and writers, visit the course details page for Small Group Practices to Reach All Readers and Writers (PreK-5) to view the topical outline and download the syllabus.

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