| Reading skill | Description | Manifestations of impaired skill | What to ask the school team |
| Phonologic awareness | - The capacity to hear and articulate the sounds of language when listening to and speaking with others
| - Difficulty understanding spoken language
- Poor articulation
| - Is this child's phonologic awareness normal for age and grade?
|
| Phonics | - The capacity to match the sounds of spoken language with their printed letters and letter combinations
| - Difficulty learning letters
- Difficulty knowing the sounds that letters make
- Difficulty sounding out words when reading
| - Does this child have normal phonics skills for age and grade?
|
| Reading fluency | - The capacity to sound out words quickly
- The capacity to recognize many words instantly, without having to sound them out
| - Slow reading
- Lack of instant recognition of common printed words
- Takes a long time to sound out words
- May also have problems with phonics
- Difficulty understanding what they read
| - Is this child's reading fluency normal for age and grade?
|
| Reading comprehension | - Ability to read and understand a certain number of words (reading vocabulary)
| - Difficulty recognizing common printed words
- Limited vocabulary in spoken language
- Slow reading
- Difficulty understanding what they read
| - Does this child have normal reading vocabulary for age and grade?
|
- Capacity to understand what is read (reading comprehension)
| - All of the manifestations listed above
- Problem mastering language
| - Does this child have normal reading comprehension for age and grade?
- If not,
- Is it due to a problem in phonics and reading fluency?
- Or, is it due to poor language skills?
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