The 6 Stages of Literacy

Life is crazy and ongoing. There are many stages in life in which one needs to go through. The same could be said for writing. There are many stages in writing to consider, but the end goal is always the same. I, myself had to go through these stages, as well as you. Let’s take a look at the most important aspects of these different stages.

Stage 0: Birth- 6 years

• Oral language- vital at this stage
• Vocabulary- by age 6, children can understand thousands of words but can only read a few of them

Stage 1: 6- 7 years (Grade 1)

• There is a direct, systematic instruction in phonic patterns
• shared/guided/interactive reading and writing
• Can form letters neatly and fluently
• Most children can understand up to 40000-50000 words when heard but can read about 600

Stage 2: 7- 9 years (Grades 2 and 3)

• Increased practice on reading fluency, reading to learn, writing to express ideas, and writing purposefully
• Can write in complete sentences
• Read appropriate aged texts
• 3000 words can be read and understood and about 9000 are known when heard

Stage 3a: 9-12 years (Grades 4-6)

• Students have learned to read
• Greater emphasis of gathering information and identifying main ideas
• Reading and listening are equal for those who read very well, and reading may be more efficient

Stage 3b: 12-14 years (Grades 7-9)

• Students are reading and writing for authentic purposes
• Able to identify the difference between description, explanation, and critical analysis

Stage 4: 15-18 years (Grades 10-12)

• Students can read in a sustained manner and can make meaning from what is read
• Has developed techniques to extract, record, and assess knowledge and is able to compose a range of texts
• Vocabulary ranges anywhere between 20000-40000 words or more

Click here to see my timeline.

Research Paper? How About Not.

It is the 21^st century. Things have changed. Students nowadays have different learning perspectives. We cannot just stick to the old, basic ideas that we grew up on. We want our students to engage in learning and actually attain knowledge rather than just write about it.

That’s What Friends Are For