READING PHASE I INITIAL


Language Competencies Literacy Competencies Conditions

1. Read and understand formatted and unformatted interactional messages

  • Greeting Cards with accompanying visuals
    Happy Birthday
  • Read a 1 line Happy Birthday message
  • Read a 1 line comment from the teacher
    Good Very Good

2. Read and understand short instructions

  • Used in the classroom
    Circle Read Write Listen
  • Used in the neighbourhood
    Exit Push Pull Stop

3. Read and understand formatted and unformatted information

  • Simple teacher-made forms Name Phone Number Address Postal Code
  • Calendar - find days and months
  • Diagrams - floor plan of main rooms
  • Signs _ MEN WOMEN

4. Read and interpret written ideas and feelings

  • Emotional or physical feelings
    sad happy mad
    sick tired thirsty
  • Descriptions
    tall  short  thin
    big  small  long
    cook  clean  eat
  • Likes and dislikes

Name

  • All letters of alphabet in random order both upper and lower case
Understand
  • Purpose of capitals
    - first letter in sentence
    - proper names
  • Ordering pattern of a form (what each part means) and where to write answers
  • Basic sound/letter correspondence (Beginning recognition of initial/final consonants)

Read and understand

  • Own personal information (name, address, phone #, postal code) in a variety of print styles and font sizes
  • Small bank of sight words in familiar or predictable contexts
  • Subject pronouns _ singular
  • Possessive adjectives
  • Verbs (to be/have)
  • Routine verbs
  • Articles
  • Common nouns used in themes
  • Question words (What, Who, Where)
  • Prepositions
  • Descriptive adjectives
  • Simple comprehension questions
    Is he sad?

Read and understand

  • Text in print and print-like handwriting
  • Pictorial signs and symbols

Recognize

  • Initial consonant sounds
    - In sight words
    - In phonetic words
  • Initial short vowel sounds
    - In sight words

Context is

  • Familiar to learner
    - Family, information re:
    coming to Canada, housing
  • Personally relevant to learner
    - Personal information
    about school, city, and Canada

Text should be

  • Accompanied by clear, simple pictures
  • Clear, easy to read print
  • Uncluttered, with a lot of white space
  • In lower case except for proper nouns and on forms
  • Repetitive in structure, such as
    - Same format of picture presentation
    - Same simple sentence structure
  • Up to 3 sentences with one new content word per line
  • One sentence per line

Text may have

  • Numbered sentences for ease of reference

Visuals are

  • Large
  • Clear
  • Realistic
  • Common, familiar, and relevant to learners' lives
  • In context
  • Sometimes in photographic format

Canadian Language Benchmarks www.language.ca



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