Stage 1: Emergent Literacy
Age Range: 4-6 years old.
As the earliest stage of literacy development, emergent literacy is the first moment that
a child begins to understand letters and words. While many of the behaviors of the
emergent literacy stage are not fully formed and irregular, these are still some of the first
signs that a child is beginning to form literacy ability.
Here are Some Behaviors of Stage 1 Learners:
● Pretending to be able to read children’s books.
● The ability to recognize the first letter of their name.
● Singing the ABCs, even if unable to identify letters separately.
● Trying to memorize certain books to “read” them.
● The ability to recognize some letters and potentially their sound.
● The ability to find words in their environment.
Stage 2: Alphabetic Fluency
Age Range: 6-7 years old.
As the child grows older and more comfortable with learning their words and letters,
they enter the alphabetic fluency stage of literacy development.
Here are Some Behaviors of Stage 2 Learners:
● No longer “pretend” reading.
● Finger-pointing to words while reading them.
● Beginning to recognize words.
● Admitting that they’re unable to read certain words.
● Using pictures and context clues to figure out certain words.
● Reading out loud word by word.
Stage 3: Words and Patterns
Age Range: 7-9 years old.
Sometimes referred to as the “transitional” stage of literacy development, the words
and patterns stage is when children begin to develop stronger reading skills. This is
the stage when children can vary the most in terms of skills and may adopt behaviors in
multiple stages of literacy development.
Here are Some Behaviors of Stage 3 Learners:
● Less decoding of words and stronger ability to comprehend reading
materials.
● More self-correction when what is read is unclear.
● Less sound by sound reading and easier time grouping letters.
● Able to recognize words that pop up most often automatically.
● Less reliance on context clues to figure out unknown words.
● Beginning to be able to spell complex consonant words like “-tch”.
Stage 4: Intermediate Reading
Age Range: 9-11 years old.
During the intermediate stage of literacy development, children begin to rely less on
educational crutches that help a child learn new words. This is also when children are
becoming able to write out sentences with less error and develop stronger fluency
overall.
Here are Some Behaviors of Stage 4 Learners:
● Reading to learn new information and writing for multiple purposes.
● Less difficulty with independent reading.
● Reading to explore new concepts from numerous perspectives.
● Reading longer materials such as textbooks with little difficulty.
● An interest in wanting to learn and develop new vocabulary.
Stage 5: Advanced Reading
Age Range: 11-14 years old.
As the last stage of literacy development, advanced reading is when children become
fully fluent and capable of relying on independent reading to learn new information.
Reading and writing provide little difficulty and students can absorb complex reading
materials during this stage.
Here are Some Behaviors of Stage 5 Learners:
● The desire to read numerous types of reading materials.
● Reading becomes a daily tool for learning new information.
● The ability to formulate longer texts such as essays or book reports.
● Readers usually have a strong understanding of the meaning and semantics
of words.
● The ability to understand and retain complex reading materials.
REFERENCE: Literacy Development: The 5 Stages for Developing Literacy
(lwtears.com)