Topeka Public Schools Teaching and Learning

A pre-reader may struggle with:

• retaining alphabetic writing instruction
• retaining alphabetic letter knowledge (sounds)
• phonemic awareness tasks
• phonics instruction
• corresponding letters and sounds

A reader may struggle with:

• reading accurately and fluently
• decoding words
• spelling words that have been taught or learned
• expressing thoughts in writing
• comprehending things read silently

Phonological Processing Deficits:

• delayed speech, early articulation errors
• confusion of similar sounds /b/ /p/ /f/ /v/
• poor rhyming skills
• inability to master segmenting
• difficulty identifying initial, medial, and final sounds in words

Orthographic Processing:

• difficulty copying from the board or book
• difficulty learning how to make letter forms
• difficulty remembering high frequency words
• confusion of similar looking letters and words
• rules of English spelling difficult to master

Automaticity and Fluency:

• difficulty sustaining attention to letter symbols and sounds
• difficulty retrieving verbal labels
• difficulty articulating words rapidly