Children need to learn mainstay
concepts and skills of written
language from which more complex
and elaborated understandings and
motivations arise, such as grasp of
the alphabetic principle, recognition
of basic text structures, sense
of genre, and a strong desire to
know. They need to learn phonological
awareness, alphabet letter
knowledge, the functions of written
language, a sense of meaning
making from texts, vocabulary,
rudimentary print knowledge (e.g.,
developmental spelling), and the
sheer persistence to investigate
print as a meaning-making tool.