What developmental expectation is characteristic of beginning readers?

Beginning readers are typically expected to incorporate vowels in their writing as they develop their spelling and phonetic awareness. This developmental milestone is crucial because it signifies that they are beginning to understand the sound-symbol relationships that are foundational in reading and writing. As they learn the alphabet and how sounds correspond to letters, the inclusion of vowels indicates progress in their ability to encode words correctly. This ability is often a hallmark of early literacy development.

While options like reading in larger units, understanding text comprehension, and using context skills are important skills in reading development, they generally emerge at later stages as readers become more proficient. Beginning readers are still in the process of building their foundational skills, such as phonemic awareness and basic decoding, before moving on to more complex reading and comprehension strategies. Thus, the inclusion of vowels in their writing is a clear indicator of their emerging literacy skills.