Your student can recite the alphabet song.

Your student recognizes the capital letters. If you ask your student to point to an M, he can do it.

Your student recognizes the lowercase letters. If you ask your student to point to an r, he can do it.

Your student knows the proper way to hold a book.

Your student understands that books are read from front to back.

Your student understands that sentences are read from left to right.

Your student knows that words on the page can be read.

Your student is able to retell a familiar story in his own words.

Your student can answer simple questions about a story.

Your student asks questions (Why did the elephant laugh?) during read-alouds.

Your student can rhyme. If you say bat, your student can come up with a rhyming word like hat.

Your student understands word boundaries. If you say the sentence Don't let the cat out, your student is able to separate the sentence into five individual words.

Your student can clap syllables. If you say dog, your student knows to clap once. If you say umbrella, your student knows to clap three times.

Your student can blend sounds to make a word. If you say the sounds sh...eep, your student responds with the word sheep.

Your student can identify the beginning sound in a word. If you ask your student to say the first sound in pig, your student is able to respond with the sound /p/.

Your student can identify the ending sound in a word. If you ask your student to say the last sound in the word jam, your student is able to respond with the sound /m/.

Your student enjoys being to read to, even for short periods of time.

Your student pretends to read or write.

Your student frequently requests read-aloud time and shows a general enthusiasm for books.