“The development of early reading behaviors is the foundation for the reader’s development of all subsequent reading and writing strategies.” (Fountas & Pinnell)
It is essential that children understand that words are laid out from left to right and there is a match between one spoken word with one printed. There are several ways that teachers can model one-to-one matching and directionality within meaningful reading. They can explicitly model using Big Books, large poems, the morning message and charts. When choosing a Big Book make sure that the book does not have too many sentences on a page and the words are not too close together.
It is important that Early Childhood Specialists, classroom teacher and interventionists are using the same language when teaching reading behaviors.
The Prompting Guide from Fountas & Pinnell is a useful tool when teaching a reading behavior, prompting a behavior, and reinforcing a behavior.

Reading Left to Right/Return to Left
Teach: You can say it slowly and move your finger under the word.
Prompt: Say it slowly and move your finger under the word.
Reinforce: You read it with your finger
Establishing Voice-Print Match
Teach: Look at how I point and read. I make it match.
Prompt: Use your pointer and make them match.
Reinforce: You read it with your finger and made it match.
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