Scarborough's Reading Rope

One’s knowledge of word meanings.

• Vocabulary

• Language Structures

• Verbal Reasoning

• Literacy Knowledge

The way one uses his/her knowledge of syntax and specific types of words, etc. to derive meaning from text.

• Phonemic Awareness

• Vocabulary

• Language Structures

• Literacy Knowledge

The knowledge the reader brings to the text based on his/her experiences, rather than the text itself.

• Phonological Awareness

• Language Structures

• Background Knowledge

• Literacy Knowledge

One’s ability to understand language beyond what is spoken or written in text.

• Literacy Knowledge

• Language Structures

• Decoding

• Verbal Reasoning

One’s awareness of print, print knowledge, and pre-literacy skills.

• Literacy Knowledge

• Background Knowledge

• Decoding

• Emergent Literacy

Being able to analyze and manipulate sounds at the word and syllable level.

• Language Structures

• Encoding

• Phonological Awareness

• Literacy Knowledge

Knowledge that a student uses to determine the pronunciation of an unknown word.

• Background Knowledge

• Encoding

• Phonological Awareness

• Decoding

Automatic recognition of the pronunciation of words without decoding.

• Sight Recognition

• Encoding

• Phonological Awareness

• Decoding