Many students enter kindergarten already knowing some letter names. Letter names are widely taught in homes and preschools, on educational television, and by educational toys and games. Knowing the letter names, however, is no guarantee that students can accurately map phonemes to graphemes, a critical component of early reading development and instruction.
Fluidez en nombrar letras (Letter Naming Fluency) (FNL) is a standardized, individually administered assessment within mCLASS Lectura. It is used as an indicator of risk for reading difficulty rather than an instructional target. FNL is recommended as one of the primary screening tools for reading risk (including dyslexia) from kindergarten through first grade.
Research (Bravo-Valdivideso et al., 2003, 2006; Kim & Pallante, 2012) indicates that letter name fluency and letter sound fluency have predictive utility for later word reading success in Spanish. Although letter names are not taught in Amplify Caminos at the beginning of kindergarten, measuring students’ letter name knowledge is important for two reasons. First, research (Bravo-Valdivieso et al., 2003; Caravolas et al., 2012) indicates that letter knowledge (broadly, as measured by letter name and letter sound knowledge) is a strong predictor of word reading proficiency in Spanish. Additionally, letter name knowledge specifically is a strong predictor of word reading proficiency in Spanish (Kim & Pallante, 2012; Martinez & Goikotxea, 2020), accounting for as much as half the observed variance in students’ word reading scores (Castillas & Goikotxea, 2007). Students who do not demonstrate the ability to name letters may be at risk for later reading difficulties; thus, performance on FNL is included within the mCLASS Lectura Composite Score in kindergarten and first grade. Prior to formal education, some students have the benefit of being exposed to words, stories, and books. In those cases, caretakers often teach the alphabet and letter names, particularly those associated with the child’s name.
The FNL measure administered at the beginning of the year does not assume students have had previous letter-naming instruction. If students' mCLASS Lectura FNL and Composite Scores indicate that they are at risk for reading difficulty, teachers should use data on the priority skills assessed by mCLASS Lectura to plan instruction for students, and should not plan to emphasize letter naming for the purpose of raising FNL scores. This prioritization of skills is in direct alignment with Caminos, which, particularly in kindergarten, focuses on the use of letter sounds over letter names. The mCLASS Lectura Composite Score takes into account performance on each measure and places developmentally appropriate weights on the Fluidez en los sonidos de las letras (FSL) and Fluidez en los sonidos de sílabas (LSS) scores.
If students respond to the activities in Caminos kindergarten units by calling the letters by their names, instead of producing their sounds, please gently redirect them; for example, say "Ese es el nombre de la letra. ¿Puedes decirme el sonido que hemos estado practicando?".
Note that while letter names are not utilized in the initial kindergarten units of Caminos instruction, they are introduced in Unit 6. By that unit, students have learned many letter sounds and, because letter names are no longer likely to interfere with decoding, letter names are introduced.
Please note that this is not to say that teachers should discourage parents from instructing their children at home. But in the classroom, FNL does not yield a high return on investment when providing targeted remediation for students that are already at risk.
If you need additional clarification or support, feel free to reach out. We would love to help you feel more confident in your understanding and prepared in your response to staff or parents. You can reach the educational support team Monday through Friday by using our live chat or email help@amplify.com.