When emerging readers begin to learn, starting with the alphabet, there are a few mechanical things they need to know before they are ready to start reading.

The first of these is that each letter represents one (or more) sound(s) and that printed and written words each have meaning.

Then they need to know that all English text is made up of letters and combinations of letters which we call words, that each word is separated from every other word by one or more spaces and, in some cases, by general symbols which control structures of the language. We call these symbols “punctuation.”

The next fact is that English is read from left to right and from the upper-left corner of the text to the bottom-right corner.

And, finally, the letters of the alphabet are presented in text as UPPER CASE LETTERS and lower case letters. It is important that English-language learners are aware of these differences and the rules which govern their use.

The Reading Wall simplifies and re-enforces these instructional goals.