New Hampshire Foundations of Reading Practice Test 2025 – Complete Exam Preparation

Including spelling instruction in a first-grade reading program is particularly beneficial because it supports word recognition through common phonics patterns. When students engage in spelling activities, they become more attuned to the sounds that letters make and how these sounds combine to form words. This phonics knowledge enhances their ability to decode and recognize words while reading.

By learning to spell words, students practice the relationship between letters and sounds, which reinforces their understanding of how words are constructed. This connection is essential for developing strong reading skills, as recognizing patterns in spelling can help students make educated guesses about how to read unfamiliar words. As they encounter different phonics patterns in spelling, they are better equipped to generalize that knowledge to reading, leading to more fluent and confident reading abilities.

While spelling does have connections to phonemic awareness, vocabulary development, and reading simplification, its primary role in supporting word recognition through phonics patterns makes it a crucial component of early reading instruction.