One of the most effective strategies for preventing reading difficulties is accurate early identification. The Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS) is a proactive and preventive screening measure that assists teachers in providing differentiated, targeted instruction to meet your child’s needs. PALS provides teachers with invaluable information that they can use to plan appropriate instruction for both grade-level readers and struggling readers. The PALS staff recommends that parents discuss PALS scores with their child’s teacher during a conference. Your child’s classroom teacher administers the assessment and interacts with your student on a daily basis. Thus, he or she is the person best informed to comment on your child’s literacy development. PALS-K Tasks The following PALS-K tasks are untimed and developmentally appropriate for Kindergarten students: SECTION I: Phonological Awareness   Rhyme Awareness   Beginning Sound Awareness SECTION II: Alphabet Knowledge   Lower-Case Alphabet Recognition SECTION III: Letter-Sound Knowledge   Letter Sounds   Spelling SECTION IV: Concept of Word SECTION V: Word Recognition in Isolation (optional) PALS 1-3 Tasks The Oral Reading in Context task on PALS 1-3 is timed in order to calculate oral reading rate. ENTRY LEVEL: Word Knowledge   Spelling Inventory   Word Recognition in Isolation   Letter Sounds (first grade only) LEVEL A: Oral Reading in Context   Accuracy   Fluency   Oral reading rate   Comprehension LEVEL B: Alphabetics   Alphabet Recognition   Letter Sounds   Concept of Word LEVEL C: Phonemic Awareness   Blending   Sound-to-Letter