The five pillars of reading, identified by the National Reading Panel, are essential for successful development of literacy skills. They are: 1. Phonemic Awareness: This is the foundation, the ability to hear and manipulate the individual sounds in words. Think of it as breaking words down into their smallest sound units. 2. Phonics: Here, learners connect those sounds (phonemes) to written letters or symbols. This is where sounding out words comes in. 3. Vocabulary: Building a strong knowledge