Presented by Susan Meehan Literacy Coach Leonardo Grade School April 9, 2014

Reading is: recognizing written words and understanding their meaning

 Phonics (sound/letter match)  Sight Words (memorized)  Using Context and Pictures (meaning based)

We don’t teach with just ONE method. We try them ALL!

We need to make sure that children can ……. WHAT?

PHONEMIC AWARENESS It can be “done in the dark.”

 Children need to be able to both identify and hear the placement of sounds in words so that they can change them.  For example, if a child says hat and wants to change the word to bat, he/she needs to know that the FIRST sound only changes.  In second through fifth grades, children need to be able to hear syllables so that they can effectively attack multisyllabic words.

 Say a sentence and have your child tell you how many words are in it (I can go home-4).  Clap syllables in words (hap-py-2, el-e-phant-3).  Reread nursery rhymes, sing songs, and read Dr. Seuss books. Have your child provide the word that rhymes (I do not like Green Eggs and Ham. I do not like them Sam I AM!).  See how many words you can think of that rhyme (goat, boat, float, moat).

 Say a word (let). Take the first sound off. What do you get?(et)  Say a word (let). Take the last sound off. What do you get? (le)  See how many words you can think of that start with ( coat, cap, cat) or end with (will, wall, mall ) the same sound.

BLENDING /c/ + /a/ + /t/ = cat WHOLE TO PART cat = /c/ + /a/ + /t/ RIMES c + at = cat tr + ee = tree s + ing = sing

 Each child learns differently. Researchers claim that 80% of children can learn to read phonetically using one of these approaches..  Out of the remaining 20%, 80% of these children will be able to read phonetically using another approach.  Out of the remaining 20%, 80% of these children will learn to read phonetically using the third method.

 When we speak, sounds are blended together (bag does not sound like /b/ + /a/ + /g/).  However, when we try to read unknown words, we sometimes need to break them apart. It’s not “natural”.  Children may need explicit instruction in breaking words apart and putting them back together.

We can’t JUST focus on phonemic awareness and phonics!

 All words cannot be decoded. Try sounding out the, there or they. It doesn’t make sense.  Strong readers need a good sight word vocabulary so that they use their limited time well. When readers get to a tricky word, they will have the time to figure it out.  Children should practice sight words in class and at home.  The goal is to be fluent and automatic. However, don’t spend too much time (and energy) on any one task.

 Practice sight words at home.  Review them each day for a few minutes.  Put them on index cards.  Play concentration with 4-5 especially challenging words at a time.  Play “Go Fish”. Write 10 different sight words on 4 cards each (for a total of 40 cards). Take turns making matches.  Play “Snap”. Write three tricky sight words on 10 cards each (for a total of 30 cards). Shuffle and pass out the cards. Take turns flipping one card over at a time. If the words match, the first one to say snap takes the pile of cards.  Write a few words on sticky notes. Place them around the house. Whenever your child opens the refrigerator, for example, he/she has to name the word. Vary the location and make it fun!

WORD SORTS  Many of the classrooms are sending word sort activities home. Play the games with your child.  Sort the cards by sound or letter combinations. Notice how they are the same or different.  Do a speed sort. Have your child beat his/her best time.

When children are explicitly taught that many words have patterns, they become automatic readers and expand their reading ability!

Vowel soundsHow They Look /a/ applea /e/elephant, breade, ea /i/igloo, gymi, y /o/octopus, washo, a /u/umbrella, wonu, o /oo/moon, newoo, ue, ow, ew, u-e /oo/book, couldoo, u, ou /ou/ house, cowou, ow

Vowel SoundsHow They Look /oi/coin, boyoi, oy /ar/starar /or/fork, boardor, aw, a, au, ore, oar, oor /er/herb, nurseer, ir, ur, ear, or /air/ chair, pearair, ear, are /ear/spear, deerear, eer, ere

VOWEL SOUNDSHOW THEY LOOK /ae/rain, trayai, ay, a-e, a /ee/tree, meee, ea, ie, y, e, ey /ie/light, kiteight, i-e, y, i, ie /oa/boat, bowoa, ow, o, o-e /ue/tube, emuu-e, ew, ue, u

 ack, ain, ake, ale, all, ame, an, ank, ap, ash, at, ate, aw, ay  eat, ell, est  ice, ick, ide, ight, ill, in, ine, ing, ink, ip, it  ock, oke, op, ore, ot

SUFFIXES  -s (more than one)  -ed (past tense)  -ing (present tense, now) PREFIXES  un- (not, opposite)  re- (again)  in-, im-, ir-, il- (not)  dis- (not, opposite)  en-, em- (cause to)  non- (not)  in-, im- (in or into)

SUFFIXES  -ly (characteristic of)  -er, -or (person)  -ion, -tion, (act, process)  -ible, -able (can be done) PREFIXES  over- (too much)  mis- (wrongly)  sub- (under)  pre- (before)  inter- (between, among)

 Children should first have a strong sense of phonemic awareness and letter/sound correspondence.  Now it’s time to “attack” unknown words and make sense out of them.

 Check the picture.  Pop it out!  Backtrack and reread.  Skip it!  Change the vowel sound.  Think of a word you know.  Sound it out slowly.  Look for a little part of the word you know.

Children naturally use this strategy. It’s very effective in reading kindergarten and first grade books. However, it becomes less effective as the books get more challenging.

“Get your mouth ready.” Make the first sound of the word and see what POPS out! We are sitting at a t_______. You are in first gr________.

This is my favorite strategy because it works! Children skip the unknown word, read to the end of the sentence, and then go back to try again. The other words in the sentence usually help them read it accurately. We ___________ down the street. We walked down the street.

When a child tries to “sound out” a word they often will say a vowel sound they know (they = th eee, yuh). They have been taught the rule and they try to use it. But we need to teach children to be flexible and try a different vowel sound. The bear went down the road. The boat sailed away.

Use rhyming words to solve unknown words. We went to the _______. (I know fall, and this starts with an m. It must be mall!)

Stretch the sounds out. This is where phonemic awareness comes in. If your child can hear the sounds in the words, he/she will be able to decode an unknown word more easily.

Children act as detectives to find little words, or word chunks, in a bigger word. goat fantastic incredible

How many strategies should your child use?

As many as they need!

Please contact me with any questions or concerns about reading/writing and your child. (732) ext 4607