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(From textbook)

Reading Deficits:

Literacy is an essential skill used daily and required for functioning in the world; however, unfortunately, many children today are unable to read well, interfering with their lives. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has indicated that 4th and 8th grade students are scoring lower on reading tests. It is estimated that 63% of 4th graders and 64% of 8th graders are reading at or below the basic reading level achievement. Studies suggest this is largely due to ineffective teaching methods in use. Systematic and explicit instruction must be used to increase the level of achievement by students.

How the Brain Reads:

Multiple areas of the brain activate when we read, including the parieto-temporal, used for step-by-step decoding and analysis, and the occipito-temporal, where everything about a word is stored and accessed.

Components of Reading Instruction:

Print awareness: this is the knowledge of the forms and functions of print, such as in books to tell stories or in magazines to convey information. This is the foundation for later letter identification and word formation. These kids will know how to handle a book, where the words come from in a story and that different forms convey different meanings.

Letter Knowledge: letters form words and represent sounds. Students will need to become very familiar with each uppercase and lowercase letter (the shape of them and the sounds they make).

Phonological awareness: this term means understanding larger parts of a spoken language, such as words, syllables, onsets, and rimes. In order to "sound out" words to read, one must know how to decode by splitting up words by their syllables and blending the onsets, etc.

Phonics: a method of instruction which involves the systematic relationship between letters and letter combinations, as well as the individual sounds of letters. This is the use of decoding in order to read.

Irregular Word Reading: Not all words follow the individual letters' sounds and therefore cannot use decoding to read them. These words will have to be known by heart when they see them in print.

Multi-syllabic Word Reading: Students will need to use chunking in order to decode longer, multi-syllable words and become familiar with common letter patterns.

Fluency: the accurate reading of connected text at a conversational rate with appropriate expression.

Vocabulary: knowledge of words and their meanings. It's not enough to be able to decode and read the word; one must understand the meaning as well. This is especially important for ELL students.

Comprehension: extracting and constructing meaning from text. Vocabulary builds this skill.

Reading Assessment

Screening: identify at-risk students, determines starting point for instruction

Progress Monitoring: determines progress, measure specific skills

Diagnostic: pinpoints a student's weak areas, provides information about skills and needs

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An Extensive List of Free Reading Resources for Teachers

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There are tons of free reading resources available to teachers if you know where to look. An American College of Education student blogger has rounded up a great list of them to refer to.

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I was very intrigued by the fact that multiple parts of the brain are activated when we read. I believe we also forget how difficult it can be to teach and learn to read, since it is not an innate ability that we have evolved to have, like speaking. There are many, many components involved in order to teach a student how to read. It is not a short process and can begin at birth, if done right. Young children will learn the most by being exposed to print (being read to, pointing out signs, print referencing). It is extremely important to expose children to print and varying texts, as it will set them up for success when they begin to learn to read in kindergarten.

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(From textbook)

Definition: Print Awareness is knowing about the forms and functions of writing, including in books, logos, magazines, or even on television.

Students who have print awareness can identify the structure of books and identify the structure of letters, and understand that print tells us what to say.

Print Referencing: This is a strategy that can be used to direct a student's attention to the forms and functions of print. This is done by reading aloud and either pointing to the text or asking questions/making comments about it.

When to Teach: In preschool and kindergarten, these skills should be developed systematically. By the end of kindergarten, a student should know

know the parts of a book

can identify the title and text in a book

follows from left to right

knows the difference between letters and words

knows sentences have separate words

knows sentences have spaces

Assessment and Intervention: In kindergarten, print awareness should be assessed 3 times in a year. Ensure you identify who needs extra support and determine if the pace of instruction should increase or decrease.

Teach and Model: Shared reading times are a great opportunity to develop print awareness. Show the book, say and point to the title, and have students repeat. Point to the author's name, say it and have students repeat. While reading, have students notice how you read left-to-right, top-to-bottom. Point out different punctuation and how it affects the way you read the text.

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Excerpted and adapted from: Guidelines for Examining Phonics and Word Recognition Programs, Texas Reading Initiative, Texas Education Agency (2002). And from: Tips for Teaching Kids to Read; by Ed Kame'enui, Marilyn Adams, & G. Reid Lyon.

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Print Awareness: Guidelines for Instruction

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Print awareness is a child's earliest understanding that written language carries meaning. The foundation of all other literacy learning builds upon this knowledge. The following are guidelines for teachers in how to promote print awareness and a sample activity for assessing print awareness in young children.

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It is really fascinating how many words around us have to be broken down in order to start reading them. You don't often think about how much print is around you until you start actively searching for it. We have to remember that written language is not intuitive; we are not born with the ability to read or write. Those skills have to be taught and they are first taught by recognizing print in the environment.

Reading to young children is the BEST way to introduce them to print, and later to build skills related to reading (letter knowledge, etc).

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(From textbook)

Definition: Letter knowledge is the understanding that letters are components of written words. It is the relationship between the shapes of the letters and the sounds they represent in words.

Iconicity: the names of the letters contain the sound that the letter represents. This identification makes it easier for students to learn the sounds of letters. Only 2 letters are not iconic in the English language (h and w).

Characteristics of letters will affect a student's ability to learn the letter names, including similarity in appearance to other letters or the number of phonemes it shares with other letters.

"[R]esearchers found that similarity of letter shapes was the strongest...determinant of confusion errors." This can be seen with b and d, which are often confused for one another.

Phonological characteristics of letter names also come into play. Similar sounding letter names can confuse students. Ex: B = /b/ /ee/, C = /s/ /ee/

When writing letters, the shape similarities can be confusing as well. Ex: B, P, M, N

Handwriting is especially important when learning letters and their sounds. It is linked to basic reading and spelling achievement as well. To aid in learning to write letters, suggest the use of a continuous stroke. This method reduces the opportunity for reversals, helping students to avoid confusion.

Teaching Names and Shapes:

Sing the alphabet to a different tune (Mary had a Little Lamb, etc.)

Choose 5-6 letters and arrange them in a random order to point to and await students to respond with the letter name (may also use this method and ask for letter sound)

Practice good handwriting habits (posture and pencil grip)

Use skywriting for students to practice shapes without writing on paper

Ensure you teach explicitly. Break down the types of lines used when writing letters

Match uppercase letters with lowercase

Teach by ease of writing (letters with primarily vertical and horizontal lines, small curves)

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Capital letters

Upper case letters, also referred to as capital letters, and lower case letters can look similar (O and o) or be quite different (D and d). In these kindergarten worksheets, students practice matching upper case to lower case letters. Instant recognition of the different case forms of each letter is an important early reading skill.

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Uppercase and lowercase letters | K5 Learning

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Upper case letters, also referred to as capital letters, and lower case letters can look similar (O and o) or be quite different (D and d). In these kindergarten worksheets, students practice matching upper case to lower case letters. Instant recognition of the different case forms of each letter is an important early reading skill.

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Learning letter names is not as easy as singing the alphabet. Students need explicit instruction when it comes to identifying and then writing letters. I think it's really interesting to look at how many letters are so similar to one another, as well as how their names can sound similar. This was something I never really thought about since I was in elementary school. The idea of iconicity was also new for me, but it makes a lot of sense! Most of the letters in our alphabet are iconic, except 2, which also just so happen to produce difficult sounds. I have learned the importance of teaching every individual piece of a letter to obtain the best results in my students.

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(From textbook)

Phonological awareness: an umbrella term that includes the awareness of larger parts of spoken language (words, syllables, onsets, and rimes) as well as smaller parts (phonemes).

Four Developmental Levels:

1. Word

2. Syllable

3. Intrasyllable

4. Phoneme

Phonemic awareness is the most important level. Students pay attention to the individual sounds of letters that make up words. Decades of research confirm that segmenting words into phonemes and blending and segmenting are the most critical skills.

Phonological instruction should always be explicit and systematic and should progress in difficulty.

Using concrete instruction, such as Elkonin boxes, are helpful in teaching phoneme manipulation as well as increase the understanding of the connection between phonemes and graphemes.

There are 2 types of sounds: stop sounds and continuous sounds.

"[A] child's level of phonemic awareness at school entry is widely considered the strongest single determinant of his or her later reading achievement" (pg 122).

When to Teach

As soon as possible. Phonemic awareness, however, should mostly be taught in Pre-K and Kindergarten. Start with larger sound units and gradually progress to small units (eventually phonemes). When students move into phoneme-level skills, there should be ample practice time given. It is most effective to focus on one or two phoneme manipulations, rather than combining multiple types.

Instruction should be limited to 10-15 minutes per day. For students who require extra support, an additional 15 minutes in a small-group setting should be given 3-4 times a week.

To note: Evidence demonstrates that teaching letter-sound knowledge along with phonemic awareness improves readiness for decoding instruction.

Order in which to teach

1. Blending phonemes

2. Phoneme segmentation

3. Phoneme isolation

4. Phoneme deletion, addition, and substitution

Assessment and Intervention

Testing should begin by mid-kindergarten and continue throughout the early elementary years, as needed. In general, students who demonstrate decoding skills do not need to be tested further when it comes to phonological awareness. Students who have poor phonemic awareness may need intense intervention given via small-group setting with more explicit modeling and additional time. Intervention for older students struggling to read should focus on the phonemic level.

Lesson Models

Utilize poems and songs with nonsense words to teach rhyme recognition. Begin with explicit instruction about what makes words rhyme.

Use pictures of 2 different things that, when combined, make a new word. Explicitly tell students what the pictures are and physically push them together. Reveal the new picture which is the combined words. Ex. Dog + House = Doghouse. This develops addition.

Take a picture that is 2 combined words (football, cupcake), with their words underneath. Use paper or your hand to cover one word at a time, developing deletion.

Use onset-rime in a silly animal adventure game. "Sitter needs to catch the /b/.../at/"

Use objects in the classroom and ask students what the final or beginning sounds of the word are. "This is a pen. What is my final sound in the word pen?"

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Santa Rosa County District Schools Florida

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Phonological Awareness | LEARN - Children’s Literacy Initiative

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Phonological awareness encompasses a variety of skills necessary for children to learn to read. Most importantly, it includes phonemic awareness (the understanding of sounds). I thought it was interesting that you work in a kind of backwards way when teaching phonological awareness. You actually start with whole words and sentences and slowly progress to letters and phonemes. By starting with words within sentences, the teacher is building a foundation to then delve deeper into. This also helps students become familiar with the idea that print tells us what words to say, and letters within words tell us what sounds to say. Even though this is the most important skill a child will ever learn, we only spend 10-15 minutes a day on it. That was the most surprising fact to me when reading through these pages.

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Phonics: a method of instruction that teaches students the systematic relationship between the letters and letter combinations in written and spoken language and how to use these relationships to read and spell words.

Primarily for primary grade levels (K-2)

Helps students understand the alphabetic principle

Requires explicit and systematic instruction (the sound/spelling relationships are clearly defined and modeled)

Incorporates phonemic awareness

Provides sufficient practice in reading words

Good instruction leads to automatic word recognition

Builds fluency in reading and writing

Techniques

Corrective Feedback

Errors should be corrected immediately and the correct response should be modeled

Monitoring

Monitor to ensure students are attentive

Pacing

Keep a lively pace, not allowing "downtime" after students give a response

Signaling

Use hand signals so students know when or how to respond in unison.

Decoding

Teach sound/spelling correspondences to prepare

Students must be able to blend individual sounds together to form a word from print to speech

It is easier for students to blend words with continuous sounds (m, f, v), rather than stop sounds (b, d, p)

Teach continuous blending when applicable

Provide students time to practice with decodable text

Phonograms: a series of letters that stand for a sound, or sounds, syllable, or syllable part. It is commonly referred to as the rime of a word (or everything following the onset)

How to Teach:

Elkonin Boxes (drag down boxes to represent sounds in a word)

Word Building (using substitution to change words into new words)

Dictation (students are given a word and are told to think about what sounds are in it, then write the word)

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Phonics is one of the five essential components of the science of reading, along with phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. Phonics activities help young learners break words into their constituent sounds so they build their literacy skills, bit by bit. Here are some of our favorite ways to teach these key skills.

1. Sing a phonics song

Singing songs is such a fun and effective way to learn! Kids will love to watch and sing along, and might not even realize they're learning along the way.

Learn more: 15 Phonics Songs for Kids at We Are Teachers

2. Color in the beginning sounds

Most kids start learning phonics by mastering the beginning sounds of words. Have kids color in the words that start with the matching sound on these cute and free worksheets.

Learn more: Beginning Sounds Coloring Pages at The Measured Mom

3. Use Google Slides

Google Slides has tons of fun phonics activities kids can use in the classroom or at home.

Learn more: 18 Interactive Google Slides for Teaching Phonics and Sight Words at We Are Teachers

4. Hang phonics anchor charts

When it comes to phonics, there's a lot to learn. Post anchor charts around the room to help kids remember important rules like silent E, vowel blends, and hard and soft C and G.

Learn more: 20 Perfect Anchor Charts for Teaching Phonics and Blends at We Are Teachers

5. Build words with a chart of beginning sounds

Grab this free printable chart and print out copies for your students to use with their phonics activities. There's a version for rimes too.

Learn more: Beginning Sounds Chart at This Reading Mama

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6. Learn digraphs with clip wheels

Combine fine motor skills practice with phonics work with these free beginning digraph wheels. Tip: Add small dots on the back to mark the right answers so kids can self-correct their work.

Learn more: Digraph Wheels at Playdough to Plato

7. Slap the letter sounds

Sounding out words letter by letter is a lot more fun when you slap each letter with a flyswatter! This is a great idea for active learners.

Learn more: Letter Sound Slap at Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls

8. Walk the word

This one will also keep active learners moving and happy! Write words in sidewalk chalk, then walk (or hop or skip) along them, sounding the word out along the way. Simple but fun!

Learn more: Gross Motor Phonics Game: Walk the Word at Coffee Cups and Crayons

9. Fill in the missing letters

This active game combines a scavenger hunt with phonics! Hide sticky notes around the room with various vowels. Then, write CVC words with the vowels missing. Have kids hunt for the missing sounds and fill them in. Fun!

Learn more: Missing Sounds Reading Activity at Busy Toddler

10. Just swap one letter

As students move from box to box, they change one letter to make the new word represented by the picture. They might need to change the first, middle, or last letter, so it's a real challenge!

Learn more: Just Swap One at This Reading Mama

11. Make magic spoons

Pick up a pack of plastic spoons at the dollar store, then use them to practice building words by combining beginning sounds with word endings.

Learn more: Activities To Teach Phonics and Math at Education to the Core

12. Toss and blend with plastic cups

Grab a stack of plastic cups and some Ping-Pong balls for this fun phonics game. Label the cups with different letter blends and set them out (tape them down if they tend to fall over). Kids toss a ball into a cup, then come up with a word that uses that letter blend to earn a point.

Learn more: Toss and Blend at Education.com

13. Flip the pages

Divide the pages of a small notebook into thirds, then write letters on each page. Flip them to form new words.

Learn more: Phoneme Substitution Activities at Tickled Pink in Primary

14. Mix and match cups to make words

If you've still got some cups left over, label them with more letters or letter blends, then use them to mix and match words. This is an especially fun way to work on CVC and sight words.

Learn more: CVC Cups at Inspired Elementary

15. Hack pool noodles into phonics tools

This has got to be one of our favorite phonics activities. Cut a pool noodle into pieces and label it with letters. Then stack and spin for learning fun!

Learn more: Pool Noodle Phonics at We Are Teachers

16. Spin and rhyme

Here's a different spin (pun intended!) on Pool Noodle Phonics. All you need is a cardboard tube, a wire pants hanger, scissors, and a marker to make this fun DIY rhyming activity.

Learn more: Spin and Rhyme at No Time for Flash Cards

17. Make some phonics cubes

Slide the free printable inserts into a set of photo cubes, then roll until you get the correct combination of letter and word ending.

Learn more: Phonics Cubes at This Reading Mama

18. Use paint stirrers to make word pull-outs

These clever phonics tools are easy to make using paint stirrer sticks and paper towel tubes. Simply slide the stick in and out to make new words!

Learn more: Word Family Pull-Out Activity at I Can Teach My Child

19. Play a flip-top phonics game

If you go through packages of wipes like most parents do, you'll appreciate this idea. Save the flip tops and use them for DIY phonics activities.

Learn more: Flip Top Phonics Games for Kids at No Time for Flash Cards

20. Use a pocket chart for phonics activities

Here's another reason teachers love pocket charts: They're great for phonics centers. Sort and match cards to practice beginning sounds, blends, short and long vowels, and so much more.

Learn more: Short A Activities and Resources at Miss Giraffe's Class

21. Compete at Blends and Digraphs Bingo

Every kid loves a good game of bingo! Snag these free printable bingo cards and use them to practice blends and digraphs.

Learn more: Blends and Digraph Bingo at The Measured Mom

22. Toss some phonics water balloons

This one almost seems too fun to count as learning! Tape up beginning sounds, then toss water balloons to complete the words.

Learn more: Water Balloon Phonics at Mess for Less

23. Race to the Top with blends and digraphs

Play this free printable game to practice consonant blends. Toss a chip onto the board and say that word out loud. Then move the counter for the correct blend up one space. First to the top wins!

Learn more: Blends and Digraphs Games at This Reading Mama

24. Try locks and keys to learn phonics

This self-correcting phonics activity is also a good way to practice fine motor skills ... and a lot of fun to boot! Label keys with beginning sounds and locks with word endings, then match them up and try the key to see if you're right.

Learn more: Unlock and Learn Game at We Are Teachers

25. Play Phonogram Connect 4

Draw a word card and find an open phonogram slot on the board. Your goal is to get four in a row!

Learn more: Phonogram Connect Four at Mrs. T's First Grade Class

26. Teach them the Soft C & G Chant

Simple little chants like this will help kids remember some of those confusing language rules. Pair it with other favorites like " I before E, except after C."

Learn more: Soft C and G at This Reading Mama

27. Mix, color, and spell

We can't get enough of games that reinforce CVC words with short vowels-it's such an important early literacy skill! Practice identifying and distinguishing between vowels by coloring in the middle sound from pictures of CVC words.

Learn more: Teaching CVC Words at Susan Jones Teaching

28. Write the Room: Digraphs

Use this fun little letter scavenger hunt to move around the room to search for pictures with digraphs. First, mark the ones you find with a dot marker and then use another sheet to write the digraphs.

Learn more: Beginning Digraphs Write the Room at ABC's of Literacy

29. Use disappearing ink for letter formation

One of the first keys to early reading success is letter identification and formation. Keep it fresh by using "disappearing ink" (aka water) so students have to trace letters multiple times to prevent them from disappearing too fast. With so few materials and such high engagement, what's not to love?

Learn more: 3 Simple Play-Based Phonics Activities at Research and Play

30. Do word sorts

Word sorts are great for comparing word patterns that make the same sound, like vowel teams. They can also help reinforce so many different phonics skills, making them the perfect activity that can be easy differentiated for learners of all stages.

Learn more: Using Word Sorts for Phonics Instruction at Mrs. Winter's Bliss

31. Roll and Read

Roll a die and read the word from the corresponding column. Play with a partner or do it solo by coloring in the words as you read them.

Learn more: Lesson 79 Roll and Read at UFLI. While you're there, check out the UFLI free lesson resources, which include decodable passages and games for almost every phonics skill!

32. Roll letter dice

A perfect DIY idea for old blocks! Use three blocks and write consonants on two of them and vowels on the other. Have some fun rolling and blending CVC words.

Learn more: DIY Phonics Games at Early Impact Learning

33. Sort syllable types

If you are teaching the different syllable types, this word sort helps students practice their knowledge of the six types and shows you what they know.

Learn more: Six-Way Syllable Sort at Florida Center for Reading Research. Also, check out the many other phonics resources available by grade level: Kindergarten and First Grade or Second and Third Grades.

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33 Fun Phonics Activities and Games for Early Readers

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Help kids learn to read with phonics activities that break words into their basic sounds, like phonemes, digraphs, diphthongs, and more.

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ABC Phonics Chant for Children  |  Sounds and Actions from A to Z

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Phonics is a teaching method. It is a means to an end, not a catch-all for reading intervention. It is the most effective method, however, and is vitally necessary for primary-age students. I found this section very helpful, if not a little overwhelming, though. There is a lot that goes into teaching phonics. I am excited to start utilizing this information in my future classroom. I understand that segmentation and blending are the most important skills when learning to read. Those happen to be my favorite to teach as well. Watching kids finally realize that the letters in the words are making the sounds we say is so rewarding. I will ensure to make connections to any new words my future students learn to stories we read in class or to relevant events at school.

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Two types of irregular words:

Temporarily irregular words will appear regular at the beginning of a reading program, but become regular as all sound/spelling correspondences are taught (for, there)

Permanently irregular words contain at least one sound/spelling that are not pronounced conventionally, belonging to only a few words (said, of, one, been)

Irregular words can be high-frequency or low-frequency. They are not easily decodable, or decodable at all in some cases, so practice is necessary to build automatic recognition.

They are usually selected from upcoming stories or passages. They should be taught explicitly, drawing attention to all letters in the word.

Strategies:

Word walls. Having a designated space for students to go back and look at words they've learned provides a source to practice fluency, as well as problem solve.

Word banks. Personal word banks or dictionaries ensures every student has access to previously learned words to help with assignments or to bring home and practice with.

Sequence of Introduction:

1. Word frequency: start with high-frequency irregular words first.

2. Word similarity: Avoid teaching similarly spelled irregular words together (of, off, where, were).

3. Word relationship: Teach words in the same word family together (could, should, would).

When to teach:

When students can read regular CVC words at a rate of about one word every three seconds. Waiting for this skill will help students learn to sound out words, rather than memorizing them and failing to build phonics skills. It is recommended to start with one irregular word per lesson and gradually increase up to 5.

Progress monitor every 4-6 weeks for kids at grade level, every 2 weeks for kids below grade level, and every 1 week for kids significantly below grade level.

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Santa Rosa County District Schools Florida

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This is the trickiest part of teaching students to read. As you get older, you realize how many words don't follow typical sound patterns. It's frustrating! I am not completely confident in my abilities to teach irregular words, because I would like to know why they're irregular as well. However, I understand how important they are for learning to read, as many high-frequency words are irregular. Reading is an essential skill that takes a ton of practice. I will definitely use the strategies in the book in my future classrooms to give my students the best shot at success.

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(From textbook)

From 5th grade on, the average student encounters about 10,000 new words each year. It is critical that students have the necessary skills to decode large, multisyllabic words in order to extract meaning from text.

Syllabication is an important strategy to use. Good readers effortlessly break down the words into syllables. Poor readers often process multisyllabic words letter-by-letter, rather than syllables.

"Low decoders correctly pronounced fewer affixes and vowel sounds, disregarded large portions of letter information, and were two to four times more likely to omit syllables" (pg 268).

When to Teach

After students master decoding single-syllable words

Ability to pronounce common sound/spelling correspondences

Able to identify open and closed syllables

Able to pronounce affixes in isolation

Assess and Intervene

Begin in the middle of second grade to plan effective intervention

Students with difficulty in this area should also be given a diagnostic to ensure it is not a deep-rooted problem

Older struggling readers lack strategies for identifying and decoding multisyllabic words

Open syllables: end in a vowel, making the vowel long

Closed syllables: end in a consonant, making the vowel short

Syllable Division Patterns V/CV, VC/CV, VC/V, C-le,

Students should be taught explicitly

Learn to identify and label the vowels and consonants in a word, then use the pattern knowledge to split the word into syllables

Use nonsense words to teach open and closed syllables

Affixes: small parts of words that change the meaning of words, but cannot stand alone. Prefix- before and Suffix-after. Common prefixes include, a-, un-, pre-, in-... Common suffixes include -ing, -s, -ed, -ful, -tion...

Students should be able to pronounce affixes alone

Explicitly teach the meaning of affixes, then introduce root words that can be changed by adding an affix

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Many people have been talking about the need for phonics instruction, but most of these conversations come to a screeching halt after talking about instruction in basic decoding skills. Instruction in multisyllabic word reading, or teaching students to read words with more than one syllable, is a crucial bridge between basic phonics and fluent word reading. It is also a major stumbling block for older readers who are still working on foundational reading skills. How to practically teach students to read long words has also been largely left out of the national conversation on the science of reading.

Marissa Filderman and Jessica Toste, two university professors who research multisyllabic word reading interventions, joined us to discuss what we know about teaching students to read long words. Marissa is an assistant professor at the University of Alabama and researches literacy interventions for students with and at risk for learning disabilities, with an emphasis on data-based decision-making. Jessica is an associate professor at the University of Texas at Austin. She focuses on effective interventions for students with and at risk for reading disabilities, as well as how to intensify interventions through data-based instruction.

Misconceptions in multisyllabic reading

As Marissa and Jessica note, there are several misconceptions about multisyllabic reading and how to approach teaching young children how to read longer, more difficult words.

The first misconception is that instruction should center primarily on syllables. Marissa recommends not getting too hung up on syllable rules because many of them "are very rigid and they don't always apply." For example, teaching students to divide a word with a VCV pattern (like pilot or travel) before the first consonant and pronouncing the first vowel as a long vowel only works about half the time, according to research on the usefulness of syllable division patterns by Devin Kearns. "It can be more confusing for a reader who already has a lot of difficulty with just decoding in general to also think about those rules," Marissa adds.

"There's also often a misconception that foundational reading instruction and knowledge of grapheme-phoneme correspondence and decoding skills translate automatically into multisyllabic word reading," Jessica says. But a young reader having a good grasp of the alphabet and the sounds each letter makes isn't enough.

Foundational reading skills, including phonics and word recognition, are critical but they are not enough on their own. Jessica explains that kids need to be helped in taking decoding to the next level: "Students really need to be taught, and students who struggle especially need to be taught-explicitly-how those skills scale up. They've been effective for them before. Now how can they use those skills to move from identifying and pronouncing individual letter sounds to identifying and pronouncing word parts to read more complex words? Students need this continued instruction as the words they are being exposed to become more complex and don't always follow the rules they've been practicing in previous instruction."

Another misconception is that foundational skills never need revisiting. That may be true for some students, but definitely not all. "There's a careful balance we have to find with ongoing foundational skills instruction," Jessica explains. For some students, "we need to continue to review vowel patterns and practice flexing vowel sounds while supporting students in decoding multisyllabic words. They need continued practice with those grapheme-phoneme correspondences so that they can apply them fluently and automatically every time they're reading a word."

Finally, there is sometimes confusion about the role of reading longer texts, as opposed to reading multisyllabic words in isolation. "It's important to always read connected text in reading instruction, to always move from isolated word reading to connected text, even if you only have time for a few sentences to read at the end of a lesson," Jessica advises.

6 ways to help kids with multisyllabic word reading

The following six strategies can help you approach multisyllabic word reading with your students:

1. Ensure students have prerequisite skills. The first step in approaching multisyllabic words with your students is to confirm they're ready for the added level of complexity. "Make sure students have prerequisite skills, that they know vowel sounds and consonant sounds, and that they can recognize most grapheme correspondences," Marissa says.

2. Focus on affixes. Marissa recommends explicitly teaching the pronunciation and meaning of affixes. "And continue to review all the affixes you've taught regularly," she adds. Teaching students to quickly identify and "peel off" prefixes and suffixes within words can help students begin to recognize both pronunciation and meaning of larger chunks as they encounter more unfamiliar words.

3. Practice chunking. Because syllable rules can be inconsistent and confusing, Marissa recommends chunking, either by using the vowel in a word or the morpheme. "Students might use the short or the long form of that vowel sound to read the word," Marissa says. Teachers can also help students chunk by using morphemes and affixes. "One of the most important things when focusing on multisyllabic words is really building morphological knowledge through breaking words into meaningful parts to make them easier to read," Marissa explains. The "peel off" strategy is useful when chunking, too.

4. Make a game of reading multisyllabic words. It's easy for multisyllabic reading instruction to get a little dry, so Marissa recommends getting playful. "After having structured practice with assembling and blending word parts to read multisyllabic words, I like to gamify this," she says. "Students can play with the words in a sort of game format that's fun, fast paced, and engaging. [...] Introduce a select number of base words you think might work in your particular instructional context. Have students attach or build onto those base words with prefixes or suffixes. Have them point and say each word part and then blend the word parts and say the whole word."

5. Move on to fluency when kids are ready. "For word reading fluency practice," Marissa advises, "I like to use targeted word lists until students get really comfortable. I recommend you focus on certain patterns that you want to work with in those word lists, or certain affixes. Your word list can become more complex as you go." Some of that playful approach she mentioned earlier can work well with fluency, too. "There can be a timed component of this practice as well, if that's helpful to students. Or you can have a tracking component where they track their own performance every time they read a word list and see if their fluency is improving over time."

6. Practice words in context. Just as Jessica noted, students need time to practice reading more than just isolated words. "Just like with any foundational skills instruction lesson, we always move from reading practice with words in isolation to words in connected text, and doing a lot of practice with connected text," Marissa says. "This can look like sentences where the affixes you're learning appear and multisyllabic words that you've been practicing move into passages as well."

Serving students well

The crucial bridge for students from basic phonics to fluent word reading often goes overlooked. Consider reaching out to your leaders for any additional support you might need for your students. I recommend the following:

Ensure your school has materials to help students read long words. The lessons Jessica uses in her research are available for free online, and they have been shown to be effective for older students who need more instruction in advanced word reading.

Request professional learning opportunities around advanced word reading, and job-embedded coaching to answer ongoing questions and help you strengthen your practice. NWEA offers a professional learning workshop titled "Grades K-5: Building Fluent Readers" that's a great place to start.

Explore assessment options. If older students are not meeting benchmarks on your school's reading comprehension assessment, consider using a follow-up assessment, like MAP® Reading Fluency™, that can help you better understand if students are struggling with word recognition or language comprehension. If students are having difficulty with word recognition in the upper grades, make sure their intervention addresses this in a systematic way.

Reading long words fluently opens the doors to a limitless world of learning opportunities through rich and complex texts for students. To hear more from Marissa and Jessica, watch our videos.

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6 strategies for teaching multisyllabic word reading - Teach. Learn. Grow.

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Instruction in multisyllabic word reading is a bridge between phonics and fluent word reading. Research points to effective strategies.

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Reading Multisyllable Words with Xavier, Third Grader

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Multisyllabic words are everywhere, especially in academic texts. I was surprised that 50% of multisyllabic words were regularly spelled, so they can be easily decoded. Unfortunately, students who struggle are not taught explicitly enough the decoding strategies used for big words. I found it interesting that it was a necessary skill to pronounce affixes in isolation, but it makes sense when you teach reading skills systematically. Everything must be sequential to be the most effective. If students are consistently given words with prefixes they don't know the meaning of, then how can they properly decode them? I will definitely utilize the teaching techniques in the book.