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63% of 4th graders and 64% of 8th graders scored at or below the basic reading level

scores have not been improving, despite increased reading

when we learn to read, we rewire part of our brain!

words are consisted of phonemes which are the smallest units of sound in a language

English has 42-44 phonemes!

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Print awareness is the knowledge that written language carries meaning

Print Awareness is acquired by most children during their pre-school years

should be assessed 3 times during kindergarten: fall, winter, and spring

students who have little to no access to books or reading at home are at risk of not being fully prepared for their elementary years in the sense of reading

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Aspects of Print Awareness

ability to understand and recognize that print carries meaning

ability to understand and use book-component vocabulary

ability to turn the pages in a book

ability to track text from left to right and top to bottom

ability to recognize a word

ability to recognize the spaces in between words

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Important things to teach

talking about the cover, title, author, and illustrations in books

text directionality (start from from of book, read one page at a time, left to right, top to bottom)

concept of word (words are separated by spaces, each word has different meaning in a sentence

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https://files.readinguniverse.org/PDFs/introducing-letter-Bb-reading-universe.pdf

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When students are tested, there should be uppercase and lowercase letters, and they should be out of alphabetical order!

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Kindergarten-Assessment-2795187

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Letter Knowledge is an important skill for children to learn, hopefully in preschool, but definitely by kindergarten. Letter knowledge consists of reciting the alphabet, recognizing, naming, and writing all upper- and lowercase letters, and identifying the sound a letter makes. I think that I will use strategies like the two images I added, especially having lists like the grid the table that has mixed up uppercase and lowercase letters.

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1. Word 2. Syllable 3. Intrasyllable 4. Phoneme

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Phonemic Awareness: the ability to detect, identify, and manipulate phonemes in spoken words

Phoneme: the smallest unit of a spoken language that makes a difference in a words meaning

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Segmenting cheer activity (scroll down to 6th activity)

https://www.readingrockets.org/classroom/classroom-strategies/blending-and-segmenting-games

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Blending: guess-the-word game

This activity, from our article Phonological Awareness: Instructional and Assessment Guidelines, is an example of how to teach students to blend and identify a word that is stretched out into its basic sound elements.

Objective: Students will be able to blend and identify a word that is stretched out into its component sounds.

Materials needed: Picture cards of objects that students are likely to recognize such as: sun, bell, fan, flag, snake, tree, book, cup, clock, plane

Activity: Place a small number of picture cards in front of children. Tell them you are going to say a word using "Snail Talk" a slow way of saying words (e.g., /fffffllllaaaag/). They have to look at the pictures and guess the word you are saying. It is important to have the children guess the answer in their head so that everyone gets an opportunity to try it. Alternate between having one child identify the word and having all children say the word aloud in chorus to keep children engaged.

​Blending: robot talk

Talking in "Robot Talk," students hear segmented sounds and put them together (blend them) into words. See robot talk activity ›

See all Blending/Segmenting Activities from the University of Virginia PALS program

Blending slide

The "Reading Genie" offers teachers a simple way to teach students about blends. Teachers can use a picture or small replica of a playground slide and have the sounds "slide" together to form a word. See blending slide activity ›

Oral blending activity

The information here describes the importance of teaching blending skills to young children. This link provides suggestions for oral sound blending activities to help students practice and develop smooth blending skills. See oral blending activities ›

Sound blending using songs

This activity (see Yopp, M., 1992) is to the tune of " If You're Happy and You Know It, Clap Your Hands."

If you think you know this word, shout it out!
If you think you know this word, shout it out!
If you think you know this word,
Then tell me what you've heard,
If you think you know this word, shout it out!

After singing, the teacher says a segmented word such as /k/ /a/ /t/ and students provide the blended word "cat."

Segmenting cheer activity

This link provides teachers with information on how to conduct the following segmentation cheer activity. See segmenting cheer activity ›

Write the "Segmentation Cheer" on chart paper, and teach it to children. Each time you say the cheer, change the words in the third line. Have children segment the word sound by sound. Begin with words that have three phonemes, such as ten, rat, cat, dog, soap, read, and fish.

Listen to my cheer.
Then shout the sounds you hear.
Sun! Sun! Sun!
Let's take apart the word sun.
Give me the beginning sound. ( Children respond with /s/.)
Give me the middle sound. ( Children respond with /u/.)
Give me the ending sound. ( Children respond with /n/.)
That's right!
/s/ /u/ /n/-Sun! Sun! Sun!

Segmenting with puppets

Teachers can use the activity found on this website to help teach students about segmenting sounds. The activity includes the use of a puppet and downloadable picture cards. See segmenting with puppets activity ›

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Children who can segment and blend sounds easily are able to use this knowledge when reading and spelling. Segmenting and blending individual sounds can be difficult at the beginning. Our recommendation is to begin with segmenting and blending syllables. Once familiar with that, students will be prepared for instruction and practice with individual sounds.

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Phonological awareness is the ability to hear and work with the different sounds in spoken words, like rhymes and syllables. A smaller part of this skill is phonemic awareness, which means noticing and working with the single sounds, or phonemes, in words. For example, when a child can break the word cat into /c/ /a/ /t/ or put those sounds together, they are using phonemic awareness. These skills are very important because they help students when they start learning to read and spell. In the classroom, we practice them through fun activities like clapping out word parts, rhyming, and blending sounds together.

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

decoding and blending

automatic word recognition

decodable text

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Phonics is the best and most efficient way to teach students the alphabet principle

English is an alphabetic language, therefore, knowing how written letters are spoken gives readers a systematic method of reading unknown words.

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phonics has its greatest impact in kindergarten and first grade

it can begin was soon as a student knows the sounds of a few letters and should continue until all students can decide multi syllabic words confidently and automatically

accesses and intervening should begin early on

use building blocks

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https://readinguniverse.org/explore-teaching-topics/word-recognition/phonics

https://www.readingrockets.org/reading-101/reading-101-learning-modules/course-modules/phonics/practice

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Learning 'b' and 'd' and Reading Short Vowel Words with Aiko, Second Grader
Linda Farrell: Okay. We're gonna have a lesson. And we are gonna have some fun ... Today reading expert Linda Farrell will be working with Aiko, a second grader here at Windy Hill Elementary in Calvert County, Maryland. Ms. Farrell will help Aiko with telling the difference between the letters 'b' and 'd,' keeping her eyes on the text rather than looking up to think of words, and reading words with short vowels. Linda Farrell: Do you ever get your 'b's and 'd's mixed up? Linda Farrell: Sometimes? Well, let's see if we can't fix that.
Linda Farrell: Aiko confuses 'b's and 'd's. She's in the second grade. And it's going to get in the way of her reading. So we have to fix that problem. Lots of children confuse 'b's and 'd's. They look alike. It's a ball and a stick. So we know we have to straighten that out, because that's going to hurt your reading because there are lots of words with 'b's and 'd's.
Linda Farrell: We're gonna work on fixing that. So we're gonna learn about our 'b' hand. Have you ever used your 'b' hand?
Linda Farrell: They have a 'b' hand. Their 'b' hand, it looks like a 'b.' Here's the circle. Here's the line. And we teach them to not guess and to slow down and compare your hand to the letter.
Linda Farrell: This is your 'b' hand, okay? So I'm gonna put this little rubber band on you, so you can remember which one's your 'b' hand. So which one's your 'b' hand? Aiko: This one. Linda Farrell: Okay.
Linda Farrell: I don't tell a kindergartener, a first grader, or a second grader, "It's your left hand," because they don't know which one is their left hand. Sometimes I don't even know which one's my left hand. When we first teach it, we put something on their hand. We might put a sticker. I put a rubber band on Aiko's hand so that when I say, "Where's your 'b' hand?" she's got something that reminds her. Three lessons she won't need the rubber band anymore. She'll know what it is. Some kids get it right away.
Linda Farrell: Would you put your 'b' hand up like this ... and make a fist. And then put your finger out. Okay? That is your 'b' hand. And I'm gonna show you why it's your 'b' hand. Go like this. We put this down here. And this letter is a 'b.' And your hand looks like this letter. Can you see that? We have the circle right here. Where's the circle on the letter? Point to the circle on the letter. And where's the circle on your hand? Yeah. Right there. Where's the stick on the letter? Show me a stick on your finger. This is your 'b' hand because the stick is on the same side of the circle as your finger. So your finger and your, and the stick are on the same side of the circle.
Linda Farrell: Lots of kids get 'b's and 'd's mixed up - kindergarten, first and second grade. It does not mean that they have dyslexia. Students who have dyslexia have phonological processing issues. They do not differentiate sounds easily. Their problems are primarily related to phonological awareness. 'B/d' is about shapes. That is not about sounds.
Linda Farrell: Will you put your 'b' hand by the 'b'? Yep. And is your finger on the same side of the circle as the stick or on a different side of the circle? Aiko: Same side. Linda Farrell: The same side. Yeah. Let's go down here. Is this a 'b' or a 'd'? Linda Farrell: Okay. And when you answer, I want you to look down here and compare it. Here's what you did. You went [looking upward]. Well, you're not gonna figure it out unless you look and you compare. Okay. So you have to look and say, "Ooh, I can tell." So is that a 'b' or a 'd'? Ms. Farrell's explicit lesson about recognizing the shape of the letter 'b' will take some time to sink in for Aiko. And there's a common habit she'll need to deal with. When Aiko is working on identifying a letter, she often looks up to think, looking away from the letter.
Linda Farrell: The answer to what is an incorrect letter or an incorrect word is in the print. And we have to teach Aiko to keep her eyes on the print, on the words, when she's reading, or the letters. I've worked with many kids that have this same difficulty. And I'll say, "Keep your eyes on the words," and they can't do it, because their habit is so strong that they can't try to do what I'm asking them to do and remember to keep their eyes down. So we just practice keeping your eyes down.
Linda Farrell: We're gonna practice looking down here, okay? So I'm gonna ask you a question, and you can't look up until I go like this [pounds fist], okay? So you keep looking down. Don't look up. Look down. Look down. Look down. Look down. [pounds fist] Now you can look up. Okay. Let's try it again. Look down. Look down. Look down. [pounds fist] Eventually, Aiko will need to have images of words stored in her brain. This is critical to the immediate word recognition necessary for fluent reading. When students say a word without looking at it, they miss opportunities to develop those images. Linda Farrell: So hold your hand up here. So I'm gonna go 'a,' cause I don't need my 'b' hand. But do I need my 'b' hand for that letter? Linda Farrell: Yes, I do, cause that's a 'b' or a 'd.' So I have to put my 'b' hand and ... let me see. Is that a 'b' or a 'd'? Which one do you think? Ohp. Where are you gonna look? Linda Farrell: Yes. Okay. Is that a 'b' or a 'd'? Linda Farrell: Let's try that. Put your 'b' hand next to that. Okay. Is your finger on the same or a different side? Aiko: Different. Linda Farrell: Different. So is that a 'b' or a 'd'? Linda Farrell: Yes. And we're gonna keep looking down. Remember? You don't get to look up until I stomp. Okay? So now, I want you ... we're gonna go just right to here. Okay? So watch me. 'a, d, s, b.' You do it. Okay. Put your hand up here for the 'a.' Okay. Do it. Aiko: 'a, d, s, b'? Linda Farrell: Okay. Now. See how far away your hand is? You gotta go like this. And you know where you looked when you read? You looked at me. But where are you supposed to be looking? Linda Farrell: Yep. At the letter. So. Okay. So we did those four. You do these four.
Linda Farrell: And this is isolated practice. I see lots of teachers who use a 'b' and 'd' hand or a 'b' hand. But they only do it when the kid misses a word. So, "Oh, you read 'bog' as 'dog.' Use your 'b' hand." You don't have to use your 'b' hand. If it's not "bog," it's "dog." We've gotta have isolated practice to rewire the brain ... to stop guessing and start looking. And that's what we did with Aiko. Aiko has pretty significant 'b/d' issues. With this kind of practice, she could solve her 'b/d' issues, I believe, in three to four weeks if we did this every day.
Linda Farrell: You got it. Do you think you can do 10 in a row? Linda Farrell: I think you can. Let's try it. Okay. Aiko: 'x, b, d, a' Linda Farrell: [whispering] Hand down. Is your finger on the same side or a different side? Aiko: Different, so it's a 'd.' Linda Farrell: Yes. Okay. Aiko: 'o, b, c, d, j' Linda Farrell: Ten out of 10! That's ... After a little more practice with 'b' and 'd,' Ms. Farrell will help Aiko work on another skill ... reading short vowel words without sounding them out aloud first Linda Farrell: Can you just read these words right here? Linda Farrell: Could you read these words right here please? Linda Farrell: Could you check and see if that's a 'b' or a 'd'? Use your 'b' hand. Is that a 'b' or a 'd'? Linda Farrell: It is a 'd.' So what's ... .Linda Farrell: Okay. Linda Farrell: What's the word? Linda Farrell: Look down. Always keep your eyes on the words. Linda Farrell: Okay. You got five words right. Can you touch and say that word? And Aiko will need to lean on her new skills ... distinguishing between 'b' and 'd' using her 'b' hand, and concentrating on looking down at the words while she thinks.
Aiko: 'd' ... did
Linda Farrell: [whispering] Mouth closed. Linda Farrell: Okay. Now. Two things: you got five right. Can you? What's that word?
Linda Farrell: It is hug. Read them all again.
Linda Farrell: [pounds fist] That was perfect. You kept your eyes down the whole time. Can you check and see if that's a 'b' or a 'd'? Use your hand. Use your 'b' hand. Linda Farrell: Yeah. So what's the word? Linda Farrell: It is. We're gonna go over here ... and again, don't look up until I stomp. So read those. Linda Farrell: You can use your 'b' hand, right there. In one short lesson, Aiko has made a lot of progress. She's learning to keep her head down as she reads, focusing on the letters. She's using her 'b' hand to help her identify her 'b's and 'd's more accurately. And she's reading words as a whole rather than sound by sound. As she practices and works toward mastery of these skills, her reading will get better and better.
Linda Farrell: Okay. You got six out of six right. When you read this word, you went /k - i - t/. Did you hear yourself do that? Okay. It's okay. I want you to do that in your head. So what we're gonna do is we're gonna close our mouth until we're ready to read the word. It goes like this. [pause] Did. [pause] Ad. I have to think those sounds in my head. So can you do that? Let's read these.
We'd like to thank the wonderful students and families at Windy Hill Elementary School in Calvert County, Maryland. We hope that sharing these experiences will help other children who are learning to read. Special thanks also to Kelly Cleland, Julie Donovan, Joanne Harbaugh, and their outstanding colleagues at Windy Hill Elementary ... and to Leanne Meisinger at Calvert County Public Schools. We are deeply grateful to Linda Farrell, Michael Hunter, and Nicole Lubar of Readsters for their invaluable contributions to this project.
Linda Farrell: It is kip. And the other thing is, you looked up. So we're gonna practice looking down. Okay. You're gonna look down, look down here until I stomp, okay? [pounds fist] You can look up. Okay? Do it again. [pounds fist] Now you're gonna read, and you can't look up until I stomp, okay? So remember, you're not gonna look up until I stomp, so I'll hold this, okay? So start reading.

Linda Farrell: Mud. You kept your eyes down and you got 'em all right! Six out of six! Yes!

Produced by Noel Gunther

Edited by Christian Lindstrom

Graphic Design: Tina Chovanec
For more information about teaching reading, please visit www.ReadingRockets.org
Camera: Richard Chisolm

Audio: Dwayne Dell

Reading Rockets is a service of WETA, Washington, D.C.

© 2019, WETA, Washington, D.C.

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Linda Farrell: Okay. We're gonna have a lesson. And we are gonna have some fun ... Today reading expert Linda Farrell will be working with Aiko, a second grader here at Windy Hill Elementary in Calvert County, Maryland.

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High-frequency irregular words are words that appear consistently in text but are not able to be sounded out

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decoding is a reliable strategy for decoding regular words, but sometimes that is not possible with irregular words

knowledge of irregular words is necessary for fluent reading

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should be systematically introduced in a reasonable order and regularly practiced

waiting to introduce these words will encourage students to rely on identifying a word based off of sounding it out rather than identifying it as a whole

an irregular word should be introduced at least once before a student reads it in the connected text

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PRACTICE!!

aim for automaticity

flash cards

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Students need lots of opportunities to practice reading and spelling irregular words so that they can build accuracy and automaticity on the way to fluent reading. We've included free printable student practice activities below. Please download and share them with your colleagues!

Before your students begin the activities, make sure that they understand how to complete them. You can model the activities in a whole-group setting or in a small group.

Once students are familiar with the activity, they'll be ready to work on the activities independently, either at their seats, in a center, or in a small group.

Keep an eye out for students who may need extra support and be ready to step in and scaffold as needed. It's helpful to have a recording sheet or another way for students to show their work so you can monitor their understanding. Some students may need quick, explicit, and positive corrections, while others may benefit from additional instruction.

Heart Word Flash Cards with Sentence Generation

Heart Word Flash Cards is a fun activity in which students create their own flash cards to help them read and spell high-frequency words with irregular spellings. Students write the word, mark the "heart part" or the part that doesn't follow regular spelling rules, and then practice reading and spelling the words on the cards. You can extend this activity by having students use the heart word in a sentence.

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Student Activities for Irregularly Spelled Words

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Find classroom activities that you can use to guide students in practicing irregularly spelled high-frequency words.

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to read words in text fluently and accurately, the Brian's orthographic processor must learn to recognize common letters patterns adj recurring word parts

when skilled readers encounter a multisyllabic word, they automatically break it up into smaller united based on brains memory of common patterns from other words

flexible syllabication

breaking up words into spoken syllables, matching the spoken syllables to their spellings, and then blending the segments form a recognizable word.