BalancedReading.com -- Decoding

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Get the Abecedarian Reading Assessment here Return to the BalancedReading.com Home Page	Word-Study Instruction -- Lessons for Building Decoding Efficiency Sebastian Wren, Ph.D. © BalancedReading.com, 2009 (Thanks also to Amy Keane who helped write some of the lessons. Scroll to the bottom of the page for the lessons.) When you come across a long word you have never seen before, do you sound it out letter-by-letter? Chances are, you don't -- sounding words out letter-by-letter is horribly inefficient. Young children who are just beginning to learn to read typically, briefly, go through a phase in their development of "sounding out" words letter-by-letter. That's an important stage in the development of readers – but more experienced readers develop much more efficient decoding strategies. The key to reading success is to develop efficient reading skills, and it is very inefficient to read words letter-by-letter, left-to-right. Instead, efficient readers recognize patterns in the word, and process words as "chunks." There are certain letter clusters that occur in English words very often, and our brains learn to process those letters together like a single unit. For example, why would any experienced reader "sound out" the letters "ING" or "PRE" or "IES." Those patterns of letters occur together so often, our brains just treat them as one chunk. The letters "ENT," for example, occur in that order in over 4000 different words in the English language – likewise the letters "ATE," "EST," and "INE." If you know how to pronounce LATE, DATE, and GATE, then words like FATE, RATE, and GRATE should pose no challenge. Once children learn to "sound out" simple, short words letter by letter, it is time to teach them to pay attention to the word parts and recognize chunks of letters with fluency and automaticity. Working with urban schools serving children from linguistically and economically diverse backgrounds, I saw a desperate need to teach students these fluent decoding and "chunking" skills. Many students in 3rd, 4th, even 5th grade in the schools where I worked were struggling to decode simple words like GREEN, PAINT, and CART. Amazingly, when I would write the word "ART" on a piece of paper (for example), the student could identify it immediately, but the same student would struggle with words like CART, SMART, and START. Clearly nobody had taught these students to "read by analogy," or to look for word parts that they know from other words. The teachers I worked with understood the crippling nature of these decoding problems, but they typically did not know what to do. They had very little time for basic decoding instruction. So, I created a lesson format that only takes 10 to 15 minutes to teach. This lesson format is rapid and routine, so students learn to move very quickly through the steps. While the routine is consistent, the content or focus of the lesson can change every day. The combination of rapid and familiar routine with a changing focus makes this a fun game for the kids. In addition to teaching basic decoding and fluency skills, I also wanted to reinforce some other literacy skills sorely lacking in our diverse population of students. I wanted to include a little vocabulary instruction, grammar, and writing, all packed into a quick 15 minute routine. I was aiming for simple and efficient. You don't need to cut out letter tiles. You don't need to plan any lessons. I have several dozen of them here for you, and I'll keep making more. When practiced, this entire routine takes just 15 minutes. At first, more time may be needed, but if it is done every day, it becomes routine, and the entire exercise can be done very quickly. This is an excellent use of time that might otherwise be used poorly, such as first thing in the morning, right before or after lunch or recess or right before going home for the day. Plans for Teaching Word Study Lessons Introduction and Overview of Word Study Lessons (Including instructions and tips for the lessons -- Definitely read this first.) Student Word Study Response Sheet Level 3 Word-Study Lessons: Focus on the letter pattern A_E Focus on the letter pattern AI Focus on the letter pattern ANK Focus on the letter pattern AR Focus on the letter pattern AY Focus on the letter pattern BL Focus on the letter pattern E_E Focus on the letter pattern EA (a) Focus on the letter pattern EA (b) Focus on the letter pattern EAR Focus on the letter pattern EE (a) Focus on the letter pattern EE (b) Focus on the letter pattern I_E Focus on the letter pattern ILL Focus on the letter pattern Long Y Focus on the letter pattern ND Focus on the letter pattern O_E Focus on the letter pattern OA Focus on the letter pattern ORE Level 4 Word-Study Lessons: Focus on the letter pattern AIN Focus on the letter pattern AIR Focus on the letter pattern ALL Focus on the letter pattern ANT Focus on the letter pattern AR Focus on the letter pattern BLE Focus on the letter pattern EA Focus on the letter pattern EAT Focus on the letter pattern EE Focus on the letter pattern ENT Focus on the letter pattern GR Focus on the letter pattern IGH Focus on the letter pattern ONG Focus on the letter pattern OW Focus on the letter pattern PRO Focus on the letter pattern STR Focus on the letter pattern TCH Focus on the letter pattern THR Focus on the letter pattern TION Focus on the letter pattern WH Level 5 Word-Study Lessons: Focus on the letter pattern ABLE Focus on the letter pattern ACC (a) Focus on the letter pattern ACC (b) Focus on the letter pattern ANCE Focus on the letter pattern DG Focus on the letter pattern EAT Focus on the letter pattern EIGH Focus on the letter pattern ENT Focus on the letter pattern EXC Focus on the letter pattern IBLE Focus on the letter pattern IE (a) Focus on the letter pattern IE (b) Focus on the letter pattern MENT Focus on the letter pattern SHR Focus on the letter pattern SION (a) Focus on the letter pattern SION (b) Focus on the letter pattern TION (a) Focus on the letter pattern TION (b) BalancedReading.com • P. O. Box 300471 • Austin, TX 78703 Do you have comments or questions about this site? Would you like to contribute material or information to this site? Contact Us. Last Updated 11-22-09

The letters "ENT," for example, occur in that order in over 4000 different words in the English language – likewise the letters "ATE," "EST," and "INE." If you know how to pronounce LATE, DATE, and GATE, then words like FATE, RATE, and GRATE should pose no challenge. Once children learn to "sound out" simple, short words letter by letter, it is time to teach them to pay attention to the word parts and recognize chunks of letters with fluency and automaticity.

Working with urban schools serving children from linguistically and economically diverse backgrounds, I saw a desperate need to teach students these fluent decoding and "chunking" skills. Many students in 3rd, 4th, even 5th grade in the schools where I worked were struggling to decode simple words like GREEN, PAINT, and CART. Amazingly, when I would write the word "ART" on a piece of paper (for example), the student could identify it immediately, but the same student would struggle with words like CART, SMART, and START. Clearly nobody had taught these students to "read by analogy," or to look for word parts that they know from other words.

The teachers I worked with understood the crippling nature of these decoding problems, but they typically did not know what to do. They had very little time for basic decoding instruction.

So, I created a lesson format that only takes 10 to 15 minutes to teach. This lesson format is rapid and routine, so students learn to move very quickly through the steps. While the routine is consistent, the content or focus of the lesson can change every day. The combination of rapid and familiar routine with a changing focus makes this a fun game for the kids.

In addition to teaching basic decoding and fluency skills, I also wanted to reinforce some other literacy skills sorely lacking in our diverse population of students. I wanted to include a little vocabulary instruction, grammar, and writing, all packed into a quick 15 minute routine. I was aiming for simple and efficient. You don't need to cut out letter tiles. You don't need to plan any lessons. I have several dozen of them here for you, and I'll keep making more.

When practiced, this entire routine takes just 15 minutes. At first, more time may be needed, but if it is done every day, it becomes routine, and the entire exercise can be done very quickly. This is an excellent use of time that might otherwise be used poorly, such as first thing in the morning, right before or after lunch or recess or right before going home for the day.

Plans for Teaching Word Study Lessons

Introduction and Overview of Word Study Lessons (Including instructions and tips for the lessons -- Definitely read this first.)

Student Word Study Response Sheet