Teaching Sight Words According to Science ODE Literacy Academy 2019 Why are we d o in g t h is ? Alig n men t w it h Ohio’s Plan t o Raise Literacy Achievement

3 Why are we here?

Ac c o r d in g t o t h e 2 0 17 Na t io n a l Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores, 37% of our nation’s fou rth - grade students were proficient readers. Why are we here?

● Nearly 30 percent of Ohio’s K- 3 students are reading below grade level. ● Nearly 40 percent of students in grades 3- 8 are not proficient on the OST in ELA. ● More than 50 percent of graduating seniors taking the ACT do not meet the college and career readiness benchmark for reading. Today’s Outcomes

P a r t ic ip a n t s w ill… ● Ap p ly t h e t h e o r e t ic a l m o d e ls o f t h e S im p le Vie w o f Re a d in g and Seidenburg’s 4 Part Processing System for Word Recognition to instructional practices to teach words “by s ig h t .” ● Understand the connection between phonology and orthography when storing words for automatic retrieval. ● Demonstrate instructional strategies. Word Language Reading Recognition X Comprehension = Comprehension

Phonological Background Awareness Knowledge

Decoding (Phonics, Vocabulary Advanced Phonics) Language

Sight Word Based on the Simple View of Recognition Verbal Reasoning Reading by Gough and Tunmer, 1986

Th e Simple View of Read in g 7 Wh a t is a Sig h t Wo r d ?

A sight word is any word that is recognized in s t a n t ly a n d e ffo r t le s s ly , b y s ig h t , w h e t h e r it is s p e lle d r e g u la r ly o r ir r e g u la r ly BeAr bear bEaR bear

Bear bear bear bEa r Sig h t w or d vocabulary is NOT based on visu al memory / visu al sk ills!

- Dr . David Kilp at r ick , Plain Talk Ab ou t Lear n in g Con fer en ce 2018 Pa st Pr a ct ices

● For years teachers have been teaching high frequency words through rote memorization

● It is assumed that high frequency words are special sets of words that need to be memorized and cannot be learned using sound- s y m b o l r e la t io n s h ip s Developmental Relationship Between P h o n o lo g ic a l S k ills a n d Wo r d Le v e l Re a d in g

● Input and storage are not the same thing. ○ In p u t is v is u a l. S t o r a g e is o r t h o g r a p h ic , p h o n o lo g ic a l, a n d s e m a n t ic . ● Wo r d r e a d in g c o r r e la t e s s t r o n g ly w it h p h o n o lo g ic a l s k ills . ○ Phonological awareness and word reading .5 to .7 ○ Visual memory and word reading .1 to .2

- Dr. David Kilpatrick, Plain Talk About Learning Conference 2018 Becomin g a sk illed r ead er w it h a h u g e repertoire of sight words r equ ir es k n ow ledge of ph on emic segmen t at ion , let t er -sound correspondences, and spelling patterns.

(Ehr i, 1980, 1995, 1998) Sound-spelling correspondences • Cr u cial at b eg in n in g st ag es of r ead in g • Necessary when encountering words. • Decreases as personal lexicon is developed

Reading words by sight • Increases fluency • Reduces reliance on laborious decoding efforts • Enables more cognitive deskspace to be used for comprehension

(McEwen, 2002) Usin g w h ole- w or d memor iz at ion is an in efficien t an d ver y d ifficu lt w ay t o acqu ir e n ew sig h t w or d s.

Encounters required to learn a new word ● Students who can decode Decoders: need 4 quality encounters. 4 t imes ● Students who can’t yet decode require 30 or more encounters to memorize the word as a w h ole.

(McEwen, 2002) Non-decoders: 30 t imes Kilp at r ick on sig h t w or d s an d flu en cy

● Readers recall the sequence of letters, not the look of the word.

● Teach the sequence of letters through orthographic mapping.

● F lu e n c y is t h e b e s t t h e r m o m e t e r fo r r e a d in g s k ills .

● When fluent, readers remember the words they read.

● To increase personal lexicons, readers need to read more words. ( Kilp a t r ic k , 2 0 19 )

16 Orthographic Mapping ● Orthographic mapping is the mental process we use to turn an unfamiliar written word into an in s t a n t ly a c c e s s ib le , a n d fa m ilia r “s ig h t w o r d ” ● Orthographic mapping requires: ○ Letter - sound proficiency ○ Phonemic proficiency (this goes well beyond what is tested on our universal screeners) ○ The ability to establish a relationship between sounds and letters unconsciously while reading

Kilp a t r ic k , 2 0 18 How We Map Transparent Words

(words with one- to- one correspondence) Wh o le - word pronunciations are phonemically analyzed and then connected with printed letter strings

Phonological Long Term Memory Activation /rĕd/ Wh o le - Word Pronunciation

P r o n u n c ia t io n P h o n e m ic a lly An a ly z e d /r/ /ĕ/ /d/ Letter Sound Knowledge Orthographic Mapping Written Form of Word red

Kilp a t r ic k , 2 0 15 How We Map Opaque Words (regular words without one- to- one correspondence) Wh o le - word pronunciations are phonemically analyzed and then connected with printed letter strings

Phonological Long Term Memory Activation /sīd/ Wh o le - Word Pronunciation

P r o n u n c ia t io n P h o n e m ic a lly An a ly z e d /s/ /ī/ /d/ Letter Sound Knowledge Orthographic Mapping Written Form of Word s i d e

Kilp a t r ic k , 2 0 15 How We Map Irregular Words (exception words) Wh o le - word pronunciations are phonemically analyzed and then connected with printed letter strings

Phonological Long Term Memory Activation /sĕd/ Wh o le - Word Pronunciation

P r o n u n c ia t io n P h o n e m ic a lly An a ly z e d /s/ /ĕ/ /d/ Letter Sound Knowledge Orthographic Mapping Written Form of Word s a i d

Kilp a t r ic k , 2 0 15 Developmental Relationship Between P h o n o lo g ic a l S k ills a n d Wo r d Le v e l Re a d in g School Pysched Podcast 73 As s e s s in g a n d S u p p o r t in g Re a d in g Diffic u lt ie s w / Dr . Kilp a t r ic k

Dr. Da vid Kilpa trick, founding member of The Reading League, spoke masterfully on "School Psyched Podcast" about the power of orthographic mapping for automatic word recognition and the impact this has on fluency and comprehension. Tea ch Phonemic Awareness!

Want better sight word recognition and fluency? zesk How should we teach sight words?

1. Make a connection to the SOUNDS in the w o r d s !! 2. Even the “rule breakers” follow some r u le s . 3. Teach kids word parts that they need to know “by heart.” Rethinking Instruction

● Students learn high frequency words according to patterns

● We can “rethink” instructional strategies when introducing these words

● High frequency words are decodable words with some “rule breakers” or heart words.

● Student s ar e abl e t o make sense of spel l ing pat t er ns f or t hese wor ds

Sort Words by Phonics Patterns

● Sort the sight words in your kindergarten and first grade curricula by phonics patterns or by sounds (phonology) ● Re- teach the phonics patterns and the words, making a connection to the sounds. Begin with phonemic awareness, then move to phonics ● Review - oft en ! 31 Heart Words

● Students need to “know by heart”

● Irregularly spelled high frequency words

● Some parts of the word are decodable

● Other parts of the word have to be Hear t learned by heart Wo r d s ! Flash Words and Heart Words FLASH WORDS HEART WORDS can f r om did been not kind had only

HEART FLASH Teaching Flash Words & Heart Words

Flash Words should be introduced when Mark the irregular part of the word with a they fit into the phonics pattern being heart. For example, the ai in said would be taught. Say a word and have students marked with a heart because the vowel repeat it. Have the students segment the sound differs from the spelling and the sounds in the word and say the number letters must be learned by heart. of sounds. Have students say each phoneme and say the letter(s) Say the word and name the that spell the phoneme. Write letters each time you trace the correct graphemes and and write the word. say the word. HEART FLASH 35 Ta p It , Ma p It , Gr a p h It

From: 50 Nifty Activities for 5 Components and 3 Tiers of Reading Instruction by Judith Dodson Ta p It , Ma p It , Gr a p h It

h a t

hat

From: 50 Nifty Activities for 5 Components and 3 Tiers of Reading Instruction by Judith Dodson Act ivit y

Play Concentration by SOUND!

● Create a set of, with 2 cards (words) for each sound. ● Limit the total sounds to no run ran more than 10 (20 cards). ● Lay the cards out in 2 separate groups. had has ● Have kids draw one card from each group. ● Th ey can collect t h e p air if off when they match a sound. 41 La n g u a g e Lin k s b y SOUND!

● Create a set of, with 2 cards (words) for each seven sets sound. ● Have the students link up to a partner that has help went a sound in common. They need to be able to was were

read both words. 42 Songs and Stories for Sight Word Learning

● Hum a familiar song or nursery rhyme and replace the lyrics with the letters spelling out sight words. to a familiar tune to spell out wo r d s . ○ Hi Ho the Dairy O : There is no “a” in they… ○ Twinkle Twinkle Little Sta r: B- e - c- a - u - s - e ... Songs and Stories for Sight Word Learning

● Create a story for the visual look of the word. The story it s e lf is n ’t im p o r t a n t , it is ju s t a way to attach the visual look t o t h e c o r r e c t s p e llin g . ● The story can then be used as a prompt for the correct s p e llin g . Skywrite the Sight Words

● Us in g la r g e m u s c le s a n d a straight arm, ask readers to write the word in giant letters. ● For challenge or deep review, have readers close their eyes and write the words. ● Us e a fla s h lig h t t o w r it e t h e w o r d s o n t h e w a ll o r c e ilin g .

Photo: Orton- Gillin g h a m Ap p r o a c h t o S k y Wr it in g Bu ild t h e Sig h t Wor d s

● Let readers explore how the word looks by changing it and then returning to correct spelling. ● Use foam letters, letter tiles or magnetic letters. Ask reader to s p e ll t h e w o r d . ● While they close their eyes, swap the letter order or remove a letter. ● Have the reader identify what is wrong and make the correction. Act ivit y

Vis it in g a n e le m e n t a r y g r a d e c la s s r o o m , y o u s e e s m a ll g r o u p s “working on sight words.” One group, working without teacher support, has a stack of sight word cards and is building the sight words from dough and then writing the words on a worksheet. All were engaged. When asked individual students to read the wo r d s , ⅗ times they were not able to do so.

As an instructional coach or administrator, what is your next step? What Have You Learned Today?

Final Thoughts: ● Research indicates students literacy levels increase when they are able to make a connection to the sounds and patterns within high frequency words rather than rote memorization. ● Remember, some words have “rule breakers” and patterns that can be memorized “by heart.” ● There is a way to teach high frequency words with a purpose! Teaching Sight Words According to Science ODE Literacy Academy 2019

Elizabeth Fessel Early Literacy Specialist, Region 13 [email protected]

Pamela Kennedy, M.Ed. Early Literacy Specialist, Region 4 [email protected]