LEARN IN G SERVICES R E D D E E R PU B L I C SC H O O L S WORD RECOGNITION

Issue 2 : For Parents of Children in Grades 1-5 | Date: November, 2017 In order t o read, children need t o learn and build 5 different areas. They are w ord recognit ion, vocabulary, com prehension, background know ledge and fluency. Teachers use a balanced lit eracy approach t o t each t hese five areas. As parent s, you play an im port ant role in helping our st udent s cont inue in t heir grow t h as readers. Each of t hese five areas w ill be covered in a new slet t er t o suggest st rat egies t hat can be used at hom e. Word Recognit ion is t he recalling of high frequency w ords and using st rat egies t o w ork out less fam iliar w ords. Lit eracy Place

Sight Word Gam es STRATEGY 1: Recall Sight Words There are m any sources for There are different list s of high frequency w ords sight w ord gam es. Play a (t he m ost com m only used w ords in English). The sim ple gam e called Word Dolch sight w ord list is a research based list t hat Treasure Hunt anyw here w ould be a great place t o st art . It can be found at and anyt im e. Have children ht t p:/ / w w w.sight w ords.com / sight -w ords/ dolch/ . look at print docum ent s Sight w ords are im port ant t o reading not only and find t he w ords t hey because t hey are used so oft en, but also because know. Set up challenges t o m any of t hem cannot easily be sounded out . A find and count cert ain sight child w ill st ruggle w it h reading unt il t he child is w ords in m agazines or ads. able t o ident ify and say each w ord quickly, Apps for sm art phones can show ing t hat t hey know t he w ord im m ediat ely. also be used t o pract ice Daily pract ice of 3-5 w ords and t hen adding t o sight w ords. Here are a list t hese w ords once t he first set has been learned is of w ebsit es t o get st art ed:

one of t he m ost effect ive w ays t o have t hese in 1. ht t p:/ / w w w.sight w ords.com / sight -w ords com m and. 2. w w w.t vokids.com 3. https://www.education.com/games (Serravallo, 2015)

Games can be played in the car, at the rink or while waiting for an appointment. These are great moments of time to practice word recognition and use games on electronic devices to reinforce words and reading. St rat egy 2: Word Work

Pract ice looking at part s of w ords t o help w it h put it back t oget her. Ex. underst and - un der st figuring w ords out . This w orks for st udent s of and. all ages. 3. Check t he beginning and t he end of t he w ord. 1. Look at t he root of t he w ord. Take off t he What w ord m akes sense t here? beginnings and endings t o find t he basic w ord. 4. Use a w ord t hat you already know. Look for a Then add t he ot her part s back on t o figure out part of t he w ord t hat is t he sam e as a w ord you t he w ord. Ex. w alking - put our hand over ing know and t hen not ice w hat is different . Try t o out fielder - put your hand over out and er read t he w ord again. 2. Break t he w ord int o part s, say t he part s and Lit eracy Place, 2007

WORD WORK STRATEGY 3: Cont ext Clues (cont inued) - Place a w ord pat t ern Cont ext clues help st udent s st rengt hen t heir skills around at t he t op of a page det erm ining unfam iliar or difficult w ords by having and have your child st udent s realize w hat w ords m ight m ake sense by using collect w ords t hat fit pict ures and w hat t hey already underst and about w hat t here. ie: w ords t hat t hey are reading. begin w it h blends : br, t h t r, st or end w it h When You Com e To A Difficult Vocabulary Word: (Pat t h, ph,rt . Johnson) - Com pare and cont rast - Cover t he w ord up t hen read w hat cam e before and w ords under different aft er t he w ord. headings ie: a list of - Think about anot her w ord or phrase t hat w ould m ake sense. w ords t hat m ust be - Re-read t he sent ence w it h t hat new w ord or phrase sort ed by hard and in place of t he difficult vocabulary w ord. soft / g/ sounds. - Decide if t hat m akes sense (If it does, you probably - Have st udent s collect have a good idea of t he m eaning of t he w ord). w ords t hat w ill be Skip and Ret urn (Serravallo, 2015) part of a cat egory from t ext t hey are - Just say ?m m m ? w hen you don't know a w ord and reading. Ex - w ords keep reading t o t he end of t he sent ence. - Now at t he end of t he sent ence, com e back t o figure from m at h or w ords out w hat t he w ord is. about anim als. - Think about w hat is happening in t he sent ence. - Look at w ords t hat - Now t ry t o read t he w ord. rhym e t o see a Juggle All Three Balls (Serravallo, 2015) pat t ern t o t he language and t o When you get a t ricky w ord t hink of all t hree: What m akes recognize part s of a sense? What sounds right ? What looks right ? Use prom pt s like: w ord t hat t he st udent already know s. - Think about w hat is happening - Think about how book language sounds Lit eacy Place, 2007 - Now check for sight and sound