Superstar Thinking - Word Recognition
Grades 1 & 2
Early readers need to understand letter-sound associations within words and recognize how to manipulate them to decipher new words. With a phonics activity such as "Make a Word" (Cunningham, 1991), children use known letter-sound associations to build a variety of new words by manipulating letters. By doing sorting activities with these words, children learn to recognize frequently used letter/sound patterns in our language. Children can write the words that they build, thereby strengthening the connections between letters and sounds. Consonant blends, digraphs, and variant vowel patterns are introduced over time.There are four categories of activities to help your child learn advanced letter/sound associations:
Phonics activities that encourage children to isolate sounds and link letters and sounds together (Isolate), practice letter/sound associations (Practice); and sounding out words as they spell them ( Write).
Reading in context activities that encourage children to read words in simple, decodable books.
Sight word activities help children learn words that occur frequently in print, enabling them to recognize them instantly.
Fluency activities that encourage children to read words in text immediately and smoothly.
The activities help children deepen their understanding and their ability to recognize the targeted spelling patterns that they are learning. You will want to teach (in the listed sequence) six strategies daily, one from each of the described sections.
Note: Primary strategies should be implemented with children on a daily basis. Alternative strategies can be substituted occasionally for Primary strategies for a change of pace.
Phonics
Isolate
Make a Word (primary)
Practice
Write
Reading Words In Context
Sight Words
Word Banks (primary)