Word Recognition and Fluency
Grades 3 & Up
For students in grades 3 and above, especially those who require support with word recognition, an alternative approach should be employed. Instead of focusing on individual letter-sound associations, the focus of instruction should be on helping students recognize chunks of words. There are several benefits to this approach, including:
Readers look for chunks of words whose sounds remain fairly secure.
Readers learn to segment words by recognizing common spelling patterns.
Identification of multisyllabic words becomes easier as readers recognize various spelling patterns within words.
A major instructional strategy at this level is Glass Analysis (Glass,1971). This strategy provides a list of phonograms, or spelling patterns, that students use when decoding words.
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 sound 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 included 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: All Primary Strategies should be completed with children daily and in sequence. The strategies build upon and reinforce each other. Alternative strategies can be substituted occasionally for primary strategies to provide a change of pace.
Phonics
Isolate
Practice
Write
Reading Words In Context
Sight Words
Fluency
Intervention/Tutoring Lessons for Grades 3 & Up
Click on the buttons below to access tutoring strategies and materials for classroom and in-home use. Presentations can be found in English, Spanish and Arabic.