Transcript Building Word Automaticity

Reading Words: The
Instructional Road to
Automaticity
Dr. Kathleen J. Brown
Director: University of Utah Reading Clinic
www.uurc.org
801-265-3951
Expert Reading=Word Rec X Comp
 Word Recognition is
Automatic



accurate
fast
effortless
 Comprehension is both
Automatic & Strategic

accurate, fast, effortless

know how to troubleshoot
flexible
persistent


(Adams, 1990; Rayner, Foorman, Perfetti, Pesetsky, & Seidenberg, 2001)
Novice Reading=Word Rec X Comp
 Word Recognition is
Necessarily Strategic



often inaccurate
slow
effortful
 Comprehension is both
Automatic & Strategic

accurate, fast, effortless

know how to troubleshoot
flexible
persistent


(Adams, 1990; Rayner, Foorman, Perfetti, Pesetsky, & Seidenberg, 2001)
Novice Reading=Word Rec X Comp
 Word Recognition Must
 Word Recognition is
Become Automatic.
Necessarily Strategic:
 Most children need explicit,



often inaccurate
slow
effortful
systematic instruction
phonics & practice in text.
 Some need basic word
rec. intervention!
 A few need intensive word
rec. intervention!
Age is Almost Irrelevant…
Phonics & Text Should
Target the Child’s
Instructional Level & Move
as Mastery is Achieved!!!!
Identify Child’s Instructional Level:
Text That Can Be Read With:
 at least 93% accuracy, and rate of:







primer (mid G1)- at least 30 wpm
end G1 - at least 40 wpm
mid G2 – at least 60 wpm
end G2 - at least 80 wpm
mid G3 - at least 80 wpm
end G3 – at least 110 wpm
end G4 – at least 120 wpm
Three Questions to Ask Every
Day about Every Child:
1. Right now, what is already “in this child’s
head” for these words:
- cup?
- spurt?
- skullduggery?
a.k.a. representation in memory
2. Where should I go next with phonics to extend
what is “in the head?”
3. What type of text is best for extending what is
“in the head?”
IMPLICATION:
Phonics and Text Type should change
over the course of development to:
1. reinforce what is already known
and
2. help the child progress as quickly
as possible
Know the “Race Course” of
Word Recognition Development
STARTING LINE
 Learning About Print

pre-alphabetic to partial alphabetic reader
 K students
 Breaking the Code (a.k.a. Glued to Print) ****
 partial alphabetic to full alphabetic reader
 early to midG1
(Ehri, 2005; Stanovich, 2000)
What Needs To Be In Place to
“Break the Code?”
 Letter-sound correspondences (e.g., c = /k/)
 Concept of word (1-to-1 voice to print match)
 Identify and isolate first consonant phoneme
in words
 Short vowel sounds
What Kind of Phonics? Text?
Phonics:
- explicitly teach blending a.k.a. “sound it out” with 3
letter, 1 syllable words with 1 short vowel
- drill vowel sound cards
- speed check for accuracy & fluency (no<35 in
1min; no>2 errors)
Text Type: interesting texts with repetition of easy high
frequency words; most other words are decodable
(e.g., A Present for Baby Bear, Bob Books)
Text Levels: 4-8 (approximately) = oct-dec G1
Phonics: Short Vowels – Closed
Syllables
cat
win
mom
Phonics: Short Vowels – Closed
Syllables
cat
win
mom
job
pig
lap
Phonics: Short Vowels – Closed
Syllables
cat
win
mom
lap
pig
job
hop
rock
van
flat
hit
chip
High Freq. Words for G1 Level
Readers (beginners & strugglers)
 get a list (e.g., Dolch)
 start with easiest & gradually complex
 use “flash” presentation
 read off the deck
 sort into 2 piles: automatic vs. wrong or >3
second hesitation
 re-do “trouble” pile
 when deck n=25, retire 15 and build up again
 for G1 readers, do not build “torture decks”
 every “trouble” word needs 5 fairly solid words
Three Questions to Ask Every
Day about Every Child:
1. Right now, what is already “in this child’s
head” for these words:
- cup?
- spurt?
- skullduggery?
a.k.a. representation in memory
2. Where should I go next with phonics to extend
what is “in the head?”
3. What type of text is best for extending what is
“in the head?”
Know the “Race Course” of
Word Recognition Development
STARTING LINE
 Learning About Print

pre-alphabetic to partial alphabetic reader
 K students
 Breaking the Code (a.k.a. Glued to Print) ****
 partial alphabetic to full alphabetic reader
 early to midG1
 Going for Fluency ****
 full alphabetic to early consolidated reader
 endG1 – endG2
PARTIAL FINISH LINE & onward…
What Needs To Be In Place to “Go
for Fluency?”
 everything in the “learning about print” phase
 automaticity for 50-75 high frequency words
(e.g., the, said)
 ability to quickly blend unfamiliar 3-5 letter 1
syllable words
What Kind of Phonics? Text?
Phonics:
- explicitly teach chunking strategy with 4 and 5
letter 1 syllable words with most common
phonograms (e.g., turn  spurt)
- augment & drill vowel sound cards
- speed check for accuracy & fluency (no<35 in
1min; no>2 errors)
Text Type: interesting “easy reader” texts that
gradually increase in difficulty (e.g., Sammy the
Seal  Frog and Toad  Nate the Great)
Text Levels: 8-12/16 (approximately) = jan-june G1
Phonics: Vowel Patterns – Syllable
Types
cat
lake
barn
tail
lap
gate
park
rain
van
paid
sharp
flame
flat
brain
High Frequency Words for G2+
Level Struggling Readers
 get a list (e.g., Dolch)
 gradually build a word deck from oral reading
errors & list
 use “flash” presentation




read off the deck
sort into 2 piles: automatic vs. wrong or >1.5
second hesitation
re-do “trouble” pile
when deck n=25, retire some and add as
needed
Irregular & High Frequency Words
 For persistent “trouble” words, try:
 Letter-Sound-Trouble Analysis
 Make-n-Break
 2,2,&2
 For persistent “trouble” words, child must:
 Say word aloud as often as possible




Ask “What word?”
Spell word aloud
Physical manipulatives can help!
Visualization can help!
Three Questions to Ask Every
Day about Every Child:
1. Right now, what is already “in this child’s
head” for these words:
- cup?
- spurt?
- skullduggery?
a.k.a. representation in memory
2. Where should I go next with phonics to extend
what is “in the head?”
3. What type of text is best for extending what is
“in the head?”
What Kind of Phonics? Text?
Phonics:
- explicitly teach syllable types, division, &
morphemic knowledge (e.g., skullduggery,
disruptive)
a.k.a. representation in memory
Text Type: interesting texts with some control that
gradually increase in difficulty (e.g., Marvin Redpost
 Magic Tree House  )
Text Levels: 18 and up = end G1 and on
Types of Syllables: Driven by
Orthography & Morphology
 cup, branch
 Closed syllables
 the, of, who, enough
 High Frequency &
Irregular
 lake, barn, tail
 Vowel patterns
 hopped, pretest,
 Words with affixes and
provoke, incandescent
polysyllabic words
(Henry, 1990; Moats, 2000; Morris, 2005; UURC, 2006;
Wilson, 2006)
“Breaking Up” Big Words: Syllable
Types & Morphemes
velvet
decline
hobo
rumple
incandescent
boisterous
confirmatory
disruptive
Three Questions to Ask Every
Day about Every Child:
1. Right now, what is already “in this child’s
head” for these words (e.g., cup, burn,
skullduggery)?
a.k.a. representation in memory
2. Where should I go next with phonics to extend
current representations?
3. What type of text is best practice for
extending current representations?
Resources for Educators & Parents
 Discover Intensive Phonics
 Wilson Language/Fundations
 LETRS (Language Essentials for Teachers of
Reading & Spelling)
 Texts by Louisa Moats, Marcia Henry, Isabel
Beck, Words Their Way group
 University of Utah Reading Clinic (UURC)
 801-265-3951 or www.uurc.org