How Can I Help My First Grader Become A Better Reader? Reading and Word Attack Strategies

Reading and Word Attack Strategies Reading is so much more than just sounding out words. Good readers use a variety of strategies to help them understand the text. Reading is a multifaceted process involving word recognition, comprehension, fluency, and motivation.

Sometimes you can identify words without being able to construct much meaning from them. Read the opening lines of Lewis Carroll's poem, "Jabberwocky," and you'll see what I mean. 'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: All mimsy were the borogoves, And the mome raths outgrabe.

Finally, sometimes you can identify words and comprehend them, but if the processes don't come together smoothly, reading will still be a labored process. For example, try reading the following sentence: It isn't as if the words are difficult to identify or understand, but the spaces make you pause betwe en words, which means your reading is less fluent.

Reading in its fullest sense involves weaving together word recognition and comprehension in a fluent manner. Hopefully these reading and word attack strategies will help you guide your child towards reading success.

Make Predictions Helping your child make predictions will encourage active reading and keep him/her interested.

Retell and Summarize Retelling the story in his/her own words helps to build comprehension. It also allows students to discriminate between main ideas and minor details.

Making Connections Connecting the text to your child’s experiences and knowledge helps them to personalize the information. It sparks interest and builds comprehension.

Story Talk Talking about what you read can help your child develop language and thinking skills.

Word Attack Strategies The strategies help your child to decode, pronounce, and understand unfamiliar words.

Use Picture Clues Look at the picture. Are there people, objects, or actions in the picture that might make sense in the sentence?

Sound Out the Word Touch each letter moving from left to right through the word. Blend the sounds together and try to say the word Not all words can be “sound it out” words, some contain special sounds or follow a different rule. Words in motion

Look for Chunks in the Word Look for familiar letter chunks. (See handout)They may be sounds/symbols, prefixes, suffixes, endings, whole words, or base words. Read each chunk by itself. Then blend the chunks together and sound out the word.

Connect To a Word You Know Think of a word that looks like the unfamiliar word. Compare the familiar word to the unfamiliar word. Look for like chunks and apply to the unfamiliar word.

Reread the Sentence Read the sentence more than once. Think about what word would make sense in the sentence. Try the word and see if the sentence makes sense.

Keep Reading Read past the unfamiliar word and look for clues. If the word is repeated, compare the second sentence to the first. What word makes sense in both?

Use Prior Knowledge Think about what you know about the story. (What has happened, what might happen next) Do you know a word that might make sense in the sentence? Try it.

Special Sounds to Know About

Blends Blends are two or three consonants grouped together, with each letter keeping its own sound. (see handout)

Consonant Digraphs A consonant digraph is a combination of two consonants sounds that together represent a new sound. Some examples of consonant digraphs are: sh--- shop ch--- chin th--- thin wh---- what ck---- duck ph--- photo qu--- queenng----sang

Short Vowel Sounds “This letter says his short name.” When there is a single vowel in a short word or syllable, the vowel usually makes his short sound. These short vowels usually appear at the beginning of the word or between two consonants. Examples of short vowels are found in these words: c a t, e n d, p i g, l o g, b u s Okie Vowels

Long Vowel Sounds “This letter says his long name.” When a short word or syllable ends with a vowel/consonant --e combination, the vowel is usually long and the "e" at the end of the word is silent (this rule doesn't apply in all cases). Examples of a VCe combination are: b a k e, r i d e, p o l e, t u n e

Long Vowels When a word or syllable has a single vowel and it appears at the end of the word or syllable, the vowel usually makes the long sound. Examples are: no he po/ny

Vowel Digraphs If two vowels are beside each other in a word or syllable, the first vowel is usually long while the second vowel remains silent. Examples of vowel digraphs are: ai– maid ee-- sweet ea--bean oa---- boat ay-----tray “The first one does the talking, the second one does the walking.” This rule does not apply to diphthongs.

Vowel Diphthongs Vowel diphthong refers to the blending of two vowels sounds, both vowel sounds are usually heard and they make a gliding sound. Examples of vowel diphthongs include: oi--- boil oy----- toy au---- haul aw----- saw ew----- new ow---- cow oo---- moon oo----- look ou--- mouth

R-Controlled Vowels When a vowel is followed by the letter "r", the vowel does not make the long nor short sound but is considered "r- controlled". Examples of "r-controlled" vowels are: ar--- car er--- fern ir--- bird or---corn ur--- nurse R is a bully!!

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