Chapter 7: Irregular Word Reading Teaching Reading Sourcebook 2nd Edition

Irregular Words: Regular words are decodable words. In a beginning reading program there are two types of irregular words. Permanently irregular words: These contain one or more sound/spellings that are unique to that word or a few words and are not completely decodable. Temporarily irregular words: These have one or more of the sound/spellings in the word that have not yet been introduced. Students lack sufficient letter/sound knowledge to decode the word.

High-Frequency Words High-frequency words (sometimes called sight words because students must be able to identify them by sight) are words that appear often in print. 100 words account for almost 50% of the words used in text in schools and colleges. Almost 25% of these 100 words are irregular. They include function words (e.g. articles, prepositions, pronouns, conjunctions) that are critical for comprehension. High-frequency word lists include Dolch Basic Sight Word Vocabulary and Fry’s 1,000 Instant Words. See pages 243-245.

Teaching Irregular Words Students must practice to achieve automatic recognition of irregular words. Repeated exposure in lists, word walls, word banks, and connected text increases sight recognition. The more difficult an irregular word is, the more need for practice. Difficulty is based on the number of irregularities in the word; whether the word is in a student’s oral vocabulary. It is important to teach irregular words systematically and explicitly and provide practice in text. Word wall display previously taught words presented alphabetically or by similar word patterns (would, could, should).

When to Teach, Assess, and Intervene Irregular words can be introduced after students can read regular CVC words at a rate of about one word every three seconds. It is important not to overwhelm students by introducing too many words at a time. For students at or above grade level, monitor progress every 4 to 6 weeks. Monitor weekly for students below grade level. Irregular word/high-frequency word reading assessment includes screening and progress monitoring. Monitor word reading automaticity by having students read from a list of previously taught irregular or high-frequency regular words.