Standard 2: Reading and Writing Foundations Students will develop foundational skills for reading and writing proficiency by working with sounds, letters, and text

Fluency:  Students will read grade-level text smoothly and accurately, with appropriate expression. 

2.2.F.1 Students will expand their sight word vocabulary by reading regularly- and irregularly-spelled words in isolation and context with increasing automaticity. 

Student Actions

Teacher Actions

• Students read regularly-spelled words automatically  when seen in isolation.

• Students read regularly-spelled words automatically in text.

• Students read irregularly-spelled words automatically when seen in isolation.

• Students read irregularly-spelled words automatically in text.

• Teachers choose a grade-level appropriate set of high-frequency words.

• Teachers introduce a word by 

• writing it so students can see it.

• using the word in a sentence and discussing the characteristics of the word and how it is used in language (part of speech, etc.).

• pointing to the letters in the word. Underline the letters or letter combinations that represent sounds that students know.

• placing a heart or other marking under the sounds that do not represent common spellings such as ‘ai’ in said so students know they have to learn that by heart.

• Modeling how to blend the sounds in words and students practice several times.

• Teachers display words on a sound wall or in a way where words are grouped by spelling patterns. For example, he, she, and we should be grouped together. 

• Teachers monitor and provide opportunities for students to practice reading words in isolation and in text during small-group, whole-group, and center activities.

• Teachers avoid using flashcards as practice until students show some automaticity with the words.

• Teachers monitor and provide opportunities for students to receive feedback on reading words with increasing automaticity in isolation and in text. 

Recommendations

Key Terms & Related Objectives

When students have difficulty developing a sight word vocabulary, teachers can…

• provide cards with words. Have students mark the regular and irregular parts of the word and practice blending sounds and reading the word. 

• provide students with various types of text and have them highlight the identified words and practice reading them in context.

• make up a song or rhyme to help students remember the word. For example, 

• The: I can say ‘thee’ or I can say ‘thuh’, but I always spell it ‘t’ ‘h’ ‘e’.

• have students sort words by similar spelling patterns.

• reteach words using the following procedure:

• Teacher says the word aloud and uses it in a sentence.

• Students spell the word aloud.

• Students trace the letters with fingers while saying each letter out loud.

• Students  write the word in the air.

• Students write the word from memory and then check the word.

• Automaticity: reading without conscious effort or attention to decoding.

• High-Frequency Words: words that occur most often in written English. The majority of these words are regular, or pattern-based. A minority have an irregular or unusual spelling.

• Irregular Words: words that do not follow the principles that govern spelling. Fifty percent of words can be spelled using common spelling patterns. About 36 percent of words can be with common spelling patterns with the exception of one speech sound which is usually a vowel sound. 

• Rate: the speed at which a person reads.

• Sight-Word Vocabulary: a student’s pool of words that are instantly and effortlessly recognized from memory, regardless of whether they are phonetically regular or irregular.

• 2.PWS.1: Decode words through phonics and word analysis. 

• 2.8.R: Independent reading