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Sep 8, 20234 min read

Steps to Teach Reading: Step 3 Orthographic Mapping

Updated: Sep 13, 2023


Do you want to teach your child to read at home? Or perhaps you are looking to support the instruction taking place at school? Whatever your situation, it can be helpful to understand the steps to teach reading.


The majority of children require direct intentional instruction to learn to read effectively:


The process of teaching reading takes time and patience, but children who read effectively are more likely to enjoy reading.


What is Orthographic Mapping?


Orthographic Mapping is essentially the memorization of words in long-term memory so words can be read and understood instantly. When a person is sounding out and blending sounds to make words, it is very difficult to simultaneously understand the meaning. This means that orthographic mapping is critical to building fluency and comprehension in reading.


Orthographic mapping is made up of three components:

  1. Automatic letter-sound associations

  2. Proficient Phonemic Awareness

  3. Connecting the sounds of oral words with the letter(s) for quick retrieval

Once children are able to recognize a word without sounding it out, it is stored in their long-term memory and it becomes a sight word. Fluent adult readers have 30,000 to 60,000 sight words stored in their memory.


Note: Often times children learn "sight words," which are high-frequency words that they are taught to memorize without learning how to decode. Children do require direct instruction to learn phonemic awareness and phonics and store sight words through orthographic mapping to learn to read effectively. More on this at the end of the post!


How to Teach Orthographic Mapping


Malia Hollowell the author of The Science of Reading in Action recommends a specific process for teaching orthographic mapping.


  1. Tap it - Have your child tap each of the letter sounds on the table or the palm of their hand. Example: Hoot = /h/ /oo/ /t/.

  2. Map it - Slide a manipulative into a box for each sound as they repeat the phonemes making up the words again.

  3. Graph it - Have children write the letters they use to spell each phoneme with as they repeat the word again. Example: /h/ (write h), /oo/ (write oo), /t/ (write t).

  4. Write it - Have children write the complete word.

  5. Read it - Have children slide their fingers under the letters as they blend the sounds.

  6. Repeat it - Complete steps 1 -5 four more times (a total of five times) to commit it to memory.


What do you do when you have a word that "doesn't follow the rules?"


You still follow the process! :-)


However, you may need to help your child with the letters that match the sound. Malia Hollowell recommends that if an error is made, have your child erase the letter(s) they wrote and write the correct ones. Then draw a heart next to the letters so they remember that they need to memorize that letter(s) sound by heart.


For example:

  • Word: Said

  • /s/ /e/ /d/

  • If they write "sed", have them correct it to "said," and explain that the short e sound is written "ai" and have them draw a heart to remember.

  • When they repeat the 5 step process, they should write it correctly.

Good readers can memorize a new word in just one to five exposures. It is important in this step that children have mastered the earlier steps (phonological awareness and decoding) previously, so this step is effective.


So what about sight word lists?


Many schools still teach students to memorize sight word lists before children have reached the step of orthographic mapping. Is this wrong? Yes and No. Sight words or high-frequency words can be useful in helping children read quickly, and thus feel successful and have their confidence boosted. However, the sight words would be more effectively taught/memorized if taught differently. So sight words are helpful when taught effectively.


So when writing this post, I Googled "teaching sight words." Oh my goodness there is all sorts of information about the best way to teach sight words and much of it is contradictory. I read several of the top posts. Some are dated, some I agreed with partially, and some are accurate but seemed more complex than in The Science of Reading in Action, which seemed to me the most simple explanation. Though there are of course multiple ways to teach still using these solutions to teach sight words more effectively.


  1. Teach the sight words in order in conjunction with your phonics lessons.

  2. Connect pronunciation, spelling, and meaning for children (flashcards are not the best).

  3. Use decodable readers (instead of leveled readers).

Conclusion


Orthographic mapping is a critical step in building fluent readers. It is what allows children to proficiently read and assign meaning to words that are stored in their long-term memory. Without building the fluency that comes with orthographic mapping, reading comprehension is extremely difficult for children.


Orthographic mapping helps children connect the letter sounds and the written word and commit them to memory. So by having children identify the sounds and match the sounds with letters and repeat this process several times, they can commit the words to memory.


High-frequency sight words that many schools have children memorize, still have a place in reading instruction. However, the instruction needs to be altered to be more effective.


Happy reading!


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Sep 1, 20233 min read

Steps to Teach Reading: Step 2 Decoding

Updated: Sep 13, 2023


Teaching children decoding strategies gives them the tools they need to read words, even the words that "break the rules."

Whether you are looking to teach your child to read at home or support their learning from school, it can be helpful to understand how children learn to read. Unfortunately, for many years schools and districts have been using an ineffective (for many) literacy curriculum. If you have a school-age child, you may want to take a look at their literacy curriculum to determine if they are getting a Science of Reading Curriculum or a Balanced Literacy Curriculum.


The first step in teaching reading is phonological awareness. Phonological awareness is a critical first step in learning to read. Children must be able to hear the sounds of words and understand that words are broken into distinct sounds before they can start learning decoding strategies.


Phase 1: Introduce Children to Letter to Sound Connections


Before learning to read, letters do not mean anything to children. They just look like marks on the paper. So when teaching to decode, we first must introduce that letters represent sounds.


Malia Hollowell author of The Science of Reading in Action recommends teaching children a chant with motions to learn that letters and sounds are connected. Example: "A is for apple. /a/ /a/ a/. In the book, she provides a table with the words to say and the motions to go with it. Children do not need to memorize the chant, the purpose is to build awareness. When using this approach, you want them to see the letter, say the chant, and do the motion because it uses multiple senses and so multiple areas of the brain. Repetition is key when doing the chant. You can teach four or five letters a day and repeat them throughout the day.


Phase 2: The Alphabetic Principle


Now that children understand the concept that letters represent sounds, it's time to start a deeper dive into learning the letters that represent sounds.


In phase two. children learn to connect letters to sounds - this is called the alphabetic principle. It is important to note that this takes a significant amount of time as this is challenging for children to learn. So be patient and keep at it!


In the English language, there are 26 alphabetic letters, 26 single-letter phonograms, and 49 multi-letter phonograms (made up of 2, 3, and 4 letters that create a sound) to make up 75 basic phonograms. These 75 phonograms make up 98% of English words, so children mastering these is critical in helping them decode.


What is a phonogram? Letter symbols that make up a sound. The English language has single-letter phonograms, two-letter phonograms (diagraphs), three-letter phonograms (trigraphs), and four-letter phonograms (quadgraphs). Check out the full list of the 75 basic phonograms [linked].


What is the best way to teach your child phonograms? There is not one set way to teach phonograms. To help your child build on success, it is best to start with sounds/letters that are used frequently and can be said in isolation without distortion: m, s, short a, t, p, r, f, c, short i.


As you are teaching phonograms, it is best to teach letters that sound similar or look similar separate from each other. For example, /b/ and /v/ sounds can be easily confused; the letters "b" and "d" look very similar and can be easily confused.


Start with single-letter phonograms then move on to increasingly difficult sounds/letters. However, starting with the letters above can help children learn to read many words fairly quickly, which will build their confidence.


The Science of Reading in Action recommends a four-step sequence:

  1. Analyze the look and feel of the phoneme.

  2. Brainstorm a giant list of words that have that sound.

  3. Teach the letters used to spell the sound

  4. Practice reading and writing words that include it.

I highly recommend purchasing The Science of Reading in Action if you want more detailed information - the Kindle version is very affordable.


Conclusion


The Alphabetic Principle or understanding the letter-to-sound relationship (phonics) is critical for children learning to read. However, it is a difficult and time-consuming process. It takes patience, and explicit direct instruction to teach children. Start with high-utility letter sounds to start your children off strong and build confidence. And remember, this will take your child lots of practice. Stick with it!



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Aug 21, 20235 min read

Steps to Teach Reading: Step 1 Phonological Awareness

Updated: Sep 13, 2023


Whether you are trying to teach your child to read independently or you are trying to support your child's learning at school, understanding the steps of teaching reading can be useful in helping your child read better.

I used to teach fourth grade and reading was one of my favorite subjects to teach because I love to read. Even though I haven't been a teacher in several years, I recently became aware of the reading curriculum controversy between the science of reading and balanced literacy. It makes me incredibly sad that so many students were taught in a less-than-effective method, which may have led to generations of students who did not have the opportunity to love reading. There are still districts, schools, and teachers who have not been able to switch to the more scientific approach. So I decided I would share the information as I research it, to support anyone who wants to support their child in effectively learning to read.


This is just a brief overview of the first step of learning to read, phonological awareness. Teaching reading takes a lot of practice and patience. This post is just meant to give you an idea of where to start if you want to teach your child or support your child's learning.


Step 1: Phonological Awareness


This is a very broad term and is something you can start working on with your children from an early age. The science behind how students learn to read determines this is the first step in children learning to read.


What is phonological awareness?


Phonological awareness is the ability to recognize and manipulate sounds of spoken language.


Examples:

  • Identifying rhyming words

  • Identifying syllables in words

  • Identifying individual words in a sentence

  • Recognizing alliteration

  • Recognizing the starting sound in a word

  • Recognizing the ending sound in a word

  • Phonemic Awareness - understanding that words are made up of sounds


Phase 1: Word Awareness


Word awareness is the ability to identify the individual words in a sentence. For example: "The cat is black." is made up of four words.


While this may seem simple to you as an adult, it can be quite hard for young children. Have you ever heard someone speaking in a foreign language? It is hard to identify the individual words.


There are a number of activities you can do with your little ones to help them learn word awareness. Check out these blog posts from Littles Love Learning with some fun activity ideas!


Phase 2: Syllable Awareness


Once children can identify the individual words in a sentence, they can begin learning that words are broken into syllables.


A syllable is a unit of spoken language that has one vowel sound, but not all syllables have a consonant sound.


Malia Hollowell the author of The Science of Reading in Action recommends a couple of tips to help children gain syllable awareness.

  1. Chin taps - have your child hold their hand just under their closed chin. For each vowel sound their chin will tap their hand and these are syllables.

  2. Syllable Tapping - this activity links syllables to a physical action (Total Physical Response (TPR teaching method). Tap the top of your hand for the first syllable in a word, tap your elbow for the second syllable, tap your shoulder for the third syllable, and tap the top of your head for the fourth syllable.


Check out some awesome activities to practice syllable awareness on Littles Love Learning.


Phase 3: Rhyme Awareness


You are already probably pretty familiar with rhyming, but how do we help our young children with rhyme awareness?


So first, words are broken into two parts: onset and rime.


Onset: the initial consonant or consonant blend. (If a word begins with a vowel, the word does not have an onset.)


Rime: the letter following the initial consonant or consonant blend starting with the vowel. All words have a rime.


Why does this matter? You can determine if a word rhymes by identifying the rime in each word.


Read books, sing rhyming songs, and play rhyming games to help your child conquer the ability to identify rhyming words.


Check out some awesome rhyming awareness activities from Littles Love Learning and Resources for Early Learning.


Phase 4: First Sound Awareness


First sound awareness focuses on using the onset (see above) to determine the first sound in a word. To practice and work on first sound awareness, practicing alliteration is helpful.


An important note: Phonological awareness focuses on sounds, not letters. So when you are practicing alliteration, be sure you consider words that have the same beginning sound even if their beginning letters are not the same. Example: Knock and neck.


The first sound in a word is the easiest for little ones to hear, so it is best to start with the first sound in a word when beginning to teach children that words are made up of sounds.


For some great practice activity ideas, check out Miss Kindergarten's post.


Phase 5: Phoneme Awareness


Phonemic Awareness is the final phase and it is absolutely critical to your child's success at reading.


What is a phoneme? It is an individual sound in a word. The word "jump" has four phonemes /j/ /u/ /m/ /p/. However, not all sounds are made up of individual letters, so just because a word has four letters does not mean that it has four phonemes. For example, the word book is made up of three phonemes, /b/ /oo/ /k/.


How are phonemic awareness and phonics different? Phonemic awareness is the sounds spoken words make and have nothing to do with written words. Phonics is focused on the sounds written letters/letter combinations make.


When building phonemic awareness, it is best to start from easiest to hardest:

  1. Blending Phonemes

  2. Isolation Phonemes

  3. Segmenting Phonemes

  4. Adding Phonemes

  5. Deleting Phonemes

  6. Substituting Phonemes


Conclusion


This brief overview of phonological awareness can help you as a jumping-off point to understanding what skills and knowledge your child needs to support them in learning to read. There are a ton of free resources available and activity ideas out there so you can make learning the foundational skills fun for your little ones.


Reading is one of those critical skills that is needed to be successful in all academic areas across the board. However, it is important to not put too much pressure on your little one. Rather it should be fun, so they have positive feelings associated with learning and reading.


Have fun!



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