Are you ready to explore ways to help your beginning or struggling readers learn to decode CVC words? You’ve landed in the right spot! This round-up blog post includes 9 ways to help you transform your CVC word instruction. 

Go ahead and scroll down to find the ways that pique your interest. Then, be sure to click on the highlighted words. Each link will take you to either a blog post or a product page with additional information. 

Assess Skills to Target Instruction

Let’s get started with some assessments!

Begin by checking out my blog post, How to Get Started With Teaching CVC Words, for questions to ask yourself if you’re teaching students with little to no exposure to decoding.

On the other hand, if you’re teaching readers who can decode some CVC words but have not yet achieved mastery, you might want to administer the first list in my Decoding Assessment for One-Syllable Words (or use a similar assessment) to target the specific skills you need to teach.

Head on over to How to Assess Decoding Skills and Help Target Instruction. You can read more and find links to download this free assessment.

Use Letter Sound Mats to Decode CVC Words

One of my favorite tools for teaching decoding and encoding of phonetically regular words is a letter sound mat.

You can use this flexible activity with an individual or a small group of students. Use it as you follow any instructional scope and sequence.

Find out more in this blog post, How to Get Started With Teaching CVC Words. You’ll also get a link to a free set of letter cards you can download and print.

Build In Support to Decode CVC Words

Do you have students who are constantly searching your classroom walls to find an image that will help them figure out what sound a letter stands for in order to decode unknown words?

So, why not give them what they need right at their fingertips? I created my Blend to Read CVC Words With Key Word Pictures to do just that.

Find out who might benefit and how to use this tool with your students in my blog post, How to Build in Support to Decode CVC Words. In addition, you’ll find a link to download a free sample.

CVC Word Mapping With High-Frequency Words

You’ll want to try this word mapping resource designed to help your beginning and struggling readers connect the sounds they hear with the letters they see in CVC words.

By strengthening those phoneme-grapheme associations, you’ll set your students on the road to orthographic mapping. Plus, you’ll help them build automatic word recognition for high-frequency CVC words.

Each of the 34 words in this resource can be represented by a visual image.

Ready to learn more? Are You Curious About Orthographic Mapping? is the blog post to read.

Rapid Word Recognition Charts

Discover what rapid word recognition charts are, why to try them, who will benefit, and how to create your own. Click to read Do You Want to Know All About Rapid Word Recognition Charts?

While you’re there, check out my ready-made charts using 52 high-frequency CVC words.

Minimal Pairs for Decoding Practice

Take a few minutes to understand what minimal pairs are and how you can use them for decoding. 

When you use minimal pairs (or trios, etc.) you’ll be giving your students a gentle reminder to look carefully at every letter when they decode CVC words. 

My feed-me resources with minimal pairs (and trios) are an excellent way to provide bite-sized decoding practice.

Feed Me S’Mores includes 49 target high-frequency CVC words. 

I’ve included a roll-and-read freebie in the blog post, How to Effectively Use Minimal Pairs for Bite-Sized Decoding Practice, so you can try out decoding with minimal pairs.

CVC Word Puzzles

These farm-themed puzzles are an engaging way to give your beginning and struggling readers the practice they need to decode and encode CVC words. The focus is on 34 high-frequency CVC words that can be represented by a visual image. 

Head over to my TPT store to learn more about these CVC Word Puzzles.

Free Football Fun

Let your students have a little fun with this football-themed activity. They’ll decode a CVC word and then match it to a picture that illustrates its meaning. This read-and-color (or read-and-cover) freebie includes 16 high-frequency CVC words.

Click the highlighted words to download your free copy of Football Fun. 

You’ll find a second set of these Football Fun activity sheets with 16 more CVC words included in the bonus file of my CVC Words Decoding Bundle. 

Phonics Word Lists

Still More…

1. A Pizza My Heart (-at, -ip, and -ug spelling patterns)
2. Roll-A-Rainbow

If you made it this far, I’d love for you to share the idea, freebie, or product that was most helpful for you and your students in the comments below!

The post 9 Amazing Ways to Help Your Students Decode CVC Words appeared first on Just Ask Judy.

Did you know that minimal pairs (or trios) are a terrific way to provide bite-sized decoding practice for your students? 

What Are Minimal Pairs?

Minimal pairs or minimal contrast words are words that are similar or almost the same. They often (but not always) differ by one letter or sound. They can be different in the initial, medial, or final position of a word. The change can be an addition, substitution, or omission. 

Here are some examples of minimal pairs appropriate for decoding practice.

• Initial Substitutions: bat and mat or brow and plow
• Medial Substitutions: pin and pan or prone and prune
• Final Substitutions: let and leg or slide and slime
• Additions: sip and ship, cut and cute, or bat and boat
• Omissions: flit, lit, it

You can use real words, nonsense words, or a mix of the two.

When you use minimal pairs (or trios, etc.) you’ll be giving your students a gentle reminder to look carefully at every letter when decoding words.

Why Bite-Sized Practice?

Using minimal pairs or contrast to practice decoding words is not a new idea. In fact, it is a very old idea. 

I looked for but could not find a workbook for phonics practice, Remedial Reading Drills, that I had used with my students. Surprisingly, I found a copy online. The original copyright date was 1940! And no, I was not using it in 1940! Perhaps I had the 1985 revision. 

What I found then, and now, is that the number of words presented on a single page can be overwhelming for some students. Even when you fold a page or cover part of it, they can feel frustrated and defeated before they even start. Some of your students, undoubtedly also have shorter attention spans than their peers. For these reasons, I found bite-sized decoding practice to be a more effective approach for my beginning and challenged readers.

Please note that there is a newer 2007 version of Phonic Reading Lessons available from Academic Therapy Publications. There are now fewer words with more spacing on the pages. My comments here are strictly about how the layout and the number of words presented on a page can affect young students and are not a reflection in any way of the instructional content or methods. You might find this presentation to be highly effective with your students.

Feed Me Activities for Minimal Pairs

By their nature, feed-me activities provide bite-sized practice. My two read-and-feed resources with minimal pairs (and trios) are an excellent way to have your students apply their decoding skills.

What Words Did I Choose?

I chose phonetically regular high-frequency short vowel words from two popular lists, one with 220 words and the other with 1000 words. 

I created two resources. Feed Me S’Mores includes 10 VC words and 39 CVC words. These are the target words. The target words are presented in pairs and trios contrasted with other similar real words. The only change, typically, is the short vowel sound.

Feed Me Cookies includes 109 short vowel target words with initial and/ or final consonant blends and/ or digraphs. I also added words with double final consonants. There are two sets of minimal pairs and trios. The first set contrasts single consonants with blends and digraphs. The second set contrasts short vowel sounds.

How Will My Students Benefit?

These Feed Me activities will give your students the opportunity to:

• apply their decoding skills
• get oodles of practice in bite-sized chunks
• gain automatic recognition of high-frequency words
• develop a sight word vocabulary
• increase their accuracy and fluency

And don’t forget the inherent motivation and fun!

What Prerequisite Skills Do My Students Need?

This is a practice activity that is designed to be a follow-up to your direct phonics instruction. It is intended to help your students achieve mastery in decoding accuracy and/ or automatic recognition of the target words. With that in mind, your students will need to…

For CVC Words

• have near mastery with letter/ sound knowledge of consonants and short vowels
• be able to blend 2 and 3 phonemes to decode VC and CVC words with a developing level of accuracy

For Blends and Digraphs

• have near mastery with letter/ sound knowledge of consonant digraphs
• be able to blend 3, 4, and 5 phonemes to decode CCVC, CVCC, and CCVCC words with a developing level of accuracy

How Can I Use This Minimal Pairs Activity?

Try this activity:

• with your small instructional, intervention, or resource groups
• when tutoring individual students
• in a center

It’s perfect to use for:

• a warm-up
• an exit activity
• practice
• review

Get ‘Em Decoding

Your students will take turns to:

1. Pick a card.
2. Read the minimal pairs or trios on the s’more or cookie.
3. Feed the s’more or cookie to the hungry bear or monster.
4. Color a s’more or cookie on the optional reward strip.

Roll & Read Minimal Contrast Short Vowel Words

Here’s a little roll & read freebie so you can try out decoding with minimal pairs. Or use it as an add-on to my feed-me activities for even more practice with those high-frequency phonetically regular short vowel words.

For this activity, I chose 18 short vowel words without consonant blends and digraphs and 18 short vowel words with initial and/ or final consonant blends and/ or digraphs for the target words. All of the target words came from the same two lists of high-frequency words.

The target words are presented in trios contrasted with other similar real words. The target word is the first one in each row. The only change is the vowel letter.

Get ‘Em Reading

Your students will:

1. Roll a die.
2. Find the corresponding row of words.
3. Read each word in the row.
4. Color one cookie or marshmallow at the end of each row.
5. Roll and read again, and again, and again! Color a cookie or a marshmallow each time you read a row.
6. Play until each row has been read one time or one row read three times, or time is up!

For students who are overwhelmed or lose focus, reduce the number of rolls and/ or spread out the practice over 2 or 3 sessions. 

Click on the highlighted words to download your free copy of Roll & Read Minimal Contrast Short Vowel Words.

More Ways to Incorporate Minimal Pairs For Decoding Practice

You can easily incorporate bite-sized decoding (reading) and encoding (spelling) practice with minimal pairs when using letter/ sound mats. These two blog posts will help you start thinking about how you can do this.

1. How to Get Started Reading CVC Words
2. Is the Silent E Pattern Proving to Be Prickly?

Bonus: Discover another free roll & read activity!

Word ladders and making words activities are two more bite-sized ways to work with minimal contrast words, particularly for encoding.

More Decoding Practice With Phonetically Regular High-Frequency Words

Check out these two blog posts for information on orthographic mapping and rapid word recognition charts. Help your students to develop automatic word recognition using words from the same high-frequency word lists.

1. Do You Want to Know All About Rapid Word Recognition Charts?
2. Are You Curious About the Importance of Orthographic Mapping?

You can also head directly to my TPT store to check out these products.

1. CVC Rapid Word Charts For Automatic Word Recognition of High-Frequency Words
2. CVC Word Mapping – Phoneme Grapheme Matching With High-Frequency Words
3. CVC Words – Minimal Contrast Short Vowel Word Decoding Activity
4. Consonant Blends and Digraphs – Rapid Word Charts With High-Frequency Words
5. Consonant Blends and Digraphs – Minimal Contrast Words Decoding Activity

What is your experience with using minimal pairs for decoding? How do you provide bite-sized practice? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments!

The post How to Effectively Use Minimal Pairs for Bite-Sized Decoding Practice appeared first on Just Ask Judy.

When I saw a response to a question in a Facebook group that referenced rapid word recognition charts, I was instantly intrigued! Rapid word recognition charts? Hmmm… How did I miss knowing about this intervention? Would it benefit students who face challenges learning to read? As usual, I set out to learn more.

I also started wondering if all the roll & read charts I see (and made to use with my students) are the result of creative teacher minds that adapted this activity. Keep reading and let me know what you think.

What Are Rapid Word Recognition Charts?

A rapid word recognition chart is a matrix that usually has 5 rows of words. Each row contains the same set of 5 or 6 target words in a different order. After reviewing the target words, students read the words in each row aloud. Then, they reread the words on the chart multiple times. 

Time your students for one minute and record how many words they read or record how long it took them to read all the words.

In my opinion, timed readings are optional. Read more about this below.

You can also create these charts with letters and numerals.

What Is the Purpose of Using Them?

The purpose is to increase the number of exposures a student has with a targeted set of words.

The repeated reading practice that rapid word recognition charts provide can improve your students’ automaticity with word recognition. Words that a student automatically recognizes are considered to be the words that comprise their sight vocabulary. Automaticity in word recognition will help your students become more fluent readers.

Fluency encompasses accurate and speedy word recognition as well as reading with expression. So you’ll be addressing 2 out of the 3 components of fluency- not bad.

Indeed, the ultimate purpose is to help your students become fluent readers.

Who Are They Designed For?

You can use rapid word recognition charts with students who:

• are reading on any level.
• would benefit from additional practice with accuracy or speed in word recognition.

Since you choose the words to target, you can meet the instructional needs of all your students.

Create Your Own Rapid Word Recognition Charts

It’s not hard to create rapid word recognition charts yourself.

Select Your Words

Start by choosing 5 or 6 words that meet one or more of these criteria.

• Your students have the skills to decode the words.
• They focus on the concepts you are teaching.
• The words are phonetically regular.
• Or they are phonetically irregular words you are teaching.
• The words occur frequently in the text your students are reading.
• A student has difficulty recognizing those specific words.
• They are target words you’ve pulled from a book (early reader) or passage you’re planning to use for repeated readings.

Ways to Make Your Charts

The easiest way to create your own is to use this Rapid Recognition Chart Generator from Neuhaus Education Center. This is an Excel file.

There are directions for entering a list of six words, letters, sounds, etc. Once you enter your words, it will generate 5 ready-to-print charts with those 6 words. The words will be arranged in a different order on each chart.

You can also create a table in Powerpoint or Word and type in your words, using each selected word once in each row. Click the highlighted words to download a free editable Powerpoint template for rapid word recognition charts.

Made For You Rapid Word Recognition Charts

Need charts for your beginning and struggling readers?

Rather have someone else select the words and do the work to create the charts?

Looking for appealing charts with added value?

I’ve done that for you!

What Words Did I Choose?

First, I chose high-frequency words from 2 well-recognized lists. One list has 220 words and the other includes 1000 words. Next, I selected words from those lists that were phonetically regular short vowel words.

The first set I created covers CVC words while the second set covers short vowel words with consonant blends and digraphs.

What Will I Have at My Fingertips?

You’ll have:

1. ways to introduce the words by making the connection between phonemes (sounds) and graphemes (letters).
2. an activity to analyze the phonetic similarities and differences in each set of words.
3. rapid word recognition charts to help your students develop automatic word recognition.

Special Features

These charts are systematically organized by phonics skills.

They include:

• new and cumulative review word lists
• an action break (snap, clap, slap, or stomp) in each row to keep your students engaged (plus a version without the action breaks)
• open-ended ways to record success

How Can I Use Rapid Word Recognition Charts?

You’ll want to use these activities:

• with your whole class
• in small instructional groups
• with individual students
• with paraprofessionals
• for homework

Are Timed Readings Necessary?

While one component of fluency is speed, timed activities can be a sticky issue. Some students will be motivated by timed readings. Other students will be devastated.

You know your students. Without a doubt, it’s not worth risking a shutdown or a meltdown. It’s okay to focus on accuracy. You’re still likely to see progress.

I included five empty boxes at the bottom of each chart. You can use these to record the number of words a student reads successfully in one minute or how long it takes a student to read all the words.

Alternatively, you can reward a student for effort or accuracy. You can put a sticker or stamp in each box. You can also draw a check, a smiley face, or a seasonal image in each box.

Where Can I Find These Ready-Made Rapid Word Recognition Charts?

Head on over to my TPT store where you’ll find these available to purchase.

1. CVC Rapid Word Charts For Automatic Recognition of High-Frequency Words
2. Consonant Blends and Digraphs Rapid Word Charts With High-Frequency Words

Find Out More…

If you have the time, you might want to explore a little more.

1. Rapid Word Chart (Orton-Gillingham Support imse)
2. Fluency (Multi-Tiered Systems of Support)
3. The Importance of Orthographic Mapping (Just Ask Judy related blog post)

What do you think? Are you ready to try rapid word recognition charts? Share your experiences in the comments below.

The post Do You Want to Know All About Rapid Word Recognition Charts? appeared first on Just Ask Judy.

What Is Orthographic Mapping?

Orthographic mapping is a “behind the scenes” cognitive process. It is the way we store a word’s spelling in our long-term memory. It explains how we can instantly and automatically recognize words.

Orthographic mapping is not a visible process. Successful readers use what they already know about a word- how it is pronounced and what it means. They connect that information to the sounds they hear and the sequence of letters they see in a word. Then, they store these linked sounds and letters of the word, as well as its meaning, to be quickly and easily retrieved as a “sight word”.

This process happens one word at a time.

Why Is Orthographic Mapping Important?

This is the process that enables us to develop a vast “sight word vocabulary”.

Sight words are those words that we recognize instantly and can retrieve from memory without conscious effort. These words can be phonetically regular or irregular, decodable or nondecodable, high-frequency or low-frequency.

When we recognize a word by sight, we do not need to decode it letter by letter, sound by sound. You know- that painstaking process you’ve observed so many times!

When orthographic mapping has developed, students will begin to store high-frequency words as sight words on their own, without overt instruction. Self-teaching students- it doesn’t get any better! Think about the tremendous number of words you recognize instantly. This is how you acquired that sight word vocabulary.

Typically developing readers begin to apply this skill in second or third grade.

At this point, students do not need to decode each and every word they encounter. Students who have a large sight word vocabulary become fluent readers.

Fluent readers can focus their mental energy on making meaning from text. And isn’t that our goal?

How to Promote the Development of Orthographic Mapping

Orthographic mapping is not a natural process. Our brains need to learn how to map words.

Unfortunately, orthographic mapping is NOT:

• a skill
• a teaching method
• or an activity

So, what can you do?

You CAN teach the essential components. The essential components are letter-sound correspondence, phonemic awareness, and decoding.

Students need to be proficient with these skills to enable the development of orthographic mapping. These skills need to be explicitly taught.

Letter-Sound Correspondences

• Teach the major letter-sound relationships to mastery.
• Don’t stop after teaching the letter of the week! There are 44 unique speech sounds in the English language.
• Teach them in a clearly defined step-by-step sequence.

Phonemic Awareness

• The two most important phonemic awareness skills are segmenting and blending phonemes.
• These are reciprocal processes.
• Segmenting phonemes helps with spelling and also helps to cement those spellings in memory.
• Teach phonemic awareness using letters. Students acquire better phonemic awareness skills when segmenting and blending activities include letters.
• Critical research is ongoing. It has not been conclusively determined whether other more advanced phonemic awareness proficiencies are essential. This research is particularly relevant for students with reading difficulties.

Decoding

• Students need to apply phonics knowledge to decode unknown/ new words.
• They need to look at every letter, say the corresponding sounds, and blend them to form meaningful words.
• Use a systematic, explicit, and sequential approach.
• Teach letter-sound correspondences, spelling patterns, spelling rules, syllable types, and morphemes.

I recommend reading these instructional guidelines provided by Dr. Linnea Ehri for additional information.

Take a close look at your chosen or required curriculum. How does it hold up to scrutiny when viewed through the lens of orthographic mapping?

• Does it include the essential components?
• Are the components taught in a comprehensive, explicit, and systematic way?
• Are there areas where you should supplement or expand your instruction?
• How well does it meet the needs of all your students?

One Resource to Get You Started

You’ll want to try this word mapping resource designed to help your beginning and struggling readers connect the sounds they hear with the letters they see in CVC words. By strengthening those phoneme-grapheme associations, you’ll set your students on the road to orthographic mapping. Plus, you’ll help them build automatic word recognition for high-frequency CVC words.

Why These Words?

I chose the words from two popular high-frequency word lists. If a child has difficulty with automatic word recognition, you want to focus on the words that will be the most beneficial. Aha…that would be words that occur frequently in print. And let’s keep them phonetically regular VC and CVC words for now.

So, I created a list of phonetically regular high-frequency CVC words to focus on. Each of the 34 words in this resource can be represented by a visual image.

What Is Included?

• teacher directions
• large word cards
• small word cards
• black/ white CVC word mapping mats
• color and black/ white CVC word mapping strips

How Can I Use This Resource?

Get started by following the teacher’s directions to introduce each new word to your students. Complete the word mapping mats together. Provide even more practice when you follow up with the word mapping strips as a center activity.

Try these activities:

• with your whole class
• in small instructional groups
• with individual students
• as a center rotation
• for morning work

Click on the highlighted words to find out more about this resource,  CVC Word Mapping With High-Frequency Words, available for purchase in my TpT store.

Check out my companion resource with 30 rapid word charts that also promote orthographic mapping and automatic word recognition of CVC high-frequency words.

Helpful Articles About Orthographic Mapping

I read articles on these sites (and more) to get a fuller understanding of orthographic mapping.

• Keys to Literacy
• Parker Phonics
• IMSE Journal
• Understanding the Science of Reading

What are the most beneficial ways you’ve discovered to enhance your students’ development of orthographic mapping? I’d love to hear about them in the comments below!

The post Are You Curious About the Importance of Orthographic Mapping? appeared first on Just Ask Judy.

Perhaps, some definitions would be a helpful place to start!

Definitions for Understanding

• High-frequency words are simply words that are found frequently in the text that we read. These words can be phonetically regular or irregular.
• Sight words are those words that we recognize instantly and can retrieve from memory without conscious effort. These words can be phonetically regular or irregular, decodable or nondecodable, high-frequency or low frequency.
• Phonetically regular words can be decoded by using common phonics knowledge. They have the expected letter-sound relationships.
• Phonetically irregular words deviate from common phonics patterns and letter-sound relationships. Of note, most irregular words have only one irregular letter-sound relationship. For instance, in the word from, only the sound that the letter o represents is different from what we expect.
• Decodable words are words that have letter-sound relationships you have already learned. And yes, this is personal! For example, one child has learned to decode CVC words while another child also knows all the long vowel patterns. The set of words that is decodable for each child is different, even though all of these words are phonetically regular.
• Nondecodable words are words that either deviate from common phonics patterns and letter-sound relationships (permanently nondecodable, irregular words) or that you haven’t learned the patterns and relationships so you can’t decode them yet (temporarily nondecodable).
• Popcorn words, heart words, flash words, and trick(y) words are labels that educators have used to make learning more kid-friendly. Popcorn words refer to both high-frequency and sight words. Heart and trick(y) words are terms for (temporarily or permanently) nondecodable words. Although, I’ve also seen heart words used to encompass all high-frequency words. Flash words are high-frequency words with a regular spelling.
• Orthographic mapping is the connection between how we pronounce a word and how it is spelled.

Why Teach High-Frequency Words?

First and foremost, why do we want to teach high-frequency words?

We want our students to instantly recognize words, for words to become “sight” words. We want them to read words automatically, without the need for overt decoding. When they can do this with most of the words they encounter in connected text (hmm… would those be high-frequency words?), fluency develops. Consequently, the development of a “sight word” vocabulary has a direct impact on reading fluency.

There’s been a shift (maybe a seismic one!) in how to teach high-frequency words in recent years.

I taught them through a combination of repeated exposure, multi-sensory experiences, and word cards with visual cues. My focus was on naming the letters in sequence and reading the word. But, what’s current?

Current Thinking About Teaching High-Frequency Words

So, what’s important when teaching high-frequency words? How do we help our students develop a lexicon of sight words? Here are a few take-aways from my readings on this topic.

• Learning to recognize words by “sight” or with automaticity is not dependent on visual memory or visual skills.
• Memorizing words as a whole is not efficient. It is an arduous way to acquire new sight words.
• Teach a small set of 10-15 irregular and nondecodable (based on your students’ levels of phonics knowledge) words before or concurrently with learning to decode in kindergarten. The words you choose should be those your students will encounter frequently in the text they read. They should be the words that will glue together the decodable text you’re using. Examples include the words the, to, was, and you.
• Include high-frequency word instruction with your phonics lessons. Many (Dare I say most!) high-frequency words are phonetically regular.
• Use phonetically regular high-frequency words to help your students learn to decode new words (decoding by analogy approach).
• Teach words (phonetically regular or irregular) in groups that have similar patterns. The words can, man, ran, than, and began are phonetically regular high-frequency words. While the words have, give, and live (the letter v is followed by an e because no English words end in v); some, come, and done; or to, do, and into have irregular spellings.
• Meaning and context are important. When you introduce a new word, say it and use it. You need to fuse the pronunciation, spelling, and meaning of a word together.
• Practice reading high-frequency words in lists, phrases, sentences, and in books.
• Don’t forget to also practice writing high-frequency words in isolation and in sentences.
• In other words, teach your students to both decode and encode (read and spell) new words.

What About Orthographic Mapping?

Is this just the latest buzz word or is this something I need to be doing?

• Your students must understand the connection between phonology (the sounds) and orthography (the strings of letters) in order to store words for automatic retrieval. Wait, is this the same as orthographic mapping? Is this how students remember words?
• We need to teach the relationships between the sounds we hear and the letters we see, even when it is an irregularly spelled word. Here’s where all the current references to orthographic mapping, mapping, and heart words come into play.
• Students need to possess letter-sound proficiency and phonemic proficiency to develop efficient orthographic mapping. Efficient orthographic mapping leads to sight word acquisition.
• Phoneme blending and phoneme analysis are both necessary skills for orthographic mapping. Phoneme blending is blending sounds. Phoneme analysis is a bit more ambiguous. It includes segmenting but also rhyming, manipulation, alliteration, isolation, and categorization. A (still somewhat vague) phonemic proficiency that exceeds the ability to segment and blend develops naturally in most students. Exactly what skills struggling readers need to master is still a subject for further research.

Sounds like something I need to be doing!

More About Orthographic Mapping

One of the things that stood out to me when I read about orthographic mapping is that it starts with the oral pronunciation of the word. The first step in introducing a new word is to say it, not to show it.

I can relate this to how I introduce phonetically regular key words using the decoding by analogy approach. The process I employed is based on Linnea Ehri’s work. Now I know, this same process can also be applied to phonetically irregular words.

Here’s what I do.

• Say the word. But, don’t show it, yet!
• Have your students repeat the word.
• “Thumbs up! Let’s stretch it out.”
• “How many sounds do you hear?”
• Now, you can show the word to your students.
• “How many letters do you see?”
• “What can you tell me about the relationship between the sounds we hear and the letters we see?”
• Demonstrate the letter-sound relationships visually and verbally on the board or chart paper.

You can get a better sense of this process by downloading a free sample of my Phonics Program for Analogy-Based Decoding. This sample will also show you how you can use phonetically regular high-frequency words to help your students learn to decode new words.

I suggest introducing new high-frequency words with this or a similar process before moving on to the more visual and concrete mapping activities you frequently see. Try it and tell me what you think!

A Few Ideas for Teaching High-Frequency Words

Memory Match or Concentration

One of the examples I saw for sorting and categorizing words by phonemes used a good ole Memory Match game. Instead of having students match two of the same word, they can match two words with the same phoneme. For instance, the words that and there would be a match because they both begin with the /th/ sound. The words men and run would match because they both end with the /n/ sound.

Partner Pair-Up

Get your students up and moving with a partner pair-up. Apply the same sorting and categorizing strategy as above. Select pairs of words with matching phonemes. You will need one word card for each student.

First, pass out the cards randomly. Next, have your students get up and find someone who has a word with a matching phoneme. Finally, have each pair of students read their matching pair of words. How’s that for a quick activity?

Use my free Phonetically Organized High-Frequency Word Lists along with the high-frequency word cards found in my High-Frequency Words- 6 Activities and Games With a Sandcastle Theme or Roll A Rainbow resources to create your own memory match games and partner pair-ups based on the high-frequency words your students are learning. These resources are based on a list of 354 high-frequency words. I merged together the words from two popular lists.

Try modifying some of the activities and materials you already have!

Other Games

Playing a game to practice reading high-frequency words? Have your students write the words that they read on a whiteboard or piece of paper. Or have them choose 3-5 words to write in sentences. Don’t forget to have them read their word lists or sentences- to you, to a parent, to a partner.

Read, Build, and Write Mats

Using a Read, Build, and Write (or similar) mat? Have your students say the word and then stretch out the sounds they hear. Encourage them to think about the letter(s) that match those phonemes as they build and write the word. Ask them to tell or write a sentence with each word.

Download a free mat with a snow or turkey theme.

Some Reading to Get You Started

Feeling more up-to-date on teaching high-frequency words? As I started to research this topic, I found myself going down a rabbit hole, a seemingly bottomless one at that!

Here are a few of the sites I visited to get up-to-speed on teaching high-frequency words.

• Teaching Sight Words According to Science Ohio 2019 (presentation, some blurry visuals, still worth reading)
• Teach “Sight Words” As You Would Other Words (International Literacy Association 2016, Nell K. Duke and Heidi Anne E. Mesner)
• High Frequency Words? Sight Words? Is There a Difference (The Reading Teacher’s Top Ten Tools, Dr. Deb Glaser)
• Why Phonemic Proficiency is Necessary for All Readers (CORE)
• This reading skill may not sound exciting, but is it the ‘missing piece’? (EdNC, Rupen Fofaria)
• RIP to Advanced Phonemic Awareness (Shanahan on Literacy)
• Heart Word Magic (Really Great Reading)(Be sure to scroll and check out the free student practice activities.)

I still have a few lingering questions about teaching high-frequency words. So, back to the books! I’d love to hear about your experiences and questions in the comments below!

Photo in title image by rawpixel.

The post How to Make Sense of Teaching High-Frequency Words appeared first on Just Ask Judy.

No snow here! It was sunny and 70 degrees the other day!

No matter the weather, teaching and learning (however sporadic) must go on! If you are looking for resources to keep your kindergarten, first, second, and third-grade students engaged in learning high-frequency words this winter, these two fit the bill.

Why are these words so important? High-frequency words are the words found most frequently in written text. They include both phonetically regular and irregular words. Because they occur so commonly in any text, students need repeated exposure to recognize them instantly or by sight. Recognizing these words by sight lays the foundation for fluent reading.

Are you wondering about the difference between high-frequency and sight words? Find out the difference along with some teaching tips in this blog post by Dr. Deb.

Here are two activities, including a freebie, to help you provide that repeated exposure.

Stuck in the Snow Game

My students loved to play word games similar to this one! And who can resist these adorable animals stuck in the snow?

You can play it quickly with a timer set for as few as five minutes. Use it with your guided reading, resource, or intervention groups. Or try it as a literacy station.

This game includes 355 high-frequency word cards suitable for kindergarten, first, second, and third graders. There are 40 pre-primer. 52 primer, 41 first-grade, 46 second-grade, and 41 third-grade words from that famous list of 220.

I also included the 14 remaining words from the first hundred, 49 words from the second hundred, and 72 words from the third hundred most commonly used words.

Regardless of your specific list or reading program, these words should have you covered.

How to Prepare

Choose the color or black/ gray/ white word cards. Decide which word cards will meet your students’ instructional needs.

Print (on card stock for durability), laminate, and cut out the word cards. Sort the cards into stacks by kind of animal.

Print, laminate, and cut out a spinner. Use purchased spinner hands; a paper clip and a pencil; or a brad and a paper clip. You will also need a timer if you choose to set a time limit.

How to Play Stuck in the Snow Spin, Read, and Collect

Include the game cards for a little extra fun. Just follow the directions on each card.

Place the cards face up in the four stacks you have sorted by the kind of animal.

Take turns spinning the spinner, taking the top card in the corresponding stack, and reading the word. Collect or keep the cards you read.

The game ends when the timer goes off or the last card is chosen. Count your cards. Who has the most, least, or an equal number of cards?

Click the highlighted words to purchase Stuck in the Snow Spin, Read, and Collect in my TpT store.

Check out the free activity below for another way to give your students even more exposure to these words.

Stuck in the Snow Free Activity

Here’s a handy activity featuring those irresistible animals! Try it as part of your small group instruction or in a literacy center.

Use this free set of 36 primer level high-frequency word cards and mat to help your kindergarten and first-grade students practice spelling and reading these words.

How to Prepare

You will need one mat for each student working on this activity at the same time.

Print (use card stock for durability) and laminate the word cards and mat(s). Instead of laminating the mats, you can place them inside a dry erase pocket.

Cut out the word cards. Store the cards in a baggie or seasonal container.

Select letters for building the word. Your options include letter tiles, letter cubes, lacing letters, and magnetic, plastic, or wooden letters. Check to be sure the letters will fit in the middle space. Another option is to form the letters with play dough.

How to Use

First, pick a word card. Place it in the top box on the mat. Say the letters. Read the word.

Then, build the word with letters in the middle space. Say the letters and read the word.

Lastly, write the word with dry-erase markers or crayons in the bottom space. And yes, say the letters and read the word again!

For additional words, use any word cards you already have or from my Stuck in the Snow Game.

In general, you can build 5 to 7 letter words. With lowercase lacing letters, you can extend this to 9 to 10 letters.

Any of these Stuck in the Snow word cards could also be used with a seasonal sensory writing tray. Can you think of other ways to have your students practice with these word cards? I’d love to hear your ideas in the comments below.

Download the free color or black/ gray/ white version of this Stuck in the Snow Activity from my TpT store.

Looking For More Resources?

I recently revised this open-ended flexible winter resource, Mittens on the Line, for sequencing numbers 0-120 in a variety of ways. Use it to provide individualized practice for your kindergarten, first, and second-grade math students.

It can be used for ordering sets of 5 or more consecutive or non-consecutive numbers and for counting by 2’s, 5’s, 10’s, or any multiple.

I added a second set of ready to use, easy prep black/ white mittens with a variety of sequences, mixed-up within each set of five numbers (consecutive numbers 0-10, 0-20, within a decade 21-120, across a decade 21-120; and non-consecutive numbers 0-10, 11-20, 0-20, within a decade 21-120, and 11-120). This set is perfect for a color, cut, and glue activity.

Click on the links below to find additional resources for high-frequency words or winter.

• How to Encourage Engagement With High-Frequency Words
• Engage in the Magic of Learning With Roll-a-Rainbow
• Warm-up With a Free Hot Cocoa Number Activity
• Winter Resources in My TpT Store
• High-Frequency Word Resources in My Tpt Store

Photo in the title image by so_lizaveta.

The post 2 Stuck in the Snow High-Frequency Word Activities appeared first on Just Ask Judy.

At some point during my teaching career, I read about this technique somewhere online! All you need for this activity is flashcards.

Use this activity with any basic skill. Try it with letter, numeral, name, or word identification.

Implement this activity as part of your whole class introductory lessons. Or use it as an intervention activity to provide repetitive practice with individual or small groups of students who struggle with learning.

Identify the skill you want your students to practice. For example, put together a set of flashcards with a number of single “foil” lowercase letters (i.e. a, p, s, m, v, c) and multiple copies of a single letter you are introducing or is difficult for one or more of your students (i.e. 6 or more copies of the letter g).

What Does Stack the Deck Look Like?

Here’s a free set of Stack the Deck flashcards with high-frequency words beginning readers typically encounter in emergent level text.

To get started, I chose 16 words. I made a single set of flashcards with those 16 words. Then, I created a page with multiple flashcards for each of those words.

Get It Ready

Print out the single set of 16 cards. Choose one word to introduce or practice. Then, print one or two copies of that page which will give you 8 to 16 cards with that single word. Use card stock and laminate for durability. Cut out the cards.

There is no special ratio of “foil” cards to “target” cards. Just consider the size of your group, their attention spans, and how much repetition is beneficial.

Shuffle the deck of flashcards.

Get ‘Em Engaged

Be sure to go over your target word.

Show your students one card at a time. If the word you show is not the target word, your students stay quiet and still. If the word you show is the target word, your students read the word.

They can also spell it first. For example, say l-o-o-k, look. In addition, they can pair physical motions with letters or words. If you need ideas to get started, check out these free Sight Word Action Cards from This Reading Mama.

By increasing the number of exposures to your target word and adding a kinesthetic component, you increase the odds for successful learning!

More Ideas for Stack the Deck

Of course, you can make your own flashcards for this simple, yet fun activity. Do it the old-fashioned way with index cards and a marker. Or if you’d rather, create a set to print using a table in Word or Powerpoint.

Recently, I created a deck of name cards for a grandchild to practice recognizing her name. To create your own deck, use purchased name tags and a marker or find free editable ones online.

If you prefer ready-made flashcards, I have several Stack the Deck sets and bundles available in my TpT store for purchase. They just received a cosmetic make-over!

• Lowercase Letter Recognition
• Uppercase Letter Recognition
• Lower and Uppercase Letter Recognition Bundle
• Number Recognition 0-20
• Letter and Number Recognition Bundle

Click on the highlighted words to download your free copy of Stack the Deck Beginning High-Frequency Words.

What are some ways you can use this activity to increase the odds for successful learning? Comment below to share.

Before You Go…

Be sure to read these blog posts for more ideas and resources for teaching high-frequency words.

Title image photo is by Inspirationfeed.

The post How to Stack the Deck for Successful Learning appeared first on Just Ask Judy.

As soon as I saw these word turkeys, I knew I needed to create a resource centered around them. To start, I designed a game for practicing recognition of high-frequency words. Then, I decided those turkey word cards were also perfect for a spell, read, build, and write activity.

So here’s a free resource for you with 16 pre-primer high-frequency turkey word cards and a mat! This is not an original idea but those irresistible turkeys will be sure to reel your students in. You can find additional turkey word cards to use with this mat for purchase in my TpT store.

Have your students practice reading and spelling these oh-so-important high-frequency words as part of your small group instruction or in an independent literacy center.

How to Prepare This High-Frequency Words Activity

• Choose the color or black/ gray/ white option. There is also a black/ white mat.
• Print and laminate the word cards and mat(s). Use card stock for durability. You will need one mat for each student.
• Cut out the wordy turkey cards, trimming around the background.
• Store the cards in a baggie or seasonal container.
• Supply letters or play dough for building the words. Try letter tiles, letter beads, and magnetic, plastic, or wooden letters. Check beforehand to be sure your letters will fit in the middle space.

How to Use This Wordy Turkeys Activity

Pick a word card. Place it in the top box on your mat. Trace the letters with your finger, the eraser end of a pencil, or a dry erase marker. Say each letter out loud while you trace it. Read the word.

Build your word with letters or playdough in the middle space. Say each letter out loud. Then, read the word.

In the bottom space, write the word with dry erase markers or crayons. Once again, say the letters out loud and read the word.

This is a multi-sensory activity. The visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and tactile senses should all be actively engaged. Please don’t skip the tracing and naming or naming and reading out loud. Let there be purposeful noise!

Click the highlighted words to download your free copy of Wordy Turkeys Spell, Read, Build, and Write.

Looking for more high-frequency words to use with the mat?

You can find the complete set of pre-primer wordy turkey cards as well as the sets of primer, first, and second-grade cards for sale in my TpT store. These cards are designed to play a game but work equally well for this spell, read, build, and write activity.

Looking for more turkey activities?

Check out these blog posts or the Thanksgiving category in my TpT store for more turkey-themed activities!

The turkey photo in the title image is by Teacher Gameroom.

The post How to Encourage Engagement With High-Frequency Words appeared first on Just Ask Judy.

Carrots are a perfect springtime theme. They fit as an Easter theme but not overtly so. Crunching on a carrot is a healthy alternative during another sweets-laden holiday. In addition, they fit equally well with a planting or garden theme.

Bunch of Carrots Photo by Fruits+Veggies

A Peek at My Trail of Carrots

• Subtract All or Subtract None Carrot Crunching– Blog Post Freebie, K-2
• Rows of Carrots Ordering Numbers 0-120– TpT Store, K-2
• Carrot Garden Craftivity– Math and Literacy, K-3
• Counting Carrots– A Preschool Busy Bag Activity

Subtract All or Subtract None Carrot Crunching

To begin with, I wrote a blog post about this carrot crunching concrete activity for subtracting all or none of a given number. This is a free hands-on resource that can help you build a foundation of understanding for subtraction concepts or strategies in kindergarten, first or second grades.

It includes a big-mouth rabbit mat, an optional half-page ten frame mat, optional carrot counters, and four sets of 8 task cards, in color and black/ gray/ white. There is also a half-page recording sheet, in two formats. This activity may be used with a whole class or small groups, or as an independent math station.

Rows of Carrots Ordering Numbers 0-120

Next, I forged ahead with creating Rows of Carrots, a carrot themed open-ended resource for sequencing numbers 0-120 in a variety of ways. It can be used for ordering sets of consecutive or non-consecutive numbers and for counting by 10’s, 5’s, 2’s, or any multiple. Go ahead, click a highlighted link to find out more about this kindergarten, first, and second-grade math resource, available for purchase in my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

After creating these resources, I was busy pinning carrot-related ideas to my spring and Easter boards. While perusing these ideas, one, in particular, caught my eye.

Now, that’s an idea! Why not combine Stef at Non-Toy Gifts’ craft idea with my Rows of Carrots resource?

So, I kept following the trail of carrots… and started generating ideas for carrot gardens. This carrot garden idea is an engaging way to incorporate skill review with a seasonal craft.

Carrot Garden Ideas

1. Spell short vowel and silent e words (K-1).
2. Write 2, 3, and 4 letter high-frequency words (K-1).
3. Write a sequence of numbers after or before a given one, two, or three-digit number (K-2).
4. Record the equations for an addition/ subtraction or multiplication/ division fact family (1-3).

This is a less crafty version than the one you’ll find at Non-Toy Gifts.

This free resource includes the following pages to print:

• 8 pages of pictures (8 per page) for spelling phonetic words; 25 CVC words, 14 short vowel words with initial or final consonant blends/ digraphs, 20 silent e words
• 2 pages carrots with writing lines (2 sizes)
• 2 pages carrots with equation writing frames; addition/ subtraction and multiplication/ division

Additional materials needed:

• one paper plate (I used decorative 8 3/4″ blue and green plates.)
• brown cardstock (1/2 of 8 1/2 x 11″ sheet)
• brown Easter grass (a 4-ounce bag should be plenty to make 12)
• scissors, glue, crayons (optional)
• 4 glue dots or stapler
• orange and/ or white paper or cardstock

Find all the directions to create these carrot gardens by clicking the highlighted link.

Once I got started, my ideas began growing wildly out of hand! What other ideas could you incorporate?

Carrot Counting

And last but not least, here is the original idea for this blog post!

One of my preschool granddaughters loves busy bag activities! And of course, I enjoy creating these for her. She counts concrete objects to ten and is ready for experiences with number recognition.

I love ten frames and know what a valuable visual tool they are for developing subitizing and a sense of ten. However, just as there is a place for ten frames, I believe we still need to provide a place for less structured counting activities, particularly for younger children.

This free flexible Carrot Counting resource provides the opportunity to experience counting, one-to-one correspondence, cardinality, numeral recognition, and numeral formation. It includes a rabbit mat, carrot counting cards (0-10), numeral formation cards (0-10), and carrot counters. I have included these in both color and black/ gray/ white. The numeral formation cards are only in color and less color.

While I included carrot counters to print, I strongly suggest using concrete objects with preschoolers. I adore my carrot erasers but any small counter will do. Try orange buttons, pom-poms, or gems.

You will need:

• paper or cardstock for printing selected pages of Carrot Counting
• laminator
• dry erase markers, playdough (optional)
• at least 10 counters (You need 55 counters to show quantities 0-10 all at one time.)

To prepare:

• Choose to print Carrot Counting in color or black/ gray/ white.
• Print at least one rabbit mat for each child. You can use one mat and clear it after showing each quantity or use multiple mats, one for each number.
• Print the carrot counting and numeral formation cards. Laminate and cut, trimming around the background.
• If needed, print the carrot counters. Laminate and cut.

To use:

Carrot Counting can be used in several ways.

• Use a rabbit mat with a carrot counting card. Count the carrots. Count a corresponding number of counters to place on the rabbit mat.
• Simply match the carrot counting cards with the numeral formation cards. The numbers have green, yellow, and red dots along with arrows to guide correct formation. They are perfect for finger tracing, using dry erase markers, or play dough ropes. Naming the numeral while engaged in forming it helps to develop recognition.
• Match the carrot counting cards with the numeral formation cards. Count a corresponding number of counters to place on the rabbit mat.

Surely, you have discovered an appealing carrot themed activity!

Looking for more spring or Easter math and literacy resources? Click on a highlighted link to see additional ones available in my TpT store.

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

The post 4 Terrific Carrot Themed Math and Literacy Activities appeared first on Just Ask Judy.