RICA Competency 5: Phonics and Sight Words: Terminology and Concepts

Introduction Word identification is the ability to read aloud, or decode, words correctly. When children acquire efficient word identification skills, they can read with automaticity and focus their attention on understanding what they have read.

(RICA pg. 41)

  Examples

Word identification can be accomplished by the following strategies: phonics, sight words, morphology and context clues. Each of these strategies help the student use prior knowledge and surrounding information learn to read. For example, the students in my class today knew the meaning of the word ‘solar,’ they knew it had to do with the sun, the moon and the planets, but they did not recognize that word on paper. “When children learn to identify in print words that exist in their oral vocabulary, they increase the number of words that they know the meaning of.” (RICA pg. 42) In the Learning to Read text, the author states that “effective teachers ask when, how, how much and under what circumstances word identification strategies should be taught.” This begs for the teacher to pay close attention to the developmental stages of each student and focus on what methods of instruction work best for the individual. An easy way to kick start this type of environment is to have books and print easily accessible in the classroom so that students are constantly exposed to words and ideas that help stimulate their reading experience. (Learning to Read pg. 226-227)  Differentiation IF the student knows the meaning of the word but does not recognize it in the text THEN the teacher can go over the definition and help give the student some context to work with. By learning common suffixes/prefixes and how they change the meaning of the root word, students can begin to see similarities between words and understand how patterns work within language. IF the student recognizes the –er ending in the word faster THEN they can use that information to recognize the –er ending in a new word they don’t know yet. Spelling instruction can also help with word identification. When a child can visualize the word in their mind and hear the sounds that go along with it, this will help them when they come across new words with similar patterns. IF the student is struggling with a specific sound THEN the teacher can use simpler, sight words to help them understand.    Assessments  Student use three dimensional letter tiles to form sight words.