RICA Competency 7: Syllabic Analysis, Structural Analysis and Orthographic Knowledge

Introduction


This competency looks at furthering student word identification skills through syllabic analysis, structural analysis and orthographic knowledge. Once these skills are achieved, the child should be able to decode multisyllabic words by looking at the affix and base word, decode a multisyllabic word by examining the word’s syllables and also how to spell multisyllabic words.

Examples

I have seen evidence of this competency at work in several of my tutoring sessions. Once a child understands that most big words are simply made up of smaller units that they know or have seen before, the word identification process becomes so much simpler. In our session last week, the boys had a little trouble with the word wanderer. During our word study section, we were able to talk about what other words ‘wanderer’ looks like and we obviously came up with wander, which the boys had both heard many times before in sentences like “don’t wander off.” I then explained wanderer is the thing doing the wandering. This is a great example of structural analysis because the students are learning the ‘putting together’ of words. Differentiation IF a student does not know the meaning of a multisyllabic word THEN the teacher can help them understand better by breaking down each syllable. (pg. 59) IF a student cannot spell a word THEN the teacher can have them do a ‘self study’ on the word for a more intensive learning experience. (pg. 60)

IF a student needs with spelling longer or bigger words, THEN the teacher can have them use their auditory senses to help trigger their memory by having them say each letter as they are writing. (pg. 61)

Assessments

Students will take traditional spelling words to show their knowledge.