How to Help Me When I'm Stuck on a Word

• Give me time to think. Let me have a wait time of 5 to 10 seconds to see what I can do for myself.

• Prompt me to start the word by saying the first sound or syllable.

• Suggest that I sound the word out (IF it follows the phonics rules I know). Help me find the part/syllable (chunk) of the word I might know.

• Suggest that I look for an ending (like "ed" or "ing"), if the word has one, cover it up, and try the base word alone.

REMEMBER: Reading is supposed to make sense. If something doesn't make sense, have me go back and read it again.

• When I am comfortable with these strategies, you can start asking me to decide for myself what might help me. You could say, "What can you do now?" or "What do you know that might help you?"

• If I make a mistake, please be patient with me. Let me know if I did at least something right, like using the right beginning sound or thinking of a word that made sense. Then you can encourage me to try it again, using some of the clues I didn't think of using.

• If it looks like I'm getting frustrated, you can tell me the word I'm stuck on. It's OK with my teacher.