Structured Literacy Interventions with Secondary Students

Step 4: Reading Words

and reading and spelling "not yet" words

"I remember we did so much work with sounds. And learning to literally read every letter on the page.

That was the hardest thing, but it’s how I read everything now."

~12th grade Structured Literacy Class graduate

Step 4A:

Reading Phonetically Regular Words

In a 50-minute lesson, we spend about 10 minutes in Step 4. We read word chains, phonics word lists, word cards, complete "word work" in our workbooks, or play games with our current phonics pattern. We also work in pairs during this time while the teacher circulates and charts student progress once a week or so.

As always, we plan ahead and maximize opportunities for students to read words successfully. The goal is to develop accuracy, then automaticity, and ultimately fluency when reading these words in connected text.

So proud to finally "get it."

It's maples, not mapless! Success is always fun to celebrate. This student worked with word cards, word lists, marking words, studying the suffix "less" - we tried everything. Reading -le words when plural just did not make sense to him. Then, the highlighting of the -le pattern is what finally did it.

He was so excited and proud to read these words and asked if he could have a picture. His classmates were proud for him, too!

We "read words" with many different activities.

We'll even play bingo. A student leader (as in this picture - or the teacher) calls out the definitions and students need to find the words. Random prizes are always appreciated. Heated competition often ensues. This is a time in the lesson for creativity. Kahoots and Quizlets are also fun. Challenge yourself: how many more words can I support my students to read accurately today than they did yesterday?

Step 4B:

Reading and Spelling Irregular Words

A Simple Routine for Mapping Irregular Words

Our Routine for Irregular Words

We roughly follow this instructional routine adapted from Reading Rockets - Basics: Sight Words and Orthographic Mappings. We follow the irregular word scope and sequence of our phonics program.

We use dry-erase boards. I spell on the board with the students answering questions about sounds. We do as a class together but on our own boards, then they do on their own. "I do, we do, you do." Then we practice, practice, practice.

Students like to choose "by special request" words to "map."

In addition to the "not-yet" (aka "irregular" or "heart") words in our phonics scope and sequence.

Yes, this whole class can spell "existential crisis." We "mapped" it in October by special request - this picture is from a random review in May. The unexpected spelling we "mapped" (because we hadn't studied it closely yet) was "ti" representing the /sh/ sound.

"Leaning into the work."

After a difficult day, a student was encouraged to start the new day refreshed and to "lean into the work." Frustration was replaced with this fun message on the board. Get it? "Lean into the work?"

Success begets success. She'd recently learned to spell "work." Very clever!

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