Word Recognition

Word recognition is demonstrated when a student can look at a word and read it without having to sound it out. This is an automatic process that involves memory skills. Memorizing a few words before learning phonics is important for phonics skills development. Automatic decoding of words also leads to fluency in reading.

Strategies

Word Maps

Making meaningful connections helps to form a memory. By fully understanding a word, it is easier to memorize it. This graphic organizer helps to get to know words inside out in order to build memory around it.

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Tic Tac Toe

Students can choose sight words and write them in the boxes on the tic tac toe board. Each time the student writes the word, they have to read it out loud. The first to write and read 3 in a row wins.

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Word Walls

Understanding sight words- words that are frequently used and need to be automatic but also are challenging to decode is an important step in word recognition. Reinforcing these words with a word wall can help students familiarize themselves with it. Reviewing word wall words daily can be helpful but making sure to only do a few at a time (not all in one day).

Splat!

Students have cards in front of them that have sight words on them. The teacher calls out a sight word and if a student has a match, they yell "splat!"

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Teach prefixes, suffixes, and root words.

Learning and memorizing word parts can help to quickly decode words when reading. Recognizing familiar prefixes, suffixes, and root words can be helpful when coming across unfamiliar words.

Interventions

Just Words

Tier 2

Grades: 4-12

Small Groups

This intervention is intended to be used for 45 minutes, 3 times a week in small groups. This is a multisensory decoding and spelling program with a word study focus.

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Rave-O

Tiers 2 & 3

Grades: 2-4

Small Groups or Individual

This intervention is designed to be implemented 20-30 minutes a day, 4 days a week. This program focuses on core words with common patterns. It is done in the form of an in-depth word study. This means understanding the phonemics of a word, word meanings (Sometimes multiple), adding affixes to the word to alter the word and other ways to learn about the word.

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SRA Early Interventions in Reading

Tier 2

Grades: K-3

Small Group

This intervention is meant to take place for 30 minutes a day. It involves books and games as well as word cards and picture cards. This program also includes measures for progress monitoring throughout.

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Word Warm-Ups

Tiers: 1,2,3

Grades: 1-4

Small Groups or Individuals

This intervention uses word list exercises and story exercises to reinforce word recognition. There are 2 levels of intervention. Level 1 focuses on words with 1 syllable while level 2 focuses on words with 2 syllables. The intervention could be used as a universal reading program or as a tier 2 or 3 intervention.

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Edmark Reading

Tier 3

Grades: K-3

Individual

This intervention is available both in print and online. Through repetition, students gain familiarity with 350 sight words. The activities used in this program consist of matching activities, "See, Hear, and Point" and some games too.

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Formal Assessments

Woodcock Reading Mastery Test 3rd Edition

Author: Richard W. Woodcock

Cost: $350

Grades: K-12

Time: 15-45 minutes

This is a comprehensive reading test but the subtests can be taken independently. Commonly used subtests for word recognition are:

Rapid Automatic Naming
Word Identification
Word Attack
Word Comprehension

WRMT-III Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests Third Edition (pearsonassessments.com)

Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement 3rd Edition

Authors: Alan S. Kaufman, PhD & Nadeen L. Kaufman, PhD

Cost: $500

Age: 4 yrs 0 months - 25 yrs 11 months

Time: 15-85 minutes

This test measures overall academic achievement and tests for all learning disability areas. The subtests can be used independently in order to customize the test to target specific areas. Commonly used subtests for word recognition are:

Letter & Word Recognition
Nonsense Word Decoding

KTEA-3

Informal Assessments

Word Lists

Frequently have students read words from a word list to assess word recognition. Mark how many words the student reads correctly each time to measure progress.

Matching

Students match a sight word to a picture. This can be done as a game but should still be done individually if being used as an assessment. This can be done on paper or with picture cards and word cards.

Apps

Endless Reader

This app engages students with interactive word puzzles that focus on commonly used sight words. As they solve the puzzles, there are animations to act out the words. This app does rely on in app purchases in order to build on the word lists. The app is available for free on both google and apple.

Sight Words Flash Cards

This is a free app with in app purchases on both google and apple. It merges flash cards with games in order to reinforce word recognition skills.

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Spelling and Phonics: Kids Games

This is a free app available on both google and apple. This app is made up of various spelling games to help students get comfortable with sounding out words. This app does not require in app purchases.

Spell, Write, and Read

This free app with in app purchases is available on both google and apple. This app helps students connect tracing words, to spelling words, to sounds, to pictures.

Sight Word Recognition

This app is available for purchase for apple devices. It focuses on learning the sight words that cannot easily be sounded out.

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References

Admin. (2019, March 31). Word recognition activities. Trust Reading. Retrieved April 22, 2022, from https://www.trustreading.com/word-recognition-activities/

Beers, K (2003). When Kids Can't Read: What Teachers Can Do: A Guide for Teachers 6-12. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Edmark reading program level 1 second edition complete kit. PRO. (n.d.). Retrieved April 22, 2022, from https://www.proedinc.com/Products/13620/edmark-reading-program-level-1--second-edition-complete-kit.aspx

Engaging small-group literacy instruction. (n.d.). Retrieved April 22, 2022, from https://www.voyagersopris.com/literacy/rave-o/overview

Just words listen. Wilson Language Training Just Words Comments. (n.d.). Retrieved April 22, 2022, from https://www.wilsonlanguage.com/programs/just-words/

Reyes, N., V, L., Maricela, Margaret, Cindy Braun- Title One Lead Teacher, & Michael. (2021, May 28). Word warm-ups®. Read Naturally, Inc. Retrieved April 20, 2022, from https://www.readnaturally.com/product/word-warm-ups

Wise, R. (2022, April 21). 5 fun activities to teach your child sight words. Education and behavior. Retrieved April 22, 2022, from https://educationandbehavior.com/effective-strategies-for-teaching-sight-words/

Word maps: Classroom strategy. Reading Rockets. (2022, March 2). Retrieved April 22, 2022, from https://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/word_maps

Word recognition. Reading Rockets. (2013, November 7). Retrieved April 23, 2022, from https://www.readingrockets.org/article/word-recognition#:~:text=An%20informal%20assessment%20of%20word%20recognition%2C%20including%20what,assessments%20should%20be%20given%20one-on-one.%20What%20it%20measures

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