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Highlighting Wordlists
Highlighting helps our brains recognize, identify and remember unique letter combinations. As we build reading skills we need to take the time to become automatic with these skills and highlighting helps.
Automaticity – Flashing Words
Using this Flashing technique on shorter words helps strengthen visualization and improve automaticity. It is especially helpful in moving learners from sounding out letter by letter to making mental images of words in their minds and being able to say whole words together. Being automatic with the skills within reading is critical to becoming a fluent reader.
Working on New Words (or Sounds) With Flashcards
It is important to continue to practice known words occasionally, and only introduce a few new words or chunks at a time. It is also most effective to space practice out, practicing multiple times each day for just a few minutes at a time.
Timing Students: Using Word and Phrase Lists with numbers down the side. Timing for speed is not effective with every student, but is very effective for some. Read for directions and for the pros and cons of timing students.
Effective study practices backed by scientific evidence.
Learn the most effective study practices to learn these skills!
Quick strategy for breaking up unknown words
General syllabication guidelines
95% Accuracy. Learners who are 95 percent accurate with what they are working on learn more quickly, are more engaged, and build automaticity. Either use this site (or other resources) to work with materials that your learner is 95% accurate with, or scaffold up to where your learner is 95% accurate. To scaffold up, give your learner the supports they need so they can focus on the things they are 95% accurate with. This might look like having your learner read a more challenging book to you and you whisper the difficult words right away when they come up.
Language and the word “yet.” We begin to believe what we tell ourselves after a while, so encourage your learners to use positive phrasing. Instead of “I am dumb,” say “I am learning.” Instead of “I can’t do this” say “I can’t do this yet.” Yet is a powerful word as it acknowledges the current situation while at the same time opens the idea that this will change.