How do you help students map words? What teaching strategies should you use that promote orthographic mapping? Those are big questions! Luckily, I am going to answer them this post. Whoop....get excited!
If you aren't sure what orthographic mapping means, or you aren't sure why it is important...then you need to check out Post 1 in the Orthographic mapping series by clicking here.
With orthographic mapping it is important to understand the more you know about a word; the more likely you are to have it become part of your orthographic lexicon (sight vocabulary). To truly map a word we must know its alphabetic principle (connecting letters to their sound), phonology (the speech sounds), letter sound symbols, syllabication, and morphology (meaningful parts).
Below you will find FIVE tips that will help students with orthographic mapping! Using the below strategies ARE effective and can easily be incorporated into your daily routines.
1. Introduce words orally first
- Before you introduce a word in print (like in a story, on a spelling list or a vocabulary term) introduce it orally. Have students notice the syllables, beginning, medial or final sounds, etc.
- Example:
- Teacher: One of our new spelling words this week is dog.
- How man sounds in dog?
- What is the first sound in dog?
- What is the medial sound?
- What is the final sound?
- Now that you know the sounds of the word dog, lets look at the letters that are used to spell the word......
2. Backward decoding
- Have students sound out words from back to front. This activity activates the readers onset-rime skills. In Equipped for Reading Success, Dr. David Kilpatrick explains this strategy works because words are stored in our brains by first sounds (onset) and rhyming patterns (rime units). When we use a backward decoding technique we capitalize on both forms of how our words are stored in our brains: first sound and rhyming pattern.
- Example:
- Student sees the word "pest"
- The teacher will cover up the onset /p/
- Teacher: What does the rime say? or Spot the vowel and blend to the end.
- Student: est
- Teacher will uncover the onset /p/
- Teacher: What does the whole word say?
- Student: pest
3. Highlight Rime Units
- This technique draws students attention to the internal structure of the word and minimizes guessing. If you don't have a highlighter, you can underline, box or circle the rime unit. As mentioned words are stored in our brains by onsets and rimes, and having a student focus on a rime aides in word storage. If you are interested in a handout to help kids categorize words by rime...keep scrolling. Below this image, you can click and download the resource for free!
- Have students spell a word aloud. This can be done with the whole class, small reading groups or in pairs. Oral spelling will reinforce the letter sound relationships of the word and help him or her make the word a familiar string of letters. This would be a GREAT activity while standing in line or as a quick time filler.
5. Oral decoding
- The teacher will spell a word aloud and have the student determine the word based on the oral spelling. With oral decoding you are saying the letter names of the word, not the sounds. This reinforces orthography. Another quick, yet meaningful time filler!
6. Using Nonsense words
- Have students read 5-10 nonsense words per lesson. This quick activity reinforces letter sound and skill building. If you want more information about why nonsense words are important, check out one of my pervious blog series ALL about nonsense words !
Keep in mind implementing these strategies in conjunction with a structured literacy approach is ideal and will help us create a generation of successful readers!
Stay tuned for MORE strategies to help readers orthographically map words!
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