Decoding Intervention: A System for Developing
Word Recognition and Fluency in an RtI Model
Kelly Stuart
Developmental Studies Center
[email protected]
[email protected]
Developmental Studies Center
• Non-profit organization, Oakland CA
• Working with schools since 1980
• Mission-Based
A Commitment to the Whole Child
ACADEMIC Achievement · ETHICAL Development · SOCIAL Skills ·
EMOTIONAL Well-being
What is Recommended in Response to
Intervention?
• Quality Instruction
• Assessment
• Scientifically Research Based Materials
• Ongoing Assessment for Effectiveness
• Small Group Instruction
• Intervention Matched to Student Need
Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde
Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the
ltteers in a wrod aepapr. The olny iprmoatnt
tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the
rghit pclae.
The rset can be a total mses and you can
sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm.
Amzanig, huh?
Planning Intervention
INTUITIVE?
or
INTENTIONAL
These are in______and cHallinGinG
times for anyone whose pRoFEshuNle
res________ are ________in any way to
liTiRucY outcomes among school
children. For, in sport of all our new
NaWLEGe about reading and reading
iNstRukshun, there is a wide-speeded
con______ that public EdgUkAshuN is
not as eFfEktIve as it shood be in
tEecHiNg all children to read.
On standardized tests, children must
read lengthy passages, and then
answer challenging questions about
them.
Sample passage length at different levels on
Florida state test (FCAT)
3rd grade – 325 words
7th grade – 816 words
10th grade – 1008 words
Passage on previous slide = 58 words
These are interesting and challenging
times for anyone whose professional
responsibilities are related in any way to
literacy outcomes among school children.
For, in spite of all our new knowledge
about reading and reading instruction,
there is a wide-spread concern that
public education is not as effective as it
should be in teaching all children to read.
Challenges
What challenges do your students have
with decoding and fluency?
Potential stumbling blocks to becoming a
good reader (NRC Report, 1998)
1. Difficulty learning to read words accurately
and fluently
2. Insufficient vocabulary, general
knowledge, and reasoning skills to support
comprehension of written language
3. Absence or loss of initial motivation to
read, or failure to develop a mature
appreciation of the rewards of reading.
Cunningham points out, “The widely
held belief that phonics instruction
should be completed by the end of
2nd grade is partly responsible for
children getting so little help
developing the decoding strategies
necessary to unlock pronunciation
and meanings for those 10,000 new
words they encounter each year.”
Cunningham, “The Multisyllabic
Word Dilemma: Helping Students Build Meaning, Spell, and Read ‘Big’
Big’
Words,”
Words,” Reading and Writing Quarterly: Overcoming Learning Difficulties,
Framework for Reading Instruction
MOTIVATION
(success, pleasure, relevance)
DECODING
Word Recognition
Strategies
concepts
of print
phoneme
awareness
phonics
COMPREHENSION
Fluency
sight
words
automaticity
Academic Language
background
knowledge
vocabulary
syntax
-----------text
structure
Copyright © 2001, John Sheflebine /California State University, Sacramento
Comprehension
Strategies
comprehension (re)organizing
monitoring
text
Effective Intervention
1. Initial Assessment and Placement
2. Structured and Systematic Instruction
3. Flexible Grouping and Pacing
4. Fluency Practice
Effective Intervention
BPST-II - - Basic Phonic Skills Test Recording Sheet (For students reading below a 4th grade level)
John Shefelbine, California State University, Sacramento, 2002
Name
Date
Grade
Evaluator
1. Consonant sounds and name: Record sounds on top of each letter and names under each letter; do all
sounds before doing letter names; consider skipping names if 10 or more sounds are correct; mark correct
answers with , incorrect answers with actual response, and no response with NR; also note which
sounds are distorted, e.g. “fuh”.
Initial
Assessment
and
Placement
m
s
f
l
r
n
h
v
w
z
b
c
d
g
p
t
j
k
y
x
(continuous sounds)
q
(stop sounds)
_____/21
2. Consonant digraph sounds: Follow directions for sounds in #1. (th can have two sounds; voiced (that)
(v) and unvoiced (thin) (uv)
_____/4
sh
th
ch
wh
3. S hort vowel sounds: “Tell me the sounds of these letters.” If the students give a long vowel sound,
prompt them by asking if they know another sound. Do not specifically ask for short vowel sounds. Mark
on top with for short, - - long. Record incorrect answers with actual response or NR if no response. You
are really most interested in the short vowel sounds so there is not need to prompt students if they do not
give the long sounds.
_____/5 short
i
o
a
u
e
1. R eading words with short, final e, long and other vowel digraphs, and r-controlled vowel
patterns, blends, inflections and polysyllabic patterns: Record incorrect answers with actual
response or NR.
a)
map
rip
met
rub
mop
lip
nut
_____/10 short
b)
left
must
frog
flip
snack
(Note: consider stopping after only 0-2 total
correct on two consecutive rows)
_____/5 blends
c)
fine
rope
rake
cute
kite
_____/5 final e
d)
soap
leak
pain
feed
ray
_____/5 lvd
e)
burn
fork
dirt
part
serve
_____/5 r-c
f)
coin
soon
round
lawn
foot
g)
filled
letting
rested
passes
licked
_____/5 inflections
h)
silent
ladder
napkin
polite
cactus
_____/5 2-syl
i)
distrust
useful
unfair
hardship
nonsense
_____/5 affixes
j)
volcano
potato
electric
respectfully
transportation
_____/5 3-4 syl
lot
zap
fell
_____/5 ovd
Summa r y :
(1&2) consonants: good (19-25)/fair (12-18)/poor (0-11)
(3) short vowels: good (4-5)/fair (2-3)/poor (0-1)
(a) short vowel words: good (8-10)/fair (4-7)/poor (0-3)
(b) consonant blends; good (4-5)/fair (2-3)/poor (0-1) (c) final-o: good (4-5)/fair (2-3)/poor (0-1)
(d, e, f) vowel digraphs and r-controlled: good (12-15)/fair (7-11)/poor (0-6)
(g) inflections: good (4-5)/fair (2-3)/poor (0-1)
(h, i, j) polysyllabic words: good (12-15)/fair (7-11)/poor (0-6)
m s
f l r n h v w z
b c d g p t j k y x q
sh
Actual
Assessment
i
th
o
ch
a
u
wh
e
map
rip
met
rub
mop
lip
lot
zap
fell
nut
fine
rope
rake
cute
kite
soap
leak
pain
feed
ray
fur
sort
sir
tar
serve
coin
moon
round
lawn
foot
silent
ladder
napkin
locate
cactus
Developing Word
Recognition Strategies
Lesson Content
Fluency Practice
• Syllabic patterns
 Open/closed syllables
 Consonant/vowel patterns
• Morphological units, including
 Prefixes
 Suffixes
 Roots
• Segmentation, manipulation
• Consonant blends, long and
complex vowels, final e,
inflectional endings
• High-frequency irregular sight
words
• Blending, segmentation
• Consonants, consonant
digraphs, short vowels
• High-frequency sight words
Effective Intervention
Consistent, research-based routines, Level
I and II
• Phoneme Play (Manipulation
•
•
•
•
•
•
in Level II)
Phonics and Decodable
Words
Read a Mixed List (Level II)
Sight Words
Guided Spelling
Reading a story
Fluency Practice/IDR
Level III: Polysyllabic Decoding
Students who read at a
third grade level and above
typically need instruction in

Syllable types

Morphemic roots

Prefixes and suffixes


Sight-syllables and their
meanings
High-frequency academic
vocabulary
Effective Intervention
Reflecting on the Video
1.49
• What were some of the specific teacher
actions, verbal prompts and student responses
in the routines?
• How do the explicit teacher actions help
students decode polysyllabic words?
Syllabic Transformations
Two rules for syllables:
One vowel at the end is long.
One vowel not at the end is short.
Why?
Skilled readers read by syllables. The fluent
reader must read unfamiliar syllables with ease.
Try these.
zog
im
zo
squi
og
squim
ji
glo
jil
glob
il
ob
Morphemic Transformations
kind
kinder
kindest
kindness
unkind
Why?
A significant proportion of syllables in polysyllabic words
are prefixes, suffixes, and inflectional endings. Fluent
readers perceive these syllables and understand how
they affect pronunciation.
Sight Syllables
anti
mid
un
inter
Why?
Sight knowledge of common roots and affixes
improves a reader’s chance of identifying
many words in which units appear.
Prefixes
Roots
Suffixes
anti: against
civ: citizen
able: inclined to
bi: two
dent: tooth
er: more
fore: in front
div: separate
est: most
inter: between
fac: make
ful: full of
mis: wrong, bad
grat: thank
ic: relating to
non: not
mand: order
ish: like
pre: before
pend: hang
ist: a person who
semi: half
spect: look
scope: watch
trans: cross
vict: conquer
ward: direction
Reading by Syllables
spider
exact
syno nym
Why?
This routine demystifies polysyllabic words by showing
how they are made up from syllables studied in other
strands.
Where do we divide syllables?
“How many consonants between two vowels?”
lesson
Two consonants? Divide between:
les.son
One consonant? Try before first:
pa.per
If it doesn’t sound right, try after:
di.vide
div.ide
Reading Entire words
mistake
mis.take
habit
ha.bit
hab.it
Why?
Gives students the opportunity to develop
flexibility in applying their knowledge of divisional
patterns, sight syllables, and open and closed
syllables.
Effective Intervention
Developing Reading Fluency
1. Accuracy
2. Automaticity, which develops by
• attending to spelling patterns
• reading every day, preferably at 95% accuracy rate
• starting with decodable text
• progressing to easy trade books
3. Prosody
• chunking, intonation, focus
• coffee cake and honey
• I wanted chocolate and vanilla.
High Interest, Easy-to-Read Text
Independent Reading - Trade Books
Developmental Studies Center
To see:
• Phonics lessons in action,
• Trade book libraries ideally suited for
struggling readers,
• More about DSC’s work, visit www.devstu.org