Word Building is a research-based, highly effective word analysis program. It is now being used in hundreds of classrooms around the country. Although designed for use with struggling readers and writers, it may be used with all students.
Word Building is grounded in four basic principles.
1. Build on what students know. It is important to observe students carefully so as to be aware of what their knowledge of decoding elements is and to see what kinds of strategies they use when they encounter difficult words in their reading.
2. Proceed from the simple to the complex. Word Building has been designed to start with the simplest, easiest-to-learn phonic elements and to use these as building blocks for more advanced elements. Word Building presents the most basic pronounceable element in the pattern being taught and leads students to build words by adding to that core element. In presenting long e, for example, the teacher tells students that e represents /ee/ and helps them to build words like he, me, we, and she. On a more advanced level, Word Building helps students learn multisyllabic words by building on known elements. For instance, building on their knowledge of at, students learn multisyllabic words such as batter, matter, and chatter.
3. Provide ample reinforcement. The best reinforcement is to have students read books, rhymes, and real world materials that incorporate the phonics element that they have been taught. An integrated multisensory approach, Word Building also features using the newly taught phonics element in spelling and writing. Other high-payoff practice activities include sorting, crossword puzzles, cutup sentences, and games.
4. Build strategies that enable students to read unfamiliar words. When faced with a word that poses difficulty for them, students use the strategy of seeking a pronounceable word part and then using that pronounceable word part as the basis for reconstructing the word. A student unable to pronounce the printed word ranch might use the pronounceable word part an to reconstruct the word, saying "an," "ran," and finally "ranch." If the pronounceable word-part strategy doesn't work, the student would then try an analogy strategy. Unable to find a pronounceable word part in the unknown word vet, the student might compare it to the known word pet and work out the pronunciation through analogy. Context, of course, is emphasized. The overall sense of the selection and the immediate context in which the unfamiliar word appears are woven into the pronounceable word-part and analogy strategies. Context, including picture clues, is also used when neither the pronounceable word part nor analogy strategy works.
Home - Links
- Placing Students - Programs
-
Reinforcement Activities - Resources
- Sample Lessons - About the Author