Decoding and word recognition skills include
how automatically students read sight words and how successfully they identify unfamiliar words through acquiring the alphabetic
principle, blending letters into sounds, using phonograms and analogies. Additionally, third graders should begin using
knowledge of syllable types and patterns and structural analysis to figure out unfamiliar words.
At third grade, these skills include:
· decodes one-syllable words using knowledge
of common syllable types and patterns (closed, r-controlled, vowel teams)
to decode multisyllabic words
Start Word List
Where To Start Word
Lists can be used to assess a student's approximate reading level when there isn't enough data or background information to
determine a starting point.
Students are given
leveled lists of 20 words each and are tested until they correctly read fewer than 16 words. The
teacher starts with a leveled list one grade below the student's current level. For example, third grade students should
start with Level 2. Using a corresponding chart, the teacher can then determine which level (A-Z)
to use for further assessment (such as running records) or book selection.
are used to determine overall reading level with optional assessments for words per minute, word accuracy, self-correction
rate, and fluency. Students read aloud a text (preferably from a book, but worksheets are acceptable) while the teacher
follows along with a copy. The teacher notes errors, substitutions, corrections, and general observations. When
the student finishes the section, the teacher asks literal and inferential questions to assess overall comprehension.
Students may need to be retested with easier or harder books until a "just right" level is found, where students read with
greater than 90% accuracy and comprehension.
The Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Assessment Kit is a great resource for these assessments because it contains leveled word lists that correspond
to leveled running records and benchmark books. An all-in-one calculator/stopwatch is
also provided to calculate words per minute, word accuracy, and self-correction rate with the press of a button!
students vary in how they develop skills in decoding and word recognition, small-group approaches are often needed to more
closely match instruction to learners' assessed needs... Critical to making a difference with children who struggle in this
area is noticing the particular area of need a student shows and then carefully planning instruction and monitoring progress
(Biggam 74). For students who scored poorly on the Where To Start Word Test or Running Records, the following interventions
may be implemented.
Folding In Flash Cards
students who score significantly below grade level on the Where To Start Word List or other high frequency word test, this
word-building and automaticity technique may be utilized for fifteen minutes per day. In this intensive intervention, students
practice known and unknown words. Students initially start with three unknown words and seven known words. The
teacher models how to read the unknown words and then follows the following steps:
1. Present the first unknown word, followed
by the first known word.
2. Presents the first unknown word again,
followed by the first two known words.
3. Presents the first unknown word again,
followed by the first three known words.
4. Repeats this process until all seven of
the known words are folded in.
5. Repeats the procedure using the first
two unknown words, and then finally with the third unknown word.
6. Assess all the words at the end of the
session. When a previously unknown word is read correctly on two consecutive days, it counts as a known word.
7. New words are systematically added as
unknown words are mastered.
and Allington recommend coaching groups to practice word-solving and comprehension strategies. Students may be grouped
by specific needs as identified with running records. In coaching groups, the teacher provides students with
a text appropriate for their reading level. The students read the selection on their own, and then the teacher
asks one student to read a section aloud. The group works together to solve challenging words using the following coaching
1. Put your finger on the word and
say all the letters.
2. Use the letters and the picture
3. Look for a rhyme you know.
4. Keep your finger on the word and
finish the sentence; then pretend it's the covered word to solve.
It's important to remember that coaching
groups are flexible and students should be regrouped as their needs change.
Reading posters that support decoding and word recognition: Handy Reading Strategies and Animal Helpers