Before we get into the actual lesson plans you can expect to create with your learner, it is important to understand the tools that are available. These include the fundamentals of decoding word skills, reading & comprehension, writing, communication, and vocabulary.

Decoding skills refer to the ability to sound out words, to recognize patterns in words and be able to break words into smaller parts.  Sometimes it’s a simple matter of recognizing words by sight. We will review three specific components in this section:  1) phonics, 2) word patterns, and 3) sight words.  


• Phonics

A phoneme is the sound of a letter (or a group of letters). The method in which these phonemes are taught is called phonics. Knowing phonics helps readers to be able to take any word apart to sound it out. It is true that many letters have more than one sound. In fact, the 26 letters of our alphabet produce 42 – 46 sounds! But there are some general phonics rules which will help learners to experience success as they sound out words new to them.

• Word Patterns

Word patterns kick phonics up a notch. Instead of sounding out words by individual sounds, students use small pieces of a word – a word pattern – to recognize a larger chunk of it. Word pattern practice helps students to easily recognize common syllables and common letter combinations. It speeds up the process, if you will.

• Sight Words

Sight words are those which the reader automatically recognizes, without struggle and without having to sound out individual letters or figure out word patterns.  Good readers draw primarily from their sight word vocabulary.  They have read the words often enough that they can do so without hesitation.  With lots of reading practice, students will add more and more words to their sight vocabulary.  This will facilitate their ease with reading.

Phonics is the sound-symbol relationship of our letters.  The following is a quick look at teaching phonics.

Guideline for Teaching Sounds

1. Teach the primary sound of each letter.  As you make the sound of the letter, try to isolate only that single sound.  For instance, the sound for the letter “b” is not “buuuh” as is so often heard.  It is a short, crisp /b/.

2. Select a “key word” to associate with the sound.  For each sound, use a word which begins with the sound.  It is often best to begin with the consonant sounds first.  Here are a few examples:
/b/ as in boy
/c/ as in cat
/d/ as in dish
(Note:  there are many instructional books which already have key words selected for teaching the sounds.  Feel free to use one, or invite your students to come up with their own key words.)

3. Make the phonic sounds while your students listen, then ask them to repeat the sound.  It is often helpful to use a mirror so they can see how their mouths form the sounds.

4. Focus on only a few sounds at a time (3 – 5).  Reinforce those and help your students master them before adding new ones.


General Order for Teaching Phonics

1. Single consonants at the beginning and at the ending of words.
2. Digraphs (ch, sh, th, etc.)
3. Common consonant blends ( bl, cr, br, sw, str, etc.)
4. Short vowels.  Within a syllable, if there is one vowel followed by a consonant, it is usually short.  
5. Long vowels.
6. If a syllable ends with a vowel, it is usually long.  
7. If there are two vowels together, the first vowel is usually long and the second silent.
8. If one vowel is followed by a consonant and an e, the first vowel is usually long and the final e is silent.
9. R- controlled vowels include –ar, -or, and –er, -ir, or –ur
10. Less common sounds, such as ph for /f/ as in philosophy and ch for /k/ in school and for /sh/ as in Chicago.



Word Patterns

Using word patterns is the practice of “chunking” word parts for quicker and easier recognition.  For instance, consider the word “band.”  Using strictly phonics, the student would sound it out sound by sound:

/b/…/a/…/n/…/d/

But as a word pattern, there are only two parts to sound out:

/b/…/and/

It’s almost magical!  To be successful it is necessary for students to know the sound of the beginning consonants in every word used in a pattern practice.  Do not introduce sounds they do not yet know.

Guideline for Teaching Word Patterns

1. Print the word patterns to be studied.  Write the words so that the similar parts line up:

and         ing ight
hand thing light
band sing might
sand ring right
land         wing night
brand sting bright


2. Ask student to read aloud the first word in the group.  (Make the first word one which the student already knows.)
3. Guide student to read each word in the list by making the sound of the pattern first, then adding the consonant to its beginning to form the word.
4. Once the student is at ease with the list, switch it up.  Ask the student to supply words that fit the pattern.  Make a game of it.


CAUTION:  Watch for words that don’t fit the pattern because they:

1) sound different, even though they look the same:  
Example:  foot / boot know / cow

2) are spelled different, even though they sound the same:
Example:  suit / boot        race / base

With more advanced students you can move on into multisyllabic words, prefixes, suffixes, finding root words, and many more exercises.  See the Appendix for examples.



Sight Words

Sight words are those which are recognized instantly.  They are read as a whole, not broken down into parts.  A large sight vocabulary increases reading fluency and speed, which results in improved reading comprehension.

Most words eventually will become sight words, but as you’re starting out, here are some categories of words that are especially good to choose for sight word practice.

1. High frequency words – the most common ones
Examples:   on the be at

2. Phonetically irregular words – you can’t sound them out!
Examples:   laugh eight walk

3. Survival words
Examples:   danger      flammable       fragile

4. Words of interest to your student (from work, hobbies, interests)
Examples:   These could be any words!



Guideline for Teaching Sight Words

1. Write the word on a card.
2. Write the word in a sentence on the reverse side of the card.
3. Read the word and ask the student to repeat it.
4. Ask the student to spell the word aloud while tracing the letters on the card, then repeat the word aloud.
5. Ask the student to spell the word aloud while tracing it with two fingers on the table.
6. Ask the student to write the word in the air, using the full arm, saying the letters aloud while doing so.
7. Ask the student to write the word on paper.
8. Practice with the card several times, over several sessions until the student can easily both read and spell the word.

The 10 most useful words in English:
a      and    be    for    have in of that   the       to

The 50 words used most often in writing letters:

1. I 11. it 21. at 31. very         41. do
2. the 12. that   22. was         32. my         42. been
3. and 13. if 23. with         33. had         43. letter
4. to 14. your         24. but 34. our         44. can
5. a 15. have         25. on 35. from         45. would
6. you 16. will 26. is 36. am         46. she
7. of 17. her 27. all 37. one         47. when
8. in 18. are 28. so 38. him 48. about
9. we 19. not 29. me 39. he 49. they
10. for 20. as 30. this 40. get 50. any

The 50 words found most often in what you read:

1. the 11. he 21. at 31. we 41. there
2. and 12. you 22. on 32. ask 42. this
3. a         13. for 23. have         33. all 43. as
4. to         14. had         24. but 34. one         44. out
5. of 15. is 25. me 35. my 45. said
6. I         16. with         26. my 36. are 46. would
7. in         17. her 27. not 37. were         47. what
8. was 18. she 28. be 38. or 48. their
9. that 19. his 29. him 39. when 49. no
10. it 20. as 30. they         40. up 50. if

There are about a half million words in the English dictionary, but you can expect to see most of them very rarely, only 2% or less of everything you read. -- Source Unknown

date                                         home telephone            references
month                                 fax number            in case of emergency
year                                         citizen            education
name                                 citizenship status             years of schooling
Mr.                                         birth date             last school attended
Mrs.                                 date of birth             degrees held
Miss                                 place of birth             diplomas held
Ms.                                          age                      salary
first name                                  height              hourly
last name                                  weight               weekly
maiden name                          Social Security number    part-time
middle name                                  marital status               full-time
middle initial                                  married                       temporary work
address                                          separated               sex
street                                  divorced               male
permanent address                  widowed                       female
mailing address                          single                       health plan coverage
present address                          occupation                       insurance
zip code                                  employer                       medical history
city                                  firm                       physical impairment
state                          place of employment       driver’s license number
telephone number                  self-employed       signature
business telephone                  length of service       email

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