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Decoding long words - phonics or vocabulary?


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DS 13 has been a struggling reader. Now he can read on a 6th grade level. Yay!

 

But, phonics programs don't go further than that and I'm struggling with how to teach four, five, six syllable words, many with greek and latin roots.

 

Would this still be considered phonics or vocabulary?

 

I am currently using Webster's Speller, but we're not feeling the love. For spelling, we are using Spelling Through Morphographs and it is working well.

 

Will he pick up the words, now that he can read better? Or should I keep working on longer words? Help!

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Hello!

There is a program out there called Megawords that may be helpful for your son. I think it is by the same group that produces Explode the Code. I have not used it personally, but it sounds like it might be a good for helping your son decode longer words by chunking them into recognizable parts.

Hope this helps, (you can probably see sample pages at CBD)

Blessings,

April

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DS 13 has been a struggling reader. Now he can read on a 6th grade level. Yay!

 

But, phonics programs don't go further than that and I'm struggling with how to teach four, five, six syllable words, many with greek and latin roots.

 

Would this still be considered phonics or vocabulary?

 

I am currently using Webster's Speller, but we're not feeling the love. For spelling, we are using Spelling Through Morphographs and it is working well.

 

Will he pick up the words, now that he can read better? Or should I keep working on longer words? Help!

 

A program designed to do specifically what you want is called REWARDS published by Sopris West. The teacher's manual is expensive, but has good resale value . The student workbook is cheap --$10ish. You definitely need the TM. I would get REWARDS secondary at your son's age and then if necessary, get one of the REWARDS plus programs.

 

If you do it every day, it will take a couple months to go through REWARDS. People typically see about a 2 year gain in comprehension for those 2 months of work.

 

I have two ds's with dyslexia. The first gained 4 years comprehension with REWARDS; the second needed to solidify the gains with REWARDS plus, but he also jumped in reading comprehension by the time we were done.

 

The program is scripted for you, so no lesson planning. Just read what it says and go through each exercise. It's a really excellent program. I've also used it as a reading tutor.

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Laurie, I just finished up with REWARDS - Intermediate and the second half of Secondary!

 

I want to know what to do now! He can read pretty much everything in REWARDS. But what about those longer words? Scientific words with Latin and Greek roots? Words with 5-6 syllables? Words he has never heard before?

 

Will it all come in time, now that he is reading? Or do I make him read lists of words like the Webster's Speller?

 

BTW, REWARDS was incredible. DS did go up two grade levels and read almost two books in the first week and a half of hs! He was very proud! In fairness, we also did Blend Phonics and reviewed phonogram cards daily (still do).

 

April, I have been consdering Megawords, but for reading he is above the level 1 book that I have. And I am quite confused as to how to use Megawords for reading...

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A program designed to do specifically what you want is called REWARDS published by Sopris West.

 

:iagree:

 

I was just going to write this same thing but Laurie4b beat me to it.

 

ETA: And I see after actually reading the posts that you have already used REWARDS.

 

There are two others, a social studies one and a science one that you could use to reinforce what he learned in REWARDS Secondary.

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Aren't most long words actually compound words with one or two roots plus a prefix and/or a suffix? eg in antidisestablishmentarianism (OK not a common word, but some people say it's the longest one in English) the basic word is establish, which is straightforward enough that my 6yo can sound it out and knows what it means, and the rest just modifies that, so your older child would know about anti etc from other words he is already familiar with. KWIM?

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Aren't most long words actually compound words with one or two roots plus a prefix and/or a suffix? eg in antidisestablishmentarianism (OK not a common word, but some people say it's the longest one in English) the basic word is establish, which is straightforward enough that my 6yo can sound it out and knows what it means, and the rest just modifies that, so your older child would know about anti etc from other words he is already familiar with. KWIM?

 

Yes, mainly you are right. I think it's more difficult for him, since he has always been a struggling reader and his vocabulary is limited. Therefore, he has no idea where to put accents and it slows him down. He just doesn't know when the words are read correctly!

 

Hopefully, just the fact that he is reading more will be the best help.

 

Thanks.

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You could try M.K. Henry's words. It separates out Latin and Greek words and is combined phonics/spelling/vocab.

 

It isn't that long, but there is a ton of information packed into each page, it's well worth the $25.

 

My older students really enjoy telling their parents that they can read long Greek and Latin words!

 

It is quite different than Webster's Speller.

 

Edit: I was trying to sleep and just thought of a few more ideas.

 

My UPP. Most of the documents in the UPP are from the KJV Bible, but I also have my favorite antifederalist paper, "The Power of the Judiciary." The markings on the UPP keep the spelling of words but make English 100% phonetic.

 

Also, many of the selections in Parker's Readers have pronunciations and definitions for the harder words at the end of each reading selection. You will probably want to start around the 3rd or 4th reader, I have them linked at the end of my Webster page. Print a few pages and see how it goes, if it's helpful, you may want to order an actual book, you can get the originals for as little as $12 or $15 from Alibris or ABE books. (I've found some for $5 and $10 at antiquarian bookstores in the NJ area when I was visiting there.)

 

You could try the 1908 Speller instead, it has sentences after the words that help with vocabulary, the sentences are based on the words taught in the table before it and help explain the words. It's online at Google books. Don Potter is working on a version for Lulu, he's completed it and is just checking it for errors before he publishes it. Here are a few sample sentences:

 

Men who have been instructed in colleges are said to have a collegiate education.

Laudanum is given to alleviate pain.

The sun illuminates our world.

 

An observatory is a place for observing the heavenly bodies with telescopes.

An extemporary discourse is one spoken without notes or premeditation.

 

Edited by ElizabethB
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Well I was going to suggest Rewards too, but...

 

 

"Therefore, he has no idea where to put accents and it slows him down. He just doesn't know when the words are read correctly!"

 

 

My dd had the same problem, and in addition to Rewards one of the things that helped her was was to listen to books on audio while she read them. I was able to find pretty much all her assigned reading for that year on audio from the library so she was hearing those big words while she was reading them.

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You could try M.K. Henry's words. It separates out Latin and Greek words and is combined phonics/spelling/vocab.

 

It isn't that long, but there is a ton of information packed into each page, it's well worth the $25.

 

My older students really enjoy telling their parents that they can read long Greek and Latin words!

 

It is quite different than Webster's Speller.

 

Edit: I was trying to sleep and just thought of a few more ideas.

 

My UPP. Most of the documents in the UPP are from the KJV Bible, but I also have my favorite antifederalist paper, "The Power of the Judiciary." The markings on the UPP keep the spelling of words but make English 100% phonetic.

 

Also, many of the selections in Parker's Readers have pronunciations and definitions for the harder words at the end of each reading selection. You will probably want to start around the 3rd or 4th reader, I have them linked at the end of my Webster page. Print a few pages and see how it goes, if it's helpful, you may want to order an actual book, you can get the originals for as little as $12 or $15 from Alibris or ABE books. (I've found some for $5 and $10 at antiquarian bookstores in the NJ area when I was visiting there.)

 

You could try the 1908 Speller instead, it has sentences after the words that help with vocabulary, the sentences are based on the words taught in the table before it and help explain the words. It's online at Google books. Don Potter is working on a version for Lulu, he's completed it and is just checking it for errors before he publishes it. Here are a few sample sentences:

 

Elizabeth, I started using the 1908 Webster's with much success! Thank you for the suggestion!

 

Luna, I also like your idea about the audio books. I will definitely try that as well.

 

I have also added Megawords as a spelling/reading/vocab supplement. In reading, he's ahead of book one, but I have no idea how to implement two books at one time - one for spelling, one for reading. I've heard of people doing that.

 

Thanks all!

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