How to break a "whole word" reading habit?

[rachelpants]

Do these types of errors sound like a child who is looking at the whole word rather than reading from left to right?

Confusing:

a/the

on/no

run/ran

leaves s off at the end of plural words...

 

What can I do to help him?  We tried reading with a notched card and it was soooo hard to use.  I felt like it was almost a step in the wrong direction, LOL.  Is there anything else we can try?

 

Thanks!

[Ellie]

Start at the beginning: Do Spalding. :-)

[nrself]

I think you're on the right track with the card.  It will be a real struggle but soooo worth it.  My oldest is dyslexic and smart so we struggled with this too.  He tried to sight read everything and get the words from context. And that's when those little words get switched.  It takes slowing way down and lots and lots of practice and PATIENCE.  You definitely want to fix it now.  

 

There are reading programs that are better than others.  But regardless of which program you use it will take lots of drill - until it comes automatically.

 

Good luck and ask more questions when you need it.

 

Nicole

[mama mills]

I definitely don't know the best way to help, but we made the mistake of sending him to PS kindergarten where there were teaching him to sight read words.  So when I pulled him out he had many bad habits.  When my son does this i now (a year later and we still struggle some) I cover the next word with my finger. That usually gets him to look at the letters.  Another thing I do is if he makes a mistake where I know he isn't looking at the words and is sight reading then I make him stop and sound it out phonetically.  This has seemed to help us with breaking the sight reading habit.  I also like to jump to the bottom of the page every so often to make sure that he can read random words, and while he doesn't like it when I do this because it is harder it has forced him to practice decoding instead of relying on context.  I hope this helps a little and that you can figure out what your son needs.

[forty-two]

The LiPS manual recommends having the student run their finger under the text instead of a notched card - could be something to try.

[MerryAtHope]

Here's an article on how to break the word-guessing habit that has a demonstration you can use when that happens.

[rachelpants]

Thank you all for the advice. :)

 

Does anyone have thoughts on using nonsense words? Are they helpful?

[kiwik]

Read a paragraph out loud yourself. You may find you do the same thing. If you do ask yourself how much of a problem it is to you.

 

If you can do a paragraph try a page. If you can do a page you are amazing.

 

Eta. Obviously reading on as no is a problem - does he self correct?

[a27mom]

I think this is pretty normal developmentally, and I don't know if I totally want to completely "break" that habit.

 

When we read to ourselves silently do we really sound our every phonogram in our head? Or do we read a mix of contextually, by sight, and by sounding out?

 

I have a heavy emphasis on pure phonics. And I don't believe in learning "sight words" until you understand them phonetically. But I also don't want my kids to lumber through books sounding out every word. Run/ran and plurals are things you self-correct when reading silently. My youngest already can read a bit faster than she can pronounce, so she appears to miss those type of things, but really her comprehension is just fine.

 

I also try to be very careful with over correcting on/no and letter reversals. I correct them when reading and move on. My older daughter struggles with these, but she can also read upside down for many words. She is able to see things in a way that makes standard right to left progression difficult. But these skills will be useful in other areas, so I would rather she naturally develop the understanding just for reading, and am trying to be patient.

 

I want my kids to be able to sound everything out phonetically, but I don't want them to need to sound everything out. Eventually one does have to transition to whole word reading for most of the words they read, especially the words you mentioned. But it is very important that they know how to decode phonetically because you can't whole read everything.

[Walking-Iris]

I think this is pretty normal developmentally, and I don't know if I totally want to completely "break" that habit.

 

When we read to ourselves silently do we really sound our every phonogram in our head? Or do we read a mix of contextually, by sight, and by sounding out?

 

I have a heavy emphasis on pure phonics. And I don't believe in learning "sight words" until you understand them phonetically. But I also don't want my kids to lumber through books sounding out every word. Run/ran and plurals are things you self-correct when reading silently. My youngest already can read a bit faster than she can pronounce, so she appears to miss those type of things, but really her comprehension is just fine.

 

I also try to be very careful with over correcting on/no and letter reversals. I correct them when reading and move on. My older daughter struggles with these, but she can also read upside down for many words. She is able to see things in a way that makes standard right to left progression difficult. But these skills will be useful in other areas, so I would rather she naturally develop the understanding just for reading, and am trying to be patient.

 

I want my kids to be able to sound everything out phonetically, but I don't want them to need to sound everything out. Eventually one does have to transition to whole word reading for most of the words they read, especially the words you mentioned. But it is very important that they know how to decode phonetically because you can't whole read everything.

 

Of course we don't sound out every word, because if we learned phonics while we were young, we can quickly look at an unfamiliar word and read it. All other words we've read and seen and spelled a million times as adults, that of course we don't have to stop to sound things out. The adults I've met who struggle to read are the ones who were taught the whole word way. So they have no tool to break an unfamiliar word down. It would do these adults a great service if they could sound out a word. 

 

It would be a pretty inefficient to sound out a word when we were 6-7 and still need to sound it out as a 30 year old. Fluency comes with practice. When we read or spell we are still seeing those phonetic patterns but it happens lightning fast. 

 

My 6 year old still reads ran for run etc. I think part of the problem is looking at the shape, which I try to discourage. I think it's normal for young kids to do this. I just say "whoops, let's look at that word again" while I point to the word that was misread. Usually he can get it right after slowing down and really looking at the word/letters. I think when trying to read fast, or when not looking close enough, he just inserts something similar. 

 

I always correct a misspelling or a misreading.

[IsabelC]

Start at the beginning: Do Spalding. :-)

 

Anyone would think you liked Spalding!  :lol:

[IsabelC]

With my struggling reader, when we read together, I run my finger along under the words. If she guesses a word or reads it incorrectly, I just leave my finger under that word so she knows to stop and fix it before going on. If she doesn't get it the second try, I cover up all but the first blend or syllable to get her to break it down into manageable chunks (and to force her to read it from the left - one of her 'bad habits' is that if she sees a familiar sound in the middle of a word she will read that as the beginning of the word). 

 

I think that part of the problem is that it really is actually easier to sightread and guess than sound out until one has had a lot of practice and got to the point of automaticity.

 

(The other part of the problem is that school teachers encourage guessing.)

[Aloha2U]

Start at the beginning: Do Spalding. :-)

I absolutely concur. I suggest using either Spell to Write and Read (SWR) or Writing Road to Reading (WRTR).

[Tracy]

I absolutely concur. I suggest using either Spell to Write and Read (SWR) or Writing Road to Reading (WRTR).

SWR and Spalding actively train the student to sound out words.  I had a 5yo advanced reader who I knew had a whole word reading habit.  I started SWR, and it took 2 years before she would even attempt to sound out a new word.  I am so glad I started early, because for this student, the whole word reading habit was very ingrained and pervasive.  She needed more than just an index card forcing her sound it out.  She needed to tools to know which sounds were made by individual letters and which sounds were made by multiple letters (as in IGH or AY, for example) and how the placing of those letters affects their sounds (as in final silent E's, or when a vowel is long at the end of a syllable).  She needed to practice this over an over with a large pool of words before she could implement it on her own.  

[nrself]

As for nonsense words, I thought they were a godsend.  My dyslexic son thought, and still thinks, they are vile.  There's no knowing the word with them so it's all phonics.  And really shows when you don't know the rules.

 

[ElizabethB]

Yes, nonsense words are helpful for breaking the guessing habit. Also, with my students who have a strong guessing habit, I have them sound out every sound of every word for the next few words after guessing. You can also have them first spell the word, then say every sound, then read the word. That much work for guessing decreases the desire to speed through and guess!

 

Also, fMRI studies have shown that good readers use the side of the prain that processes sounds, not pictures. Poor readers and those with dyslexia process more on the side that processes pictures. So, I believe that good readers are actually sounding out every word, just so fast they don't realize it anymore.

 

My sight word movie explains some of this:

 

 

I was taught with phonics in K and then whole word in 1st grade, but my parents taught me phonics on the fly when I read aloud to them, so I eventually ended up with a fair phonics background. I occasionally will make an error like that when reading aloud. My daughter never does, she also catches small errors when others are reading aloud. She reads over 700 words a minute and can read nonsense words as well as regular words. (I was also a fairly poor speller until I started teaching phonics and learning all the rules!)

[lacell]

Nonsense words for testing.

[ElizabethB]

Here is my nonsense word test:

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/newelizabethian.html

 

Also, syllables function as nonsense words, that is part of the reason I like Webster's Speller:

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/WellTaughtPhonicsStudent.html

 

We All Can Read has a large stock of nonsense words.  I would just get the 3rd grade and above book, if the print is too small at first you can just write the words on the white board.

 

http://weallcanread.com/phonics-program-core-book.html

 

My phonics concentration game makes both real and nonsense words:

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Phonics/concentrationgam.html

 

[simplemom]

I used the Reading made Easy with Blend Phonics program suggested on donpotter.net . The website has a link to the free download of the book by Hazel Loring, and a link to practice sentences and paragraphs to go along with each unit. Don potter also has a video on his website on the how and why of teaching the child to read from left to right and no guessing.

[dbaeimers]

When working on reading with my girls, I try to not correct to the point that it kills the love of reading :)  Practice and time will naturally improve reading and the guessing.  I start out teaching phonics, but I have found that there is a time when they naturally look at the pictures and contexts and guess.  If the word is really off or more than one word a line I correct, but I still want the story to flow so they are enjoying the experience.  With both of my girls that are reading they naturally overcame this as they got more reading practice.  They are both years ahead in reading and very strong readers, so I do not think it hurt them.