The Word Identification Strategy

1
The Word Identification Strategy

• The Learning Strategy Series

2
Pertinent Setting Demands

• Students who struggle in content area classes
  with long, multisyllabled words.
• Students whose comprehension skills are greater
  than their decoding skills.

3
Purpose of this Strategy

• To give the student a systematic process through
  which long words can be attacked.

4
Steps of the Strategy

• Require the student to
• Focus on the context surrounding the word
• Dissect a word into component parts using simple
  rules
• Use other resources available
• people
• dictionary

5
Rationales Behind the Strategy Steps

• 1. The strategy requires the student to actively
  interact with the reading material.
• 2. Through the application of a few rules, the
  strategy enables the student to easily dissect
  and pronounce most words.
• 3. The strategy enables the student to make use
  of resources for very difficult words.

6
Word Identification Strategy Results

• Performance on Grade-Level Materials

7
Instructors Manual Contents

• Introduction
• Instruction Methods

8
Instructors Manual Contents

• Instruction Methods
• Stage 1 Pretest and Make Commitment
• Stage 2 Describe
• Stage 3 Model
• Stage 4 Verbal Practice
• Stage 5 Controlled Practice and Feedback
• Stage 6 Advanced Practice
• Stage 7 Posttest and Make Commitments
• Stage 8 Generalization

9
Instructors Manual Contents

• Appendix A Evaluation Guidelines
• Appendix B Instructional Materials
• Appendix C Prerequisite Lessons
• Appendix D Answer Keys
• Appendix E Suggested Commercially Available
  Materials

10
Student Folder Contents

• Front cover
• Progress Chart
• Assignment Sheet
• Back Cover
• Envelope

Eventual Contents Cue Cards Tests Controlled
Practice Attempts Advanced Practice
Attempts Generalization Attempts Activation Adapt
ation Maintenance
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Selecting Students for Word Identification

• Prerequisites
• 1. Reading at or above the 3rd-grade level.
• 2. Knowledge of phonic sounds.
• Can find a word in the dictionary.
• Understand the meaning of prefix, suffix, and
  stem.
• If any of these are missing, you must preteach
  these skills!

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Appendix C Overview

• Results of the Prefix/Suffix Test
• Mastery
• Instructional Need?
• Appendix C Materials
• Suggested Procedures Materials for Teaching or
  Review
• NOT Comprehensive

13
Appendix C Overview

• Appendix C Materials (cont.)
• Materials Include
• Prefix/Suffix Lesson
• Prefix List
• Suffix List
• Prefix Worksheets
• Suffix Worksheets
• Prefix and Suffix Lists Based on Most Frequently
  Used Prefixes Suffixes
• What are the issues and concerns
• related to Appendix C?

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Steps of the WordIdentification Strategy

• Step 1 Discover the context
• Step 2 Isolate the prefix
• Step 3 Separate the suffix
• Step 4 Say the stem
• Step 5 Examine the stem
• Step 6 Check with someone
• Step 7 Try the dictionary

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Rules of Twos and Threes

• Rule 1
• If a stem or part of the stem begins with
• A vowel, divide off the first two letters.
• A consonant, divide off the first three letters.
• Rule 2
• If you can't make sense of the stem after using
  Rule 1, take off the first letter of the stem and
  use Rule 1 again.

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Rules of Twos and Threes

• Rule 3
• When two different vowels are together, try
  making both of the vowel sounds (diet).
• If this does not work, try pronouncing them
  together using only one of the vowel sounds
  (believe).

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Providing Corrective Feedback

• Factors that Make for Good Feedback
• 1. Positive
• At least 3 positive remarks are made
• Corrective
• Specify a category of errors
• Specify what the student should do
• Provide a model

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Providing Corrective Feedback

• D. Have the student practice
• Have the student paraphrase the feedback
• Have the student write a goal
• G. Repeat corrective steps A-F for each category
  or errors made
• H. Communicate your positive expectation to the
  student

19
Providing Corrective Feedback

• Factors that Make for Good Feedback
• 3. Individual
• 4. Immediate
• After last performance
• Immediately before the next

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Rationale for theGeneralization Stage

• Research suggests that many low-achieving
  students do not independently generalize skills
  and strategies. Consequently, if strategy
  instructors teach skills and strategies in
  isolation, capable students may not reach the
  independent learner level.

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Rationale for theGeneralization Stage

• Most importantly, without planned generalization
  activities and demonstrated competence in this
  area by students, useful skills and strategies
  have not really been taught.

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Rationale for theGeneralization Stage

• In summary, without Stage 8, you really haven't
  achieved mastery of Stages 1-7.