Decoding Tips for Tutors & Parents

 

Reading depends on decoding. Students can use it to sound out unfamiliar words and figure out the majority of words they have heard but have never seen on paper. All other aspects of reading instruction (fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension) are based on the capacity to decode.

While decoding is a crucial reading skill, it is one that some students may struggle to grasp. As a parent or tutor, you can assist by identifying what aspect of decoding the student is struggling with then taking the appropriate steps to guide them correctly. Below we’ll discuss a common decoding mistake and ways in which you can assist your child/student to correct it! 

Student misreads a word by only sounding out the first and last letter. 

This is a common occurrence in readers of various levels. Without carefully looking at and decoding a word, some students simply guess the word based on the first and last letter. 

An example of this is a student seeing the word ‘beat’ and saying ‘bat’. 

• Separate the word into sounds. b/ ea / t. Doing this reminds the student of the sounds that make up the word and allows them to pay attention to those sounds and better blend them to say the word. 

• Use this opportunity to recap vowel teams/vowel digraphs. In this case, the vowel digraph in the word is ‘ea’ so you can remind the student/child that ‘ea’ makes an ‘E’ sound in some words and give more examples. These examples can be written down on a page or even using flashcards for the student to further familiarize themselves with ‘ea’ words. Below we have provided a list of ‘ea’ words where there is the ‘E’ sound. 

B ea t - beat 

B ea m - beam 

S ea m - seam 

T ea m - team 

M ea t - meat

H ea t - heat 

N ea t - neat 

S ea t - seat 

 B ea ch - beach

T ea ch  - teach 

R ea ch - reach 

St ea m - steam 

• Next, you can have the student practice reading sentences with the above words in them. This reinforces what the student would have learnt about the vowel team ‘ea’ and its pronunciation as ‘E’ in some words. This activity grants the student the opportunity to identify the ‘ea’ words in sentences and apply the rule learnt. Here are some examples below. 

1. We went to the beach on Saturday. 

2. We were asked to have a seat. 

3. My sister is on the best team!

4. They ate rice and meat. 

5. Can you reach the table? 

If the student struggles to identify the ‘ea’ words independently, you can have them practice reading the sentences with the ea words highlighted or underlined as done below. 

1. We went to the beach on Saturday. 

2. We were asked to have a seat. 

3. My sister is on the best team!

4. They ate rice and meat. 

5. Can you reach the table? 

The level of assistance needed would vary from student to student, you can apply the tips as needed based on the student’s level and abilities. The ultimate goal should be for the student to be able to independently identify the ‘ea’ words and apply the rule. 

At The Caribbean Academy for Reading Intervention and Development, we offer an Individual Reading Assistance Program that assists struggling readers to build skills in: 

• Sight words and high-frequency words 

• Sounds recognition 

• Reading comprehension 

• Letter and word recognition 

• Phonics and phonemic awareness 

Our Reading Assistance Programme is designed to teach the foundational skills of reading to children with significant academic challenges, empowering them to achieve grade-level proficiency. Our dedicated tutors help struggling readers understand the basic mechanics of reading and help them develop critical reading skills that will help them develop a lifelong love of reading. 

Target Audience: Struggling readers between the ages of 5 years to 10 years. 

Persons interested in our Individual Reading Assistance Program can contact us at 1-868-474-9819. 

Chrystal Murray has a passion for imparting knowledge and adding value to the lives of others.

She has been an educator for over 14 years. She holds a B.A. Degree in History and Education from the University of the West Indies (UWI). She also possesses several professional certificates in Understanding Dyslexia, Successful Educational Strategies for Children with Special Needs, and Supporting Multiple Abilities through Differentiation just to name a few. She is also certified in Counselling Youth and Children and Parenting the Adolescent. Chrystal is the Founder and Principal of two academic institutions, the Caribbean Ivy League Academy and the Caribbean Academy for Reading Intervention and Development. She founded the Caribbean Academy for Reading Intervention and Development where she works assiduously with children who have reading challenges. She also uses this platform to motivate, inspire and help build confidence in the children who are in her care.

Chrystal Murray 

Reading Interventionist 

1-868-474-9819