Unlocking they Mystery of Reading

This happens to all of us. We’re sitting beside a child listening to them read, when they come upon a difficult word. We listen to them struggle “mmm…ooo….uuu…  um, moon” they say doubtfully.

The word was “mouse,” from the sentence: “Run,” said the little gray mouse .   

Often times we don’t know how to constructively prompt our readers in situations like this. Saying “well …sound it out,” as a way to band-aid the problem.  However, attempting to “sound-it-out” can frustrate or confuse readers because sometimes, it’s not that simple. The last thing we ever want to do to a child is make reading a frustrating or confusing task.

Good news is that there are several strategies that can help readers tackle difficult words. The key is understanding which strategy will best fit the problem.

In order to tailor our responses to the need of the child, we first have to dive into the mind of the child as they work through the “tricky” word. So in the scenario above: What was happening in the brain during the “mmm…ooo….uuu,” and more importantly, why did the child settle with the word moon, instead of mouse?

At the core, reading is making meaning of symbols on a page. Cognitively, we tap into three domains in order to decipher each word: meaning (context), visual (graphophonic), and structural (syntax).

ü  Meaning: Does this word make sense in the story?

ü  Visual: Does the word look right?

ü  Structure: Could this word grammatically fit in the sentence?

When our brains are accessing the three domains perfectly, then we are reading successfully. When we read a word incorrectly, it means that one of the three domains is dominant, or perhaps we are ignoring a domain all together.

So back to the child trying to read “mouse:”

The brain has picked up on visual cues, acknowledging that the word begins with “m.” However the child’s brain is ignoring structural cues (since “moon” cannot take the place of “mouse” in the sentence. The brain is also ignoring meaning, because most likely the picture book is about a mouse, so saying “moon,” does not fit the storyline.

For this reader, you would want to prompt by asking them to reread the sentence, saying “Wait… did that make sense?”(Structure cue). Also, referencing the storyline, and pointing to the illustration (meaning cue) would be helpful. Usually you don’t need to cue all three domains, but if the child was still struggling, you could ask them to look closer at the ending of the word “mouse” (visual). Once the three domains are equally functioning, the reader can continue on!

 I hope you found this information to be useful in understanding your little reader.  I will give you more specific (visual-phonetic) “fix-up” strategies soon.  

Happy reading!