Decoding

Decoding is the ability to understand the relationship between letters and the sounds they represent and blend those sounds together to produce a word.

Decoding is important because it is the foundation on which all future reading instruction builds. Readers who can move past the “sound it out” stage of word reading can figure out and learn words they haven’t seen before, read sentences and much longer texts fluently, and use more complex reading skills to gain knowledge from texts.

Source: Really Great Reading

How would I know if my child should practice decoding?

All young readers will need to practice decoding skills until they can read and spell words with all letter-sound patterns, syllable patterns, and word parts that carry meaning (like root words plus prefixes and suffixes, or inflectional endings such as -s or -ed).

Children might need extra practice here if:

Figuring out words takes so much of their energy, they don't have any energy left to think about what the words mean.

They read very slowly because they have to sound out so many words.

When they read aloud, they don't seem to know how to sound out words, and a caregiver ends up having to tell them many words.

How do I help my child build decoding skills?

Below are specific activities you can use, but the most important thing is to keep it playful and practice lots! When in doubt you and your child should:

  • Say the names and sounds of the alphabet.

  • Say the sounds that letter-sound patterns make, such as /sh/ in wash and /aw/ in hawk.

  • Say each sound in a word, from left to right, and blend those sounds together to read the word.

  • Spell words, using letter-sound patterns that have been introduced.

  • Break apart words by important parts that carry meaning, like prefixes, suffixes, and root words.

To read longer words with multiple syllables, the basic guidelines to help your child follow are: 

  1. Remember that every syllable has at least one vowel. Find the vowels to help you take apart a longer word. 

  2. Find the units of words that carry meaning and read those as a chunk, things like base words, roots, prefixes, suffixes, and inflectional endings (-ing, -ed, -s). 

  3. Use your understanding about different ways you can pronounce the vowels to sound out an unknown word. We call this “flexing” the vowel sound. For example, if the short sound of a vowel doesn’t end up making a word you know, “flex it” into the long sound and see if that sounds like a word you know. 

Activities

The activities below start with some child-driven activities and then are organized by grade-level to help you easily sort them. But know that many children will benefit from focusing on areas in earlier or later grades. Work with your teacher to zero in on the most important activities.

  • On Ramp to Reading is a 30-lesson sequence of interactive videos for beginning readers. Each video includes four instructional routines - Warm Up, Letter Practice, Treasure Hunt, and Writing Letters. You can set your child up to do these lessons independently.

    Driven by: Child

    Time Required: ~10 minutes per lesson

    Sub-focus: Letter sounds, phonemic awareness, and letter formation

    Source: OpenLiteracy

  • Starfall’s Learn to Read program teaches 15 letter-sound patterns through a decodable book and accompanying games. You can set your child up to use the program independently, though you may need to show your child how to navigate the site first. We recommend starting by reading the book (in the middle column) and then using the related games (in the left column).

    Driven by: Child

    Time Required: ~15 minutes

    Sub-focus: Letter-sounds, blending

    Source: Starfall

  • For the 2022-2023 school year, Flyleaf Decodable Books is offering free access to digital versions of decodable texts with beautiful illustrations, sorted by sound-spelling pattern. When teachers share the sound-spelling pattern that your child is practicing, you can access these texts to provide additional texts for them to read aloud. Click on the book cover to begin reading from any digital device. Click on the book’s homework button to open a downloadable homework button, if desired.

    Driven by: Child, with caregiver listening and coaching

    Time Required: Will vary by book

    Sub-focus: Decoding, fluency, letter formation, comprehension

    Source: Flyleaf Publishing

  • In Letter-Name Practice, 1. Print the provided letters and the provided letter arc (click here for printables). 2. Cut out the letters and place the letters under the arc, using the letters your child’s teacher has already taught. 3. Ask your child to choose a letter, say the letter name, and place it on the matching letter on the letter arc. “This is the letter, P!”

    Driven by: Caregiver

    Time Required: ~10 minutes

    Sub-focus: Letter names

    Source: Institute of Education Sciences

  • In Letter-Sound Practice, 1. Print the provided letters and use the provided letter arc (click here for printables). 2. Cut out the letters and place letters under the arc (use the letter sounds your child’s teacher has already taught). 3. Ask your child to choose a letter, say the letter name and its sound, and place it on the matching letter on the letter arc. “P says /p/!”

    Driven by: Caregiver

    Time Required: ~10 minutes

    Sub-focus: Letter names and sounds

    Source: Institute of Education Sciences

  • In Short Vowel Practice, 1. Print and cut apart the provided vowel letter cards (a, e, i, o, u) and picture cards (click here for printables). 2. Place the vowel letter cards in a row on a table or floor. 3. Shuffle the picture cards and place them in a stack face down. 4. Ask your child to name each picture. Provide picture names when needed. 5. Ask your child to pick up the top picture card from the stack, name the picture (for example, hat), and say its middle sound (/ă/). 6. Ask your child to place the picture card under the vowel that makes that sound (a).

    Driven by: Caregiver

    Time Required: ~15 minutes

    Sub-focus: Letter names and sounds

    Source: Institute of Education Sciences

  • In Step up to Writing Words, 1. Cut out the letters at the bottom of the staircase and place the letters in a row (click here for printables). 2. Ask your child to select the letters and make the word on the bottom step. 3. Say the sound of each letter (/t/ /ĭ/ /p/) and read the word (tip). 4. Exchange one of the letters to make a new real word. 5. Say each sound in the new word and then read it (/d/ /ĭ/ /p/, dip). 6. Write the new word on the next step. 7. Repeat steps 4–6 until all steps are filled. Help your child create new words if needed. 8.Talk about the meanings of the words. (For nonsense words, have your child acknowledge it doesn’t sound like a real word.) Use each word in a sentence that is related to something in your child’s life.

    Driven by: Caregiver

    Time Required: ~15 minutes

    Sub-focus: Linking sounds to letters

    Source: Institute of Education Sciences

  • In Write Words, 1. Print out the picture sheet. (Click here for printables.) 2. Ask your child to look at the picture and say the word: bat. Provide picture names when needed. 3. Say each sound you hear in the word: /b/ /ă/ /t/. 4. Write a letter in each box to spell the word: b, a, t. 5. Point to each letter as you say each sound: /b/ /ă/ /t/. 6. Read the word: bat.

    Driven by: Caregiver

    Time Required: ~15 minutes

    Sub-focus: Linking sounds to letters

    Source: Institute of Education Sciences

  • In Letter Puzzles,

    1. Print and cut apart the provided letter puzzles, and work with just one page at a time. (Levels 1, 2, and 3 of printables; each gets a bit harder.)

    2. Scramble letter puzzle pieces face up.

    3. Ask your child to complete the puzzle by matching the puzzle pieces.

    4. As your child connects each puzzle piece, he or she will blend the sounds together.

    5. Ask your child to read the word. Remember, to blend, say each letter-sound in the word in the order it appears and then read the whole word, for example, /m/, /ă/, /n/, man.

    6. To be sure your child knows the meaning of the word, you may ask him or her to use the word in a sentence. Or explain what the word means and use it in a sentence.

    Driven by: Caregiver

    Time Required: ~10 minutes

    Sub-focus: Blending words

    Source: Institute of Education Sciences

  • In Let’s Read Words and Sentences,

    1. Print the words and sentences. (Click here for printables).

    2. Ask your child to read the word list.

    3. Ask your child to read the sentences. Have fun and laugh at the silly sentences!

    Driven by: Caregiver

    Time Required: ~15 minutes

    Sub-focus: Reading in decodable text

    Source: Institute of Education Sciences

KINDERGARTEN

  • In Letter-Sound Practice and Building Words, have your child help you cut out each set of the beginning letter sound cards and word ending cards (click here for printables). Place each set in a zip-lock bag. 1. Provide your child with word ending card (_ag). 2. Provide your child with the beginning letter sound cards (b, w, t, n, s, br, fl, sh, sw, cr). 3. Ask your child to select a beginning letter sound card to build a word and read it (bag). 4. If your child needs help reading the word, say the beginning then the end then put them together. 5. If your child does not know the meaning of the word, provide a kid-friendly definition. Use the word in a sentence that relates to something your child has experienced. 6. Ask your child to change the beginning sound(s) of the word to make and read a new word.

    Driven by: Caregiver

    Time Required: ~10 minutes

    Sub-focus: Letter names and sounds

    Source: Institute of Education Sciences

  • In Write Words with Silent e, 1. Print the activity sheet. (Click here for printables.) 2. Ask your child to look at the picture and say the word: cat. Provide picture names when needed. 3. Say each sound you hear in the word: /k/ /ă/ /t/. 4. Write a letter in each box to spell the word: c, a, t. Write e in the Silent e column if needed. 5. Write the whole word. 6. If the word has a silent e, write which vowel says its name.

    Driven by: Caregiver

    Time Required: ~15 minutes

    Sub-focus: Linking sounds to letters

    Source: Institute of Education Sciences

  • In Change a Letter, Change the Word, 1. Print or draw the four two-column charts (click here for printables). 2. Say each word to your child using the steps below (word lists are on the printables page). As an example:

    1. Spell the word ______ in the First Word column. (Spell the word cat in the First Word column.)

    2. Which letter will you change in ________ to spell __________ ? Circle that letter. (Which letter will you change in cat to spell hat? Circle that letter.)

    3. Spell the new word, ________, in the New Word column. (Spell the new word, hat, in the New Word column.)

    Driven by: Caregiver

    Time Required: ~15 minutes

    Sub-focus: Linking sounds to letters

    Source: Institute of Education Sciences

  • In Word Puzzles, 1. Print and cut apart the provided letters puzzle pieces, and work with just one page at a time. (Levels 1, 2, and 3 of printables; each gets a bit harder.) 2. Scramble letter puzzle pieces face up. 3. Ask your child to complete the word puzzles by matching the letter puzzle pieces. 4. As your child connects each letter puzzle piece, he or she will blend the sounds together. 5. Ask your child to read the word. 5. To be sure your child knows the meaning of the word, you may ask him or her to use the word in a sentence. Or, explain what the word means and use it in a sentence. 6. Use the blank puzzle pieces to create your own words.

    Driven by: Caregiver

    Time Required: ~10 minutes

    Sub-focus: Blending words

    Source: Institute of Education Sciences

  • In Prefix, Base Word, Suffix, you can help your child break words into common word parts (base or root words, prefixes, and suffixes) to practice reading and spelling longer words. 1. Print the worksheets or just draw a two-column table on paper (click here for printables). 2. Ask your child to read the word. 3. Ask your child to break the word into its word parts (prefix, base word, and suffix) and write the word parts. 4. Ask your child what the word means. If your child is unsure of the word meaning, explain the word to your child. 5. Use it in a sentence and ask your child to try to use it in a sentence. 6. Use the blank table to create your own base words with prefixes and suffixes.

    Driven by: Caregiver

    Time Required: ~15 minutes

    Sub-focus: Common word parts

    Source: Institute of Education Sciences

FIRST GRADE

  • In Short and Long Vowel Sort, 1. Print and cut apart the header cards and the word cards. (Click here for printables.) 2. Use five small plastic bags to store words. Store all the words with short and long a in one plastic bag; the short and long e words in a second plastic bag; the short and long i words in a third plastic bag, the short and long o words in a plastic bag and; the short and long u words in the fifth plastic bag. 3. Use words from one or two plastic bags at a time. 4. Place the header cards in a row. 5. Scatter the word cards face up on the table. 6. Ask your child to select a word card, read the word, and say the vowel sound (for example, “Craft, /ă/.”) 7. Ask your child to place the word card in the column under the matching header card (for example, craft would be placed under back because they both have the short a sound). 8. Ask your child to point to and read the sorted words. If needed, help blend the sounds to read the words. 9. Discuss the meanings of any unknown words

    Driven by: Caregiver

    Time Required: ~15 minutes

    Sub-focus: Blending words

    Source: Institute of Education Sciences

  • In Fun with Consonant Blends and Digraphs, 1. Print and cut apart picture rhyming cards, beginning cards, and ending cards. (Click here for printables.) 2. Place picture rhyming cards in a stack face down. 3. Scatter the beginning cards in a group face up. Your child will use these cards to spell the beginning of the word. 4. Scatter the ending cards in a group face up. Your child will use these cards to spell the ending of the word. 5. Ask your child to select a picture rhyming card from the stack and name the pictures. Provide the name of the pictures if needed. 6. Ask your child to choose the beginning and ending cards to spell the word under each picture (the ending card will be the same for both pictures). 7. Help your child blend the sounds together to read each word. 8. Discuss the meanings of any unknown words

    Driven by: Caregiver

    Time Required: ~10 minutes

    Sub-focus: Blending words

    Source: Institute of Education Sciences

  • In Map and Swoop Open and Closed Syllables, 1. Print the activity sheets. (Click here for printables.) 2. Remind your child that a syllable is a word part with a vowel in it. Usually, a word has as many syllables as it has vowels. Vowels are a, e, i, o, u. The other letters (like b, c, d, f ) are consonants. Cat has one syllable. Picnic has two syllables (pic-nic). Yesterday has three syllables (yes-ter-day). 3. For this activity, we will practice open and closed syllable patterns. An open syllable ends with a vowel sound that is spelled with a single vowel letter (a, e, i, o, or u). Examples include me, e/qual, pro/gram, mu/sic. A closed syllable has a short vowel ending in a consonant. Examples include hat, dish, bas/ket. 4. Give your child the open syllable pattern activity sheet. Ask your child to: read the word, map the word, underline the vowels, and then swoop the syllables. 5. Repeat step 4 with the closed syllable pattern activity sheet. 6. Discuss the meaning of any unknown words.

    Driven by: Caregiver

    Time Required: ~20 minutes

    Sub-focus: Sound-spelling patterns

    Source: Institute of Education Sciences

  • In Map and Swoop VCe Syllable Pattern, 1. Print the activity sheet. (Click here for printables.) 2. Remind your child that a syllable is a word part with a vowel in it. Usually, a word has as many syllables as it has vowels. Vowels are a, e, i, o, u. The other letters (like b, c, d, f ) are consonants. • Cat has one syllable. • Picnic has two syllables (pic-nic). • Yesterday has three syllables (yes-ter-day). 3. Remind your child about the silent e rule. When we have a word like can, and we add an e at the end, the word changes to cane. We do not say the sound of e; it is silent. The silent e changes the vowel before it to a long sound. A vowel is long when it says its letter name. Can has a short a, /ă/. But when we add the silent e to the end, /ă/ changes to /ā/. Other examples include mad/made, rid/ride, hop/hope. 4. For this activity, we will practice the VCe syllable pattern. V stands for vowel, C stands for consonant, and e is the silent e at the end of a syllable or word. The VCe syllable pattern works just like the silent e rule. A VCe syllable pattern ends in silent e, which makes the vowel before it a long sound (say its name). Examples include stripe, shine, bake. 5. Give your child the VCe syllable pattern activity sheet. See the video and activity for the directions you will give to use the worksheet.

    Driven by: Caregiver

    Time Required: ~15 minutes

    Sub-focus: Sound-spelling patterns

    Source: Institute of Education Sciences

  • In R-Controlled Vowel Sort, 1. Print or draw the activity sheet and give it to your child. (Click here for printables.) 2. Read a word from the word list to your child (spark). 3. Ask your child to repeat the word, tell you which r-controlled vowel (/ar/, /er/, /or/) he or she hears in the word, and tell you how to spell it (spark, /ar/, ar). 4. Ask your child to spell the word in the correct column on the activity sheet. Help your child pull apart each sound in the word (/s/ /p/ /ar/ /k/) if needed. 5. Ask your child to read the word. Help your child blend the sounds together if needed. 6. Discuss the meanings of any unknown words.

    Driven by: Caregiver

    Time Required: ~15 minutes

    Sub-focus: Blending words

    Source: Institute of Education Sciences

  • In Map and Swoop Vowel-r Syllable Patterns, 1. Select and print the activity sheet. (Click here for printables.) 2. Remind your child that a syllable is a word part with a vowel in it. Usually, a word has as many syllables as it has vowels. Vowels are a, e, i, o, u. The other letters (like b, c, d, f ) are consonants. • Cat has one syllable. • Picnic has two syllables (pic-nic). • Yesterday has three syllables (yes-ter-day). 3 . For this activity, practice the vowel-r syllable pattern. A vowel-r syllable pattern always has at least one vowel followed by an r. The r always comes directly after the vowel. Examples include start, fern, doc/tor. 4. Give your child the map and swoop vowel-r syllable pattern activity sheet. Follow the prompts and the directions shown on the video. 5. Discuss the meanings of any unknown words.

    Driven by: Caregiver

    Time Required: ~15 minutes

    Sub-focus: Sound-spelling patterns

    Source: Institute of Education Sciences

  • In Long Vowel Spelling Patterns, 1. Select and print an activity sheet, related to the long vowel spelling pattern your child needs to practice. Each activity sheet focuses on one long vowel spelling pattern. (Click here for printables.) 2. Review the long vowel spelling patterns at the top of the activity sheet. Each long vowel spelling pattern shows a different way to spell that long vowel. For example, if you select the long a (/ā/) spelling pattern activity sheet, then review the a_e, ai, _ay, _eigh, and _ey spelling pattern with their example words (cane, bait, day, eight, prey). 3. Ask your child to read each word on the activity sheet with the long vowel sound (for example, cake). 4. Ask your child to identify and write the long vowel spelling pattern to spell the word (a_e) on the activity sheet. 5. Ask your child to read the word (cake). Help your child blend the sounds together if needed. 6. Repeat steps 3 through 5 for each word on the activity sheet. 7. Discuss the meanings of any unknown words

    Driven by: Caregiver

    Time Required: ~15 minutes (per sheet)

    Sub-focus: Sound-spelling patterns

    Source: Institute of Education Sciences

  • In Vowel Team Syllable Pattern Practice, 1. Print the activity sheet. (Click here for printables). 2. Remind your child that a syllable is a word part with a vowel in it. Usually, a word has as many syllables as it has vowels. Vowels are a, e, i, o, u. The other letters (like b, c, d, f) are consonants. • Cat has one syllable. • Picnic has two syllables (pic-nic). • Yesterday has three syllables (yes-ter-day). 3 . For this activity, practice the vowel team syllable pattern. A vowel team syllable pattern has multiple vowels spelling the vowel. Examples include boil, train/er, boat/ing. 4. Provide your child the vowel team syllable pattern activity sheet. Follow prompts in the video and on the sheet. 5. Discuss the meaning of any unknown words.

    Driven by: Caregiver

    Time Required: ~15 minutes

    Sub-focus: Sound-spelling patterns

    Source: Institute of Education Sciences

  • In Vowel Diphthong Bingo, you will help your child identify vowel diphthongs (ou, ow, oi, oy). 1. Cut out word cards, shufe, and place face down in a stack. (Click here for printables.) 2. Cut out counters and place in the center of your playing area. You can use the provided counters or anything small (for example, buttons, pennies, beans, rolled up small piece of paper from junk mail). 3. Tell your child that vowel diphthongs are vowels that glide in the middle as you say the sound. Say the word “toy” out loud. Did you notice when you said the /oy/ in toy that it sounded like you said two vowel sounds? Due to regional accents, the sounds may not sound like two sounds (for example, oil is pronounced as if it rhymes with all in the South and in Texas). The goal of this activity is to know which vowel diphthong (ou, ow, oi, oy) is used to spell specific words. 4. Provide your child and yourself with a Vowel Diphthong Bingo board. 5. Select the top word card from the stack and read it without your child seeing it. 6. Ask your child to repeat the word and identify the diphthong sound and spelling (for example, cow, /ow/, ow). 7. Ask your child to search for the correct diphthong that makes that sound on his or her board and cover it with a counter. 8. Reverse roles and continue until one person gets four counters in a row, a column, or diagonal. 9. Discuss the meanings of any unknown words.

    Driven by: Caregiver

    Time Required: ~15 minutes

    Sub-focus: Sound-spelling patterns

    Source: Institute of Education Sciences

  • In Base Words and Inflectional Endings, 1. Print the activity sheet and word cards. (Click here for printables.) 2. Review inflectional endings using the table below. An inflectional ending is a word part that is added to the end of a base word that changes the number or tense of a base word. A base word can stand alone and has meaning (for example, cat, bench, eat, walk). Inflectional endings include -s, -es, -ing, -ed. • The inflectional endings -s and -es change a noun from singular (one) to plural (more than one): cat/cats, bench/benches. • The inflectional endings -ing and -ed change the tense of a verb: eat/eating, walk/ walked. 3. Cut out the word cards, shufe, and place face down in a stack. 4. Provide your child with the activity sheet. 5. Ask your child to select a word card from the stack and read the word. Help your child blend the sounds together if needed. 6. Ask your child to complete the activity by reading the prompts.

    Driven by: Caregiver

    Time Required: ~15 minutes

    Sub-focus: Common word parts

    Source: Institute of Education Sciences

  • In Contraction Bingo, 1. Print the Bingo board, word cards, and counters. (Click here for printables). 2. Remind your child that a contraction is one word formed from two words. When putting together the two words, some letters are left out and replaced with an apostrophe (’). Examples of contractions include he is/he’s, is not/isn’t. 3. Cut out the word cards, shuffle, and place face down in a stack. 4. Cut out counters and place in the center of your playing area. You can use the provided counters or anything small (for example, buttons, pennies, beans, rolled up small piece of paper from junk mail). 5. Provide your child and yourself with a Contraction Bingo board. 6. Take turns. Take the top card from the stack, read the two words, and look on your board to see if it has the contraction for those two words. If your board has the contraction, cover it with a counter and place the card at the bottom of the stack. 7. The game is over when one card is covered with counters and the person says, “Contraction Bingo!” 8. Ask your child to select a contraction and use it in a sentence.

    Driven by: Caregiver

    Time Required: ~15 minutes

    Sub-focus: Common word parts

    Source: Institute of Education Sciences

  • In Prefix or Suffix?, 1. Print the activity sheets and word cards. (Click here for printables.) 2. Remind your child about prefixes and suffixes. A prefix is a word part that is added to the beginning of a base word that changes its meaning. Examples of prefixes are un-, re-, in-. When the prefix un- is added to the base word lucky, the word changes from lucky to unlucky. The prefix un- means “not,” so unlucky means not lucky. A suffix is a word part that is added to the end of a base word that changes its meaning. Examples of suffixes include -er, -ful, -less. When the suffix -er is added to the base work, the word changes from work to worker. The suffix -er means “one who,” so worker means one who works. 3. Provide your child with the activity sheet. 4. Cut out the word cards, shuffle, and place face down in a stack. 5. Ask your child to select a word card from the stack and read the word. Help your child blend the word parts together if needed. 5. Ask your child to: Underline the base word and circle the pre-fix or suffix if it is there. Then read the words.

    Driven by: Caregiver

    Time Required: ~15 minutes

    Sub-focus: Common word parts

    Source: Institute of Education Sciences

  • In Let’s Read!, you’ll help your child read words in a list and text that contains those words. 1. Print the word list and text. (Click here for level 1, level 2, and level 3. Each gets a bit harder.) 2. Ask your child to read the word list in the Word List column. Help your child with any words that are difficult. The sound-spelling patterns underlined in each group of words have the same sound. 3. Ask your child to read the text next to the Word List. Help your child with any words that are difficult. 4. Talk about the meanings of the words and the text.

    Driven by: Caregiver

    Time Required: ~15 minutes

    Sub-focus: Reading in decodable text

    Source: Institute of Education Sciences

SECOND GRADE

  • In Map a Word, 1. Print the activity sheet. (Click here for printables.) 2. Provide your child with the activity sheet. 3. Ask your child to: Name the picture; spell the word by writing one letter sound or combo in each box (ex: Sh // ee // p). 4. Discuss the meaning of unknown words.

    Driven by: Caregiver

    Time Required: ~15 minutes

    Sub-focus: Blending words

    Source: Institute of Education Sciences

  • In How Many Words?, you will help your child build, blend, and read words using letter cards. 1. Print the letter cards. (Click here for printables.) 2. Cut out the letter cards and the shaded vowel cards. Place the vowel cards (a, e, i, o, u) on the table face up. 3. Place the other letter cards in a paper bag (or any container that you cannot see through). 4. Provide your child with a piece of paper and a pencil. 5. Ask your child to: Choose five letter cards from the bag and two vowel cards from the table. Use the letter cards to make as many words as possible. Help your child blend the sounds together to read words, if needed. Write each word on the piece of paper. Discuss the meaning of any unknown words.

    Driven by: Caregiver

    Time Required: ~15 minutes

    Sub-focus: Blending words

    Source: Institute of Education Sciences

  • In Building Words with R-Controlled Vowels, 1. Print the letter cards and the activity sheet. (Click here for printables.) 2. Cut out the letter cards and place them face up on the table. 3. Provide your child with the activity sheet. 4. Ask your child to: Use the letter cards to spell words on the activity sheet. Read each word that is spelled. Help your child blend the sounds together to read words, if needed. If a word is misspelled, help your child correct the spelling. Discuss the meaning of any unknown words.

    Driven by: Caregiver

    Time Required: ~15 minutes

    Sub-focus: Blending words

    Source: Institute of Education Sciences

  • In Silent Letters, help your child identify silent letters (knock, listen, write) in words and read and write words with silent letters. 1. Print the activity sheet and word cards. (Click here for printables.) 2. Remind your child that many words have letters that are not pronounced. For example, in the word knock, the k is not pronounced; it is silent. Other examples of silent letters include the b in lamb, the w in write, and the t in listen. 3. Cut apart the header cards (Silent, Not Silent) and place face up in a row. 4. Cut apart the word cards and place face down in a stack. 5. Provide your child with the activity sheet. Ask your child to: Select the top word card and read it. Help your child blend the sounds together to read words, if needed. Decide if there is a silent letter in the word. Place the word under the Silent or Not Silent header card. Write the word in the appropriate column on the activity sheet. If there is a silent letter in the word, circle it. Discuss the meaning of any unknown words.

    Driven by: Caregiver

    Time Required: ~15 minutes

    Sub-focus: Sound-spelling patterns

    Source: Institute of Education Sciences

  • In Map and Swoop Consonant -le Syllable Pattern, help your child identify consonant-le syllable patterns to read and spell words. A consonant-le syllable pattern is a final syllable that contains a consonant followed by le. The e is always silent in this syllable pattern. Examples include sim-ple, puz-zle, a-ble. 1. Print the activity sheet. (Click here for printable.) 2. Remind your child that a syllable is a word part with a vowel in it. Usually, a word has as many syllables as it has vowels. Vowels are a, e, i, o, u. The other letters (like b, c, d, f) are consonants. Cat has one syllable. Picnic has two syllables (pic-nic). Yesterday has three syllables (yes-ter-day). 3. For this activity, practice the consonant -le syllable pattern. A consonant -le syllable pattern is a final syllable that contains a consonant followed by -le. The e is always silent in this syllable pattern. Examples include sim-ple, puz-zle, a-ble. 4. Provide your child with the consonant -le syllable pattern activity sheet. Ask your child to: read the word; map the word with one sound per box, meaning sounds like -le go in one box; underline the vowels/vowel combos, and then swoop the syllables.

  • In Word Part Detective, help your child read challenging words by having him or her look at a word and take it apart by its parts to read the word. 1. Print the activity sheets. (Click here for printables.) 2. Provide the activity sheet to your child. Remind your child that he or she can be a word part detective to figure out words that are challenging to read. A word part detective takes the word parts apart, reads the parts, and then reads the whole word. 3. Here is an example of something you might read: He had an indifferent attitude about the movie so there was not much to talk about. The word in bold may be a challenge to read. You can be a word part detective by following these steps: circle the parts of the word you know, underline the other vowels, say the different parts and say it faster to make a real world.

    Driven by: Caregiver

    Time Required: ~15 minutes

    Sub-focus: Common word parts

    Source: Institute of Education Sciences

  • In Adding Prefixes and Suffixes to Build Words, 1. Print the prefix and suffix cards and the activity sheet. (Click here for printables.) 2. ​​Remind your child that we can add prefixes and suffixes to base words to build new words. A base word can stand alone and has meaning (for example, cat, bench, eat, walk). A prefix is a word part that is added to the beginning of a base word that changes its meaning. Examples of prefixes are un-, re-, im-. When the prefix un- is added to the base word lucky, the word changes from lucky to unlucky. The prefix un- means “not,” so unlucky means not lucky. A suffix is a word part that is added to the end of a base word that changes its meaning. Examples of suffixes include -er, -ful, -ness. When the suffix -er is added to the base word work, the word changes from work to worker. The suffix -er means “one who,” so worker means one who works. 3. Cut out the prefix and suffix cards. Place them face down in a stack. 4. Provide your child with the base word activity sheets and ask your child to read the base words. Discuss the meaning of any unknown base words. 5. Ask your child to: Select a card from the stack and read the prefix or suffix. Find a base word on the activity sheets to add the prefix or suffix to build a new (real) word. Read the new word and tell whether a prefix or suffix was added. Discuss the meaning of the new word.

    Driven by: Caregiver

    Time Required: ~15 minutes

    Sub-focus: Common word parts

    Source: Institute of Education Sciences

  • In Building Words from Root Words, 1. Print the activity sheet. (Click here for printables.) 2. Remind your child that a root word is a single word that cannot be broken into smaller words or parts. Latin and Greek root words rarely stand alone as words in English. But we can form many English words from root words. An example of a Latin root word is spect, which means to see, observe, watch over. There are several words we can build from spect: respect, aspect, inspect, inspection, respectable, perspective. Knowing the meaning of a root word can help you know the meanings of several other related words. 3. Provide your child with the Root Word Activity Sheet and a pencil. Explain the meaning of each root word (see the Key). 4. For each tree on the Activity Sheet, ask your child to build words using the root word at the base of the tree trunk by: Selecting prefixes and suffixes from the bank to add to the root word. Writing the new words on the branches of the tree. Discussing the meaning of the new words. Writing other words near the tree that you could build from the root word.

    Driven by: Caregiver

    Time Required: ~15 minutes

    Sub-focus: Common word parts

    Source: Institute of Education Sciences

  • In Let’s Read!, help your child read words in a list and then read text that contains these words. 1. Print the word list and text. (Click for Level 1 and for Level 2. Each gets a bit harder.) 2. Ask your child to read the word list in the Word List column before reading the text. Help your child with any words that are difficult. 3. Talk about the meaning of the text.

    Driven by: Caregiver

    Time Required: ~15 minutes

    Sub-focus: Reading in decodable text

    Source: Institute of Education Sciences

THIRD GRADE