Coding and decoding are tools in a students tool belt…and I needed them. I talk a lot about students becoming decoders and readers. A LOT. I know I do, but I am so passionate about giving students the tools to become independent and successful readers. I have a student who is new to me and our school and she is behind in reading. Really behind. I would like to make the most of my time with her. I have been using LLI and our fix-it strategies, but I needed something else in our tool belt.

Labeling and Coding

I have been spending more and more time thinking about the “rules” of reading. You know, all those things you teach like, “When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking.” Except it isn’t exactly a rule. It only occurs 47% of the time. 47%. That’s not a “rule.” So what can we do instead? With “Mallory,” I want to make sure she has tools that will help her. She is reading on a Level B and we are working hard with decoding cvc words. We have discussed how MOST cvc words have a short vowel sound. I asked Mallory to label the words with c and v, if the word had a cvc pattern, she should circle the word in green. If it did not have the cvc pattern, she would x it in red. After she was done, she would read the cvc words using sound and slide.

***By the way, we are only looking for “cvc” at this time. We aren’t looking at words that are cvcc with a digraph, like “fish.” We’ll get there.***