Stuck on a Word? Decoding Strategies for Beginning Readers

During each of the first seven weeks, students will learn and practice a different strategy for figuring out an unfamiliar word while reading. During the last week, we will review all seven of the strategies. 
In the beginning of each week I will introduce a strategy with a poster that has a visual cue for that strategy. Then I will model how to use the new strategy using pages from a picture or easy reader book. Next, the students and I will practice using the strategy on a page from the book together. During the second class each week, we will review the poster and visual clue. Then I will guide the students in using the strategy. Finally, students will demonstrate how to use the strategy while reading their leveled book. 

Students should know all of their letters, most of the letter sounds, and be able to read decodable words like cat or pig.

Students will learn the following strategies:
1. Students will learn how to use picture clues along with the first letter of the unfamiliar word to decode it.
2. Students will learn the "get your mouth ready" strategy where they read the sentence and say the first sound of the unfamiliar word. Often, they say the word without thinking about it because that's what makes sense in the sentence.
3. Students will learn that it's okay to skip a word as long as it's temporary. In the skip and reread strategy, students will practice reading the whole sentence, but skipping over the unfamiliar word. Then they will think about what would make sense in the sentence and whether the word they thought of starts with the same first letter as the unfamiliar word. Once the have decoded the unfamiliar word, they will read the sentence including the word they decoded.
4. Stretch it out is the next strategy that students will learn. This strategy helps students hear all of the sounds in a word. Then they can ask themselves if it sounds like a word they know.
5. Change the vowel sound strategy reminds students to try each vowel sound in a word when the first sound they use doesn't result in a word they know.
6. Students will learn the "chunk it" strategy next. In this strategy, students separate the word into word parts that they know such as "an" or "bl".Then they will practice blending the word parts that they know to figure out the unfamiliar word.
7. Students will ask, "does it make sense," for the last strategy. After using one of the above strategies, students must still check to make sure that their answer makes sense in the context of the book and sentence.
8. We will review all of the strategies and students will share examples of when they used a certain strategy in a book they were reading.