WORD BUILDING ROCKS!

Word building should be an integral part of every literacy session. It should be an everyday play event in your home. Word building is an active process and engages even the most reluctant learner.

In the beginning, working with groups of letters develops the initial sounds knowledge needed for first decoding. Go here to see the first sequence we use in the clinic.

Building words can seem like a game, but so much learning happens, too. In later years, I also use vowel and consonant spellings with older students to give them plenty of playful exposure to longer graphemes, and this activity helps with spelling. For more games, head on over here to see why you should be playing with your words.

Word building links reading and spelling head here to read more.

Pictures are also a brilliant visual to start a word-building sequence in the beginning. I use pictures as a starting point for playful word chains.

A fun and quick way to build the sound-symbol correspondence needed for fluency

The process

Say the word that corresponds to the picture.

Listen to the word and segment the sounds.

Find the grapheme tiles.

Build the word and say the sounds.

Blend to reread the word.

Write the word.

This is a great activity to help your child manipulate sounds to create new words.

As your child actively participates in this activity, they are building their skills of blending and segmenting sounds, which develop brilliant word attack skills. Building rhyming chains and word chains is a great way to focus attention on the skills of segmenting and blending sounds to create words.

The grapheme tiles act as a scaffold for later learning. Writing can be a struggle, but it is such a worthwhile activity even if only a few words ever make it to the page. Handwriting reinforces the visual shape of the letter and the speech sound. I always encourage my students to say letter sounds as they write.

For a free basic code movable alphabet, go here.

Manipulating sounds to create new words is the most effective way to develop the sound-symbol correspondence.

Multisensory learning takes place when we engage all senses.

Emphasise seeing the letters, hearing the sounds, feeling the sounds in your mouth and moving tiles to make words.

Use a movable alphabet to assist all learners with segmenting and blending.

Having fun with an activity, even if it is taxing, fuels curiosity and aids learning. A movable alphabet can help little learners connect reading and spelling skills. Making a word chain from the first word built using a jigsaw or word-building cards supports all students in developing the blending and segmenting skills needed for fluent decoding.

Word building cards and jigsaws are a fun way to get little learners started with first words.

Building a word using a jigsaw scaffolds the blending-to-read process. Students can then copy the word, saying the sounds as they write it to reinforce the sound-symbol link. Jigaws come with and without letters. I often send home both sets for repetition. The letters can even be cut off the jigsaw and used as movable alphabet tiles to match pictures.

Building words is a great warm-up for reluctant writers and readers, as it actively engages their bodies and stimulates the feeling of "I can do this!" Before the hard work of—I now have to write begins!

Learning how to write words and form correct sentences takes time for all. Scaffolding learning, from the very beginning, takes all children through a process of first forming short decodable words, then manipulating sounds/letters to create new words by adding, deleting, and substituting sounds.

Think it, Say it, Write it.

Get your students to say their sentences and count the words so they know the number of words they must see on their page or whiteboard.

Most children I work with are reluctant writers, and the very act of putting pencil to paper is just hard work. We must work with all learners to help them gain confidence and flourish. Check out my first sentences post here.