September 2002     Vol.3 Issue 9

For the better part of a century, when they talk about reading, teachers tend to divide the process into two general parts - word recognition and comprehension. Reading teachers are quite aware that these two general parts are interrelated and that it is somewhat artificial to break reading into multiple parts. However, such an analysis helps in understanding why individuals may be functioning as they do when learning to read and also helps the teacher in planning instruction.

Word recognition, since at least as far back as the 1920's, has been recognized as including four parts. The first is the use of sight words, or words recognized instantly because of a learner's having had much prior experience with them. The second aspect of word recognition is the use of context clues, or using the meaning conveyed in the text being read, that helps a reader focus in on what a previously unknown word might be. The third aspect of word recognition is word analysis, which involves breaking a word into components in order to figure out what the word might be. Such analysis includes associating sounds with letters that represent these sounds, with this process called phonic analysis or just phonics.

Word analysis also includes breaking words into one or more letter combinations that convey some kind of meaning because of the regularity in which these letter combinations are used. This is called structural analysis, and involves such things as recognizing that an "s" at the end of a word may mean that more than one object is represented, i.e., boy to boys or girl to girls. Another example would be a "d" or "ed" on the end of a verb which indicates a past tense of that action word, i. e., walk to walked or help to helped.

The fourth and final part of word recognition is use of the dictionary. Efficiency in use of the dictionary is especially important in English because so many words are not spelled exactly as they sound, or, in many instances, words may have multiple meanings. Teaching anyone to use a dictionary includes, first, teaching him or her to use the alphabetically arranged entry words at the top of a dictionary page in order to locate the word that is being looked up. Second, he or she must be taught to use the pronunciation key in the dictionary to correctly pronounce the word being looked up. Third, the reader must be taught to select the appropriate meaning of the word from the multiple meanings that a dictionary may offer.

The groundwork for a child's mastering these skills is laid at a very early level. At preschool level, children are made aware of the discrete sounds within individual words and the relationship of printed letters to these sounds. Such learning today is called phonemic awareness, since linguists call these discrete sounds "phonemes." The tendency of children to pick up these insights is called emergent literacy. In the primary grades, the word recognition skills outlined above tend to be emphasized as a part of early literacy instruction. Today's schools strive to develop these insights as children are learning to write and to read simultaneously.

Young Saint Louis.com is intended for middle grade level students. Consequently, the expectation is that these learners have already been exposed to several years of literacy instruction. Many kids by end of third grade have already acquired a fairly high level mastery of these skills and can go on to independently read most of the content contained in the website. On the other hand, a high percentage of middle graders will not have mastered many of these skills and continue to need review and practice in their application.
A good way for a helping adult to review beginning level skills for a middle grader without making him or her self-conscious is to base word recognition review on teaching dictionary usage. All the basic phonic analysis principles, as well as many of the structural analysis principles, are covered when a learner is shown how to use the pronunciation key in a dictionary. The helping adult need not be a "reading expert" to pick up on the varying suggestions that are presented in a dictionary in order to help the young reader become more proficient in its use.

A dictionary for youthful readers, reviewed in an earlier issue of Young Saint Louis.com, is the "Merriam-Webster and Garfield Dictionary." (See Past Stories, March 2002. The dictionary review is under Books.) A relatively inexpensive paperback, the 1999 publication is billed as "the first dictionary with attitude." The "attitude" is that of Garfield, the famous comic strip cat. Don't you be fooled by Garfield's appearance. The dictionary has a serious purpose and one that can help you accomplish what we are talking about in terms of helping with the teaching of word recognition principles.