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Knowing When to Jump in and Help Students with Decoding

When students struggle to read a word, you don’t always want to jump in and immediately tell it to them. Give them a chance to practice their decoding strategies. Encourage them to work through the following steps:

Sight Read It
Give them a few seconds to recall the word by sight.

Sound it Out
If they can’t recall the word, encourage them to apply whatever phonics strategies they have (looking at first sound, looking for a word pattern, etc.).

In the classroom, how often do you hear the question “Teacher, how do I spell that?”

While it’s easy for teachers and tutors to quickly spell a word for learners, we want to make sure that learners are gaining the skills that they need to begin to sound words out themselves. For learners who are working on spelling, word families and rhyme is a way to help learners make educated guesses about how new words are spelled, based on other words that sound similar.

Purpose: This small group activity gives learners opportunities to practice formulating questions and answering a wide variety of questions.

Preparation Time: None

Materials Needed: None

"Routines are the backbone of daily classroom life. They facilitate teaching and learning…. Routines don’t just make your life easier, they save valuable classroom time. And what’s most important, efficient routines make it easier for students to learn and achieve more."

—Learning to Teach…not just for beginners by Linda Shalaway

Routines are a lifesaver to ESL teachers and learners of all levels. A good routine provides numerous benefits to teachers and learners, including: