Do Your Kids FREAK OUT When They Get to Long Words?

3/2/2015

Some kids take one look at a somewhat lengthy word and decide that there is NO WAY they'll ever be able to read it. While many of these kids FREAK OUT and give up on the passage, story, or book altogether, others end up either guessing what the word says, skipping over it as if it never existed, or mumbling through it, hoping you won't notice and call their attention back to it. But you need to. Guessing words, skipping words, and/or mumbling through them is no way to really read. And giving up, well, that's certainly no solution.

To help prevent future freak outs and ease your kids' anxieties over long words (as well as to improve your kids' reading and comprehension skills), teach your kids to tackle these literary giants with grace and ease. Begin by telling them that reading long words is one of your favorite things to do and that you can't wait to show them how to do it! Then tell them that big words are simply made up of smaller words/parts, and that you will teach them how to read the big words one smaller word/part at a time. Let them know that in no time, they will be MASTERS at reading those currently-intimidating storybook monsters...and that you will be super patient (and will help them as much as necessary) until that time comes. Be excited as you prep them for this new adventure, and make sure you follow through on your promises to be patient!

Breaking Up Long Words -- the Easy Way!

Once your kids are emotionally ready to tackle this new quest, it's time to actually show them what to do! First, tell your kids to find the vowels (a, e, i, o, and u...and sometimes y). Have them start at the beginning of the word when they do so. You can have them underline the vowels that they find, if you want. After they have found all of the vowels, have them start at the first vowel and go one letter past it before drawing a line to break up the word. Make sure your kids don't break up vowel pairs or other "tricks" or blends as they do so. Tell your kids to continue to go through the word in this manner until they get to the end of the word (or until only one letter would be left). The point is to break the word into smaller parts (not into single letters), so have them avoid breaking the word up at the very end if only one letter would remain in the final chunk. Likewise, there is no need to put a line at the very end of a word. When they are done, each segmented chunk should have at least one vowel with it, even if that vowel is a y! As they get more proficient at spotting the vowels and breaking up words, encourage them to create the chunks in their minds as they read the word (as opposed to stopping to underline the vowels and actually draw the lines). This will make reading long words a faster process. But, if actually breaking up the word helps them to read better, by all means, let them underline and segment!

Examples:

     insisted --> in/sis/ted
     operate--> op/er/ate
     treatment--> treat/ment
     underneath --> un/der/neath
     illustrate --> il/lus/trate
     lemonade --> lem/on/ade
     supported --> sup/por/ted
     continent --> con/tin/ent
     understand --> un/der/stand
     deliver --> del/iv/er
     thermometer --> ther/mom/et/er
     hesitantly --> hes/it/ant/ly
     suspended --> sus/pen/ded

Sounding the Word Out

After your kids have broken up the word in question successfully, it's time to have them sound it out! Tell them to sound out one chunk/segment at a time, putting each part together before moving on to the next one. Make sure you praise and/or help your kids as they work through each segment. Point to the letters they should be sounding out as they do so. This will help them keep their eyes focused. It should also reinforce that the letters will tell them what the word says, if only they will stick to them and read all the way until the end.

Once your kids have sounded out all of the segments in a given word, it's time to put the segments together! Point back to the first segment, and slowly move through the rest, having your kids say the completed segments as you point to them. Be careful not to let big pauses separate them. Ideally, you want to go from one segment to the next, without any long or hesitant pauses. If necessary, stop and let your kids resound out any forgotten or botched segments. Continue to repeat this process until your kids can say each segment correctly when you point to it. They may need to go through the word a few times before they can do this quickly enough to "hear" the word being said. They may also need to play with which syllable gets the emphasis. That's normal for beginning readers. Be patient and help your kids blend the segments together as you go back through them, putting less and less of a pause between each one as you do so. "Hearing" the word being said is easier and more natural for some kids than for others. If your kids are having trouble "hearing" the word being said, tell them to continue sounding out the word until they can hear it. Remind them to emphasize different syllables, if needed. Help them slowly blend the syllables together if they just can't get the word on their own.

Dealing With Processing Issues

If your kids struggle to keep the segments straight and begin switching sounds around, creating new words, you'll need to go even slower through this process. Re-emphasize each segment, making sure your kids have the individual parts back in their brains properly. Then help your kids put the first two segments together. Add one more segment at a time, until the whole word has been fully reassembled.

Kids with processing issues often spontaneously rearrange random sounds and/or chunks when putting multi-syllable words together. They can't help it, and will likely need extra help (and a lot more patience) when learning how to read 3 or 4 syllable words. Be patient and supportive, and keep going through the current word slowly until all of the parts get reconnected properly. If you are sounding the words out correctly, this process should get easier and easier over time, but with processing issues, there is no guarantee.

In any case, try to ease any anxiety your kids might have, and just keep going through whatever troublesome word is getting mixed up good-naturedly until it is discovered, once and for all. As you do so, make sure your kids' eyes are staying focused on the letters and not lifting up to look at you. Make sure any struggling kids are not fidgeting as well; oftentimes, a twirling finger or roaming hand can be just enough to distract the brain from being successful. Review troublesome words often to help your kids get more comfortable with them.

Making Sure the Foundation is in Place

Of course, for this method of segmenting big words to work, your kids will need to understand how to read small words/blend sounds together. They'll also have to be familiar with the many phonetic "tricks" that will pop up along the way. Oftentimes, kids who have trouble reading long words are also unfamiliar with the many "tricks" that are found within them. They may also need help with basic blending and/or letter sounds. Work on these as needed.

If you need help teaching your kids the many "tricks," you can order our Trick Practice Cards -- Set 1 and our Tricks Practice Cards -- Set 2. These cover almost all of the "tricks" your kids need to know. You can also use our Free Word Card Program. This will help your kids practice each "trick" as they learn them. If you don't feel comfortable teaching your kids the "tricks" and/or how to read, consider looking for a good tutor in your area. Dyslexic students and other struggling readers often do very well once taught phonics through an explicit, systematic approach.

Wishing You Luck...and MUCH Success!

Good luck and let me know if you have any questions! When practicing long words in isolation, don't forget to have your kids tell you what each one means and/or use it in a sentence! When reading long words in books that you can't write in, simply have your kids use their fingers to locate the vowels and/or break them up! You can check to see if they know what the word means after they have read it and/or have finished the sentence it was contained in.

Remember -- reading should be FUN! Help your kids learn to enjoy it by teaching them what they REALLY need to know to figure out those long, unknown words. Before you know it, they will be FREAKING OUT over how good the book they are reading is rather than how long the words are within it!

Wishing you all the best and much success,
Katy Huller

4 Comments

luqmanmichel link

3/13/2015 12:09:28 pm

I like the statement: While many of these kids FREAK OUT and give up on the passage..............
I have been writing about children being unable to read in higher grades because they had 'shut-down' long ago. Researchers on the other hand keep insisting that children end up being unable to read because they have a phonological awareness deficit. I teach dyslexic children and all my students can read fluently in both Malay and Romanised Mandarin and as such I find it difficult to accept this theory about 'phonological awareness deficit". What is your comment please. You may comment on my articles found at:
www.dyslexiafriend.com

Katy Huller link

3/23/2015 02:03:15 am

Thanks for your thought-provoking comment! I'm so happy to hear that your students are learning and thriving!

As far as your question goes, I do think that most American children unable to read new words in English suffer from a phonological weakness of some sort. I have found that when this weakness is uncovered and tended to properly, remediation tends to take place. Severe learning disabilities can, of course, slow progress down tremendously, but they do not seem to preclude it. Those who are NOT lucky enough to get targeted help during their early, formative years might indeed opt to eventually shut down after years of frustration and defeat, mostly because they were never taught how to make sense of the words in front of them and find no enjoyment out of reading things that are so difficult for them to decipher.

Like you, I have worked with many dyslexic students and find they can learn to read and write quite nicely when given the proper tools, guidance, and practice. It's the lack of memory (working, short term, and/or long term), recall, and directionality that often remain steadfast annoyances. I believe that those without these issues were likely never "dyslexic" to begin with, but merely suffering from a poor education or a simple lack of exposure.

Wishing you all the best and continued success,
Katy Huller

Luqman Michel link

3/23/2015 05:46:20 pm

Thank you for your kind response Katy. There are about 20 to 30 % of school leavers who cannot read in the English leavers. I find it a bit difficult to accept that they all have a phonological awareness problem. It is not a phonological or phonemic weakness but one of not being taught phonics properly. There are researchers in the US who have done some intervention programmes in some schools and brought down the illiteracy rate down from 36 % to 3%. We have to ask how this was achieved. Could they achieve this result with 4 weeks if the kids had short term memory problem?

According to Malcolm Gladwell in his book 'Tipping Point' he talks about kids turning away from TV programmes because they are confused. I have seen kids shutting down while I am teaching. It is only after observing this over a period of time that I am convinced as to why they can read in Malay but not in English. The alphabets in Malay are the same as the English alphabet.

When you talk about lack of memory and recall I believe you are referring to students who come under some other category and not dyslexic. Please read the definition of dyslexia as stated by Stanovich which you will find in my web-log.

Great that you are doing some wonderful work with your students. There should be more teachers like you.

Katy Huller link

3/24/2015 03:26:54 pm

"It is not a phonological or phonemic weakness but one of not being taught phonics properly."

AGREED!!!!! Couldn't have said it better myself! What I meant by my comment was that, yes, they have a phonological or phonemic weakness but ONLY BECAUSE they have not been taught phonics properly. I see this over and over and over again! Many kids who come to see me are on track to be tested for special education. While some do have significant learning disabilities, most do not. They simply need to be taught WHY words say what they say so they can begin to figure them out. Once they know this, they generally take off, delighting teachers and parents alike. The more they use this knowledge to figure out words accurately, the sooner their fluency sets in. Once their fluency sets in, their comprehension skills tend to increase. Once they are reading and comprehending, the "problem" has been solved.

This is how it goes for most kids who come to see me. Unfortunately, there are some who continue to struggle. Most of these are the ones I call my "true dyslexics."

I have a working theory with regard to what I call "true dyslexia." I don't define it as "trouble with reading." There are simply too many kids struggling to learn to read that are simply struggling due to lack of exposure to solid teaching techniques/quality phonics instruction. These are not "true dyslexics." Rather, I see "true dyslexia" as a problem with retrieval and visual discrepancy, along with memory and directionality issues. These issues are typically compounded by the current method of teaching reading relied on by many in the U.S. ("sight words"). Because true dyslexics learn through understanding and have difficulty memorizing and/or retaining rote facts, they must be taught the "hows" and "whys" in order to move forward effectively, and anything they want to master/keep must be used and/or reviewed consistently. It is not an intelligence issue that holds them back, but a memory/retrieval/visual discrepancy issue. They simply must have ways to figure information out and/or reclaim previously learned information. Even when these kids have mastered how to read fluently, they will continue to struggle with memory/retrieval/visual discrepancy issues. They might confuse their right and left, have trouble recalling weird spelling patterns, mistakenly switch one similar-sounding word for another, forget previously mastered material, etc. They are the "big picture" kids, the ones who hate to memorize but love to think. The ones who "blow your minds" with their insight, have to work extra hard to maintain their grades, and who often overcompensate to avoid looking stupid in front of others. They are the ones smart enough to recognize their limitations and bright enough to hide them. When tested, they will often fall within normal to high range as far as intelligence goes, but they will get flagged in the memory and retrieval areas...possibly in the vocabulary and/or processing areas as well. Speed will also be an issue for many, as they seem to need extra time to process everything, probably due to the slower retrieval system with which they are equipped. I could write a paper on it, but suffice it to say, "true dyslexia" is much more than a "trouble learning to read" problem. It is a problem that doesn't disappear just because someone is finally taught how to read. It is a lifelong disorder that continuously wreaks havoc on the thinking/learning/communication patterns of those who have it. That's my theory anyway!

Such a pleasure to discuss this with you! Thank you for all you are doing to help bring this matter to light! It is an important conversation that I hope more will pursue.

All the best and continued success,
Katy Huller

Busting Through Dyslexia One Reader at a Time

Author

Katy Huller is a former elementary school teacher
dedicated to improving reading and writing education in the United States. Currently working as a literacy tutor, writer, and education consultant, she works with k-6 students on a daily basis, creating new materials and conducting workshops in her "spare" time.