Help! So many Words

Help! So Many Words...

Teachers need other teachers!  For many of my early years of teaching kindergarten,  I struggled with how to teach my students high-frequency words in a systematic way. It was a daunting task,  and either my students got it or they didn’t. Then…

I went to visit an instructional coach at Vineyard (shout out to Denise Rapa).  I saw a student’s folder and something inside piqued my interest; colorful lists of words in an organized fashion.  I had to learn more!  But first, a little background into why high-frequency words are so important for beginning readers...

Comprehension begins to break down when students are focused on trying to decode or sound out words.

High-frequency words are words that students encounter frequently in reading and writing.  It is critical that readers and writers develop automatic recognition of high-frequency words, a skill that leads to fluency.  Students need to be able to read about 300 high-frequency words "instantly" without hesitation because these words make up 65% of all written material. Many high-frequency words are called "Sight Words".  Sight words do not follow regular phonetic rules.  They do not follow easy spelling patterns (example: cave, save, wave, gave, have).  As a result, these words are more difficult for students to master.  Asking a child to "sound it out" is pointless with this type of word and generally causes increased frustration for beginning and struggling readers.  Young readers need to recognize these words as a "sight word".  In order for students to retain a difficult word, they need many opportunities to experience and manipulate it.  

“The most valuable resource teachers have is each other. Without collaboration, our growth is limited to our own perspectives.”

-Robert John Meehan

The task of teaching high-frequency words to young children can be easily managed when there is an organized system in place!

Had I not seen the Rainbow Words that day, I’d  probably still be struggling. I took it back to my team and we started the system within the month. The first-grade team asked about it. Other school sites asked me about it. Then, the school district had seen the Rainbow Words system be successful at various sites and decided to incorporate it district-wide, however, different schools had different lists. A kindergarten team got together one summer and aligned the then-new Wonders adoption list of 40 high-frequency words in order of introduction (mostly, until you get to the green and blue lists) within the program and tests were added into ESGI for easy assessment.  Color words were added-the yellow list (usually a simple list for students).  All 40 Wonders words are located within the first 6 lists (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple). In total, the OMSD 100 Words have 102 words (the remaining words are from the Dolch lists). So much success was found that a 200 list was added (also available in ESGI). I have even made a set of 300 and 400 lists.  Each year, at least ⅔ of my class has mastered the OMSD 100 Lists. I have accommodated some students who struggle and made a 50 list (5 words per list).  I don’t even start the actual system of testing twice per week until after the first parent conferences.  I like to explain to the parents about the system and give them some materials to help their child be successful.  By the time the system starts in my classroom (end of November), most kids can pass the red and orange lists the first week, and they are motivated to learn more. If you read anything here that has piqued your interest, please reach out to me!

Happy and Positive Teaching!

Erin Grebel