“Using the decoding strategies (along with knowledge of the phonics concepts) will allow a child to read almost any word that they encounter.”
Jordan Cromwell – Developer of the Awakening Potential For Reading Success Program
In another post we learned about what the phonics concepts are, and why they are so essential for a child to know in order to become an effective reader. In this post we’re going to explore the decoding strategies. First we’ll learn about what the decoding strategies are. Then we will take a look at how, when used in combination with the phonics concepts, they provide a powerful and effective way for a child to read almost any word that they see.
Let’s begin with learning about the decoding strategies. As the name implies, the decoding strategies are particular strategies, or methods, that a child can use to decode a word. To ‘decode’ a word means to be able to break down everything that is happening in a word, understand it, and put it back together in order to read the word. You can think of written language as being like a ‘code,’ and when you understand how the ‘code’ works, you can use this understanding to ‘break the code’ and read the word.
Let’s use the ‘Invisible Suffixes’ strategy as an example. This strategy teaches us how to read a word with a suffix (an ending that can be added to a word to change its meaning). In the word ‘shouted’ there are 4 individual sounds. These sounds are /sh/, /ou/, /t/, and /ed/. If a child has learned these phonics concepts as taught in an effective phonics reading program (such as the Awakening Potential For Learning Success program) then they will be able to recognize each of these sounds.
However, simply knowing these phonics concepts alone will often not be enough for the child to read the word. Why? Because when the student attempts to say each sound separately, they will often mix up the sounds or not identify some sounds correctly. This is because the suffix /ed/ at the end of the word will very commonly be a visual distraction for the student as they attempt to read the sounds from right to left. In other words, as they start to read the /sh/ sound their mind will already be attempting to read the /ed/ sound at the end, which will impair their ability to read the /sh/ and the other sounds correctly. This is often the case even if the student has actually learned the phonics concepts for the sounds /sh/, /ou/, /t/, and /ed/.
This is where an effective decoding strategy, such as ‘Invisible Suffixes’ comes in.
The way this decoding strategy works is to have the student use their finger to cover up the /ed/ suffix, and make it ‘invisible.’ Now that the /ed/ is ‘invisible,’ the student can easily read the sounds /sh/, /ou/, and /t/ easily without the disruption from the /ed/ as explained earlier. The student will easily segment and blend the sounds /sh/, /ou/, and /t/ to read the word ‘shout.’ Then they can take their finger off of the /ed/ and add it on to the end of ‘shout’ to make the word ‘shouted.’ Using the ‘Invisible Suffixes’ strategy will prevent the child from becoming frustrated, and allow them to read the word much more quickly and easily.
The ‘Invisible Suffixes’ strategy is only one of the decoding strategies that a child can use to help them read words easily and efficiently. Others include ‘Syllable Strength,’ ‘Accent Attack,’ and more. All of the decoding strategies that a child will need are included in the Awakening Potential For Reading Success program.
With these decoding strategies, a child will have the tools they need to read almost any word that they encounter. Amazing!
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