Word Building: An Intervention for Partial Decoders

The reading intervention that I have found to be the most effective with students that I've worked with is called "Word Building." I came across this intervention in the Rathvon (2008) book that I have mentioned before. This intervention is great for students who are partial decoders, "poor readers who can decode the initial grapheme of a novel word but have difficulty applying sound-symbol knowledge to other letter positions within words" (Rathvon, 2008, p. 184). The original study on which this intervention is based was with 7 to 10 year olds. I conducted this intervention with 2nd graders, and I think that the 7-10 age range seems very appropriate. I hope that the following information helps you to conduct this intervention yourself!

How to Conduct this Intervention

To begin with, the student's reading must be evaluated. I tend to use CBM reading scores, and was lucky to be in a school using DIBELS. I highly recommend checking out the DIBELS website as they have a wealth of free materials for CBM in reading. Rathvon (2008) recommends that fluency and comprehension scores be considered. CBM scores can be used throughout the intervention to monitor student progress.

The following information, based entirely on Rathvon (2008) lists how to conduct the intervention step by step:

Purpose

To build decoding skills with an activity that transforms one word into another by changing a grapheme at the beginning, middle, or end of the word.

Materials

For each lesson:

1. Alphabet cards (3x5 cards with one lower case letter of the alphabet on each one.

2. “Smiley face” and question mark cards (i3x5 cards, one of a happy face and the other with a question mark)

3. List of lesson words

4. Dry erase board and marker

5. Word flashcards (3x5 cards with the lesson words printed on them)

6. 10 fun sentences consisting primarily of words formed in the lesson

7. Progress chart and stickers (optional)

Intervention Steps

For each session:

Part 1: Word Building

1. Give the student a set of letter cards and conduct a brief review of those letter sounds.

“This is the letter ____. What sound does the letter ____ make?”

Correct answer: “That’s right! The letter ____ makes the sound ____.”

Incorrect answer: “The letter ____ makes the sound ____. What sound does the letter ____ make?”Repeat until student can say the correct sound.

2. Pronounce a word from the list that containing the letter-sound units for the lesson (e.g., sat) and ask the student to use their cards to “build” the word. After the student forms the word, write the word on the dry erase board and have the student modify their construction as needed. Then have the student read the word out loud.

3. Tell the student to insert, delete, or exchange a specific letter card to transform the current word into the next word in the lesson (e.g., sat to sap). Sequences of letter changes should draw attention to each position within a word (e.g. initial consonant, second consonant within a consonant cluster, medial vowel, final consonant), and ensure that the same letters appearing in the initial position also appear in other positions. After each new word is formed, have the student read the word out loud.

4. Use the following error correction procedures:

a. If the student has difficulty pronouncing the word after forming it, avoid pronouncing the word for them. Instead, encourage an attempt based on the letter sounds. If the student has trouble combing letter sounds, guide them through the process of progressively blending the sounds together.

b. If the student mistakes the word for a similarly spelled word, write out the target word and the error word on the dry erase board and help them analyze the differences between the two words in terms of letter-sound units.

Part 2: Tutoring

1. After the student has completed the Word Building sequence, put away the letter cards and take out the word cards.

2. Show the first flashcard to the student. If the student pronounces the word correctly, place the flashcard on the smiley face.

3. If the student cannot read the word, supply the correct pronunciation and place the flashcard on the question mark for additional practice.

Part 3: Sentence Reading

1. Using the dry erase board, display a set of sentences containing a high proportion of words that the student has just decoded and others that can be decoded based on the material taught to that point. Make the sentences fun to read.

2. Ask the student to read the sentences aloud and provide help as needed using the procedures described above. For words containing phonics features that the student has not yet mastered, encourage the student’s attempts to read the words but pronounce the words if necessary.

3. After the student has successfully read the sentences, conduct a playful discussion about the meaning of the sentences.

Part 4: Evaluation

1. At the end of each session, administer a posttest of words drawn from the unit lesson (just use the word cards). If the student can read at least 90% of the lesson words, move on to the next unit pretest (at the next session). If 90% is not met, provide additional activities based on the letter-sound units in the previous unit.

Part 5: If you have extra time

1. Give the student a letter card and help them to come up with a good sentence using that word. Ask the student to write the sentence in the notebook. If the student writes the sentence incorrectly, model how to correctly write the sentence and ask the student to copy the correct sentence. Continue with additional word cards until time is up.

Closing Considerations:

Keep the intervention positive! Be encouraging and upbeat.

If applicable, let the student know that you are keeping track of his or her progress on a chart (in folder) and that once he or she completes a unit, he or she will earn a sticker to place on his or her chart.

The following information includes the lessons that I personally created to work with 2nd graders. You may wish to make your own lessons, based on the needs of your student. If nothing else, these lessons can be an example for you:

Unit 1 Words = 15

Eat

Ate

Date

Tea

At

Fat

Fit

It

If

In

Tin

Din

Fin

Find

Fate

The girl ate her candy.

What is today’s date?

If I can find the kettle, we can make tea.

I want to eat the cookies that are in the tin.

The blue fish has a fin.

The brown dog is fat.

The small shirt does not fit.

When he found a lucky penny he thought it was fate.

When he plays the drums, it makes quite a din!

She eats lunch at school

Unit 2 words = 18

Ski

Ask

Has

Had

Fad

Fat

Fast

Fist

First

Fish

Dish

Fit

Kit

Kits

Kids

Kid

Did

Dad

His dad likes to ski.

The fish is fast.

Who are the kids who did this?

The fish was served on a dish.

The kid was first in line.

He made the toy using a kit.

Do not pound your fist.

The shoes he had did not fit.

She has brown hair.

Wearing hats backwards was a fad

Unit 3 words = 18

New

Now

No

On

One

Once

Done

Doe

Dot

Do

Net

Not

Ton

Tone

Ten

Tent

Went

Dent

She has her new shoes on today.

Don’t do it later, do it now!

No running in the hall!

He drew one dot on his paper.

Once, he saw a doe when he went hunting.

He likes his steak well done.

When he threw the ball, it hit the net.

My ten cats are fat, but they do not weigh a ton.

When I use the phone, I can hear the dial tone.

The bar holding up my tent has a dent!

Unit 4 words = 15

Put

Pot

Poet

Pop

Prop

Top

Toe

Toy

Tot

Rot

Rut

Putt

Putty

Petty

Pretty

Put the pot on top of the stove.

The poet wrote a pretty poem.

What is your favorite kind of soda pop?

In the play, he used a prop gun.

I dropped my toy on my toe!

The tot could not reach the book.

When fruit gets old, it starts to rot.

The wheel of the car got stuck in a rut.

In the game of golf, you must putt the ball.

He is a petty officer in the navy.

Unit 5 words = 19

Made

Mad

Lad

Lay

Way

Day

May

Mat

Mud

Mate

Ate

Date

Gate

Late

Lame

Game

Dame

Wad

Wade

It made her mad when the lad got a wad of mud on her mat.

He lay down for a nap.

This is the way to the gate.

On one day in May, we celebrate May Day.

In England, another word for friend is mate.

She stayed up late and ate cookies.

He was late for their date.

The dame became lame after she hurt her leg.

We played a game of hide and seek.

She likes to wade in the stream.