Word Identification Strategies

1. Word Family Books


Source: (Huff, 2018)


Explanation: Creating word family books allows young students to have a resource when

learning a variety of different word families. To create, the word family blend such as “-an”

is written on an index card. Then, sticky notes are placed in front of the blend to show the

different words that can be made such as, can, tan, ran, ban, fan, man, van, Dan. This is a

great resource because it allows students to work through the word family in order to create

the book. Also, because they are small, students can take them home to read and practice the

word families away from school. As the year progresses, students will be able to go back and

review old word families they have not worked with in a while in order to be able to

recognize these words when they come across them as they read. 

2. Word Family Snowball Toss


Source: (Janae, 2015).


Explanation: Once students become more comfortable and familiar with certain word

families, they can play word family snowball toss where there are multiple buckets labeled

with different word family blends. Students take turns picking up ping pong balls that have

words written on them that belong to one of the word families. Students need to recognize

the word and then toss it into the corresponding bucket. When they’re done, students can

work together to go through each of the balls in the bucket to ensure that all of the balls in

the bucket belong to the word family. Students could also make a similar sorting game at

home to practice word families using construction paper and just placing the families into

piles. Practicing word families is important for word recognition so students can expand their

vocabularies by recognizing blends and pairing them with new beginning sounds.




3. Fridge Magnet Game


Source: (Penn State Public Broadcasting, 2018).


Explanation: The fridge magnet game is an online game that allows students to use word

magnets that are displayed on a fridge. A sentence is displayed and students must use context

clues to determine which word does not belong. From here, students must remove the word

and identify which word from the fridge to replace it with in order to have the sentence make

sense. This game is beneficial for struggling readers because as you click on each word it

reads it to you. Also, if you answer incorrectly, students have the opportunity to try again

until it is correct. It is also beneficial because when the sentence is correct, the program reads

the sentence back to you before displaying a new sentence to work on. This game could be

played at home as well if students are given the link and have access to a computer or mobile

devise at home.


http://www.pspb.org/blueribbon/games/fridge/fridge.html 




4. Sight Word Picture Card Puzzles


Source: (Differentiated Kindergarten, 2017)


Explanation: Sight words and picture card puzzles are useful for students to practice

identifying words because it allows them to pick up a sight word, read it and then think

which picture card matches with it. To make this easy for young students, the picture cards

and words can be cut in certain ways so only the proper picture fits into the matching word.

This will alert students to any incorrect answers they may come up with because they will

realize that the pieces don’t fit together properly, similar to a puzzle. Then, students will need

to re-read the word and think again of another picture. To make this game more difficult for

older students, a word can be given and they could match it with a synonym of that word or

an antonym in order to broaden their vocabularies and become more accustom to different

words.




5. Chunks in boxes


Source: (Reading A-Z, 


Explanation: When using the chunks in boxes strategy, students can use dry erase pockets

with a sheet inside that shows multiple boxes. As students learn to break up the sounds in a

word into chunks, they can write the sounds in each box. For example, to chunk the word cat

they could simply write c-a-t one letter per box. This strategy becomes useful when blends

and digraphs are introduced. When chunking a more

difficult word such as march students would write m-

ar-ch to display the different sounds they hear when

sounding out the word. Eventually, as students become

more comfortable with chunking, it will come more

naturally and they will not have to write the chunks in

separate boxes or at all. Chunking teaches students to

look for blends or smaller words within the big word

that will allow them to identify the big word more

easily.


6. Word Rock Paper Scissors


Source: (Freereading, N.D.)


Explanation: Word Rock Paper Scissors allows students to be competitive with their partners

because they need to win rock paper scissors in order to be the one to flip the card over. After
 the card gets flipped, the student needs to read the word silently and then quickly say it out

loud once they recognize it. If they get the word correct, they get to keep the card. This

allows students to practice word identification because they will strive to correctly identify

words correctly and quickly in order to get the point. The extra practice of word

identification will allow them to become more successful when it comes time to identify and

recognizing words as they read. This is a good activity to review sight words or vocabulary

that students may not use daily but are expected to know. 


7. Divide and Conquer


Source: (Tallman, 2015)


Explanation: The divide and conquer strategy teaches students prefixes and suffixes. A set of

words is chosen that contains the same root. Students work to fill out a graphic organizer and

analyze the whole word, the word parts, the meaning of the parts, the literal definition and

the dictionary definition. From here students can come to a better understanding of how the

root combined with a prefix or suffix comes together to relate to the words meaning. This is

beneficial for students because if they are familiar with different roots, they will be more

likely to recognize roots as they read and thus be able to understand what they are reading

about.

 


8. Prefix and Suffix Roll and

Write


Source: (Stephenson, 2013)


Explanation: For Prefix and

Suffix Roll and Write, students

can work in pairs or

independently or alone. They

roll the dice three times and a key is provided to match the numbers to certain prefixes,

suffixes, and activities. The first number tells them the prefix to use, the second number tells

them the suffix to use, and the third number tells them which activity to complete on a

separate sheet of paper. So if a student rolls a 4 they will work with the prefix mis. Then if

they roll a 2 they will work with the suffix less. Lastly if they roll a 1 they will create a list of

as many words with. the mis prefix or the less suffix. Working with prefixes and suffixes

allows students to become familiar with their meanings 


9. Word Concentration


Source: (Family Education, 2018)


Explanation: Word concentration is a fun way for students to practice word recognition.

Students should play this game with a partner, but it can also be played alone if necessary.

Students use index cards to write a word on one index card and the definition on the other
 (index cards with words should be marked with an x and index cards with definitions should

be marked with and o). Once all index cards are created, they should be laid out face down

so words and definitions can not be seen. The students should take turns flipping over a card

with an x and a card with an o in attempt to match the word to its definition. To make this

game more challenging, additional cards can be added using the word in a sentence (these

index cards should have an ! on the opposite side). Then students would need to match all

three in order to keep the cards. For younger students, they can focus on simply pairing up

two of the same words to make the word recognition easier.



10. Daily Word Attack


Source: (McAlister, N.D.)


Explanation: Daily Word Attack is a strategy that allows students to focus on one word per

day and delve into the details and components of the word. Daily word attack can be used as

a warm up activity. In the beginning, students can complete the daily word attack as a whole

group activity. As a class, students can spell the word, discuss the sounds in the word, chunk

the word, discuss the rules for the word (seen in the example below), write one word that the

word sounds like, write one word that the word looks like and use it in a sentence that states,

if you can read ______ than you can read _______. Lastly, use the word in a sentence. As

students become more comfortable with this, they can complete it on their own in their

notebooks and then it can be gone over as a whole group review. Overall, this is a great

strategy that walks students through the many different components of a word. Doing one

word a day will allow students the opportunity to closely study many words over the course

of the year and hopefully begin to naturally direct other words when identifying them.