I tweeted the following
Luqman Michel @SaraJPeden @debbiehepp @suelloydtcrw
That is why I suggest teaching
phonics (priority) as well as Dolch words (as about 70% of words in kids' books
consists of Dolch words) and context clues as there are many words that cannot
be read without context clues.
@SaraJPeden
Replying to @luqmanmichel
If they can't be read without
context, it implied phonics wouldn't work. I'm now thinking that what you meant
is that phonics gets you to two choices and you need context to decide which. I
just wouldn't describe that as "many" words, the way you did.
Reading is certainly more than
decoding. So context is always important in reading comprehension. Can you give
me an example of when you would teach students to use 'context clues' to figure
out what a word is (as opposed to what it means)?
Instead of just giving her one example out of many I gave
her 3 examples.
I wound a string around a tree…
Yesterday, I read a story…
I drove down a windy road…
I did not get a response.
Surely we need context clues in addition to phonics to be
able to read the highlighted words correctly. Of course, it is not restricted to
heteronyms as above.
Contact clues will also aid us when we know of a word but
have never read it before. For instance, a kid who had never seen the word
island will not be able to read the word island as in ‘Treasure Island’. He
would probably read it as is land. However, if he sees the following sentence
‘We then rowed our boat around the island’ chances are he will be able to read
that word correctly using context clues. This is not guessing but using clues
in a sentence to work out what a word is and pronounce it correctly.
What does Sara J Peden mean by, ‘I just wouldn't describe
that as "many" words, the way you did.’
There are more than 70 heteronyms most of which are common
words. If more than 70 is not many than what is? That does not include words
with silent letters like the above-mentioned word ‘island’.
Without context clues, most of the words with silent letters
will be difficult to sound out correctly e.g. debt, debtor, plumber, salmon,
hour, knee, know, etc. Kids don’t have to learn phonics rules to read words
with silent letters if they are taught to use context clues to read.
In fact, only recently did I learn when the letter ‘b’ is
silent. It is silent following the letter ‘m' as in the word comb. It is silent
if it precedes the letter ‘t’ as in debtor. However, there are exceptions in
both cases.
In any event, what is the big fuss about using context clues?
Why don’t we teach kids all the ways that can aid them to read? Why be adamant
about not teaching kids to memorise Dolch words (frequently used words)?
Sara J Peden
Replying to @luqmanmichel @debbiehepp and @suelloydtcrw
Sounding Out The Sight Words. It's misleading to suggest there are a large
number of words that can't be decoded/learned via connecting graphemes to
phonemes.
Luqman Michel @SaraJPeden @debbiehepp @suelloydtcrw
I did not say anything close to, a
large number of words that can't be decoded via connecting graphemes to
phonemes.
Don't put words into my mouth.
Sara J Peden did not respond. I tweeted and said she owes me
a response and she said she does not owe me any response and did not answer my
question as to when I said that a large number of words can’t be decoded via
connecting graphemes to phonemes.
Most of these whites have the habit of saying whatever they
like and when cornered just shut-up or if possible delete the comments.
Of course, I know that almost
all the words can be read phonetically. Otherwise, I would not have taught my students'
phonics. Why do these phonics proponents talk as if they created phonics and
where do they get this notion that they are the only people who know phonics?
It is easier to fool people than to convince them they have been
fooled. (Mark Twain)
