Science of Reading Isn't Just Phonics, Orthographic Mapping is Key -- Really Great Reading

Based on science, the three elements you need for effective phonics instruction are:

A hands-on approach
Moving from presentation to practice
Showing the direct application to reading and spelling

These three practices support effective decoding, and decoding is among the most fundamental skills for students to master when learning to read. The key to decoding is to help students develop cognitive automaticity. This means that students know a word on sight without having to sound it out. This is commonly referred to when discussing “sight words.”

Did you know? First graders are expected to have a sight word vocabulary of over 2000 words!

The sight word memory is called the orthographic lexicon. Students develop their orthographic lexicon by successfully decoding words. When they decode words leveraging phoneme-grapheme relationships, it’s called orthographic mapping. Orthographic mapping is how individuals anchor words into their sight word memory (orthographic lexicon) and store them for accurate & effortless recognition. But, in a system that uses “whole language” or that uses cueing alongside phonics, students may not develop the automaticity needed to step beyond reading words to developing comprehension.

Learn more: https://www.reallygreatreading.com/wh...