What are the five most common questions students ask when stuck?

1. What is that word?
2. Did I read that word/those words correctly?
3. What does that word mean?
4. What does the text mean?
5. Why does that meaning matter? (not discussed in this article)

What is that word?

• Core process: decoding and word identification
• Many believe that teachers/parents should teach new readers to use meaning to identify words; however, that is not the case. Rather, good readers use the letters in the word and where they are positioned in the word to identify words.
• Children with little vocabulary/content knowledge will struggle when prompted to use context to identify words.
• Identifying words through context does not allow readers to develop the process of forming connections between letters and sounds, which is important in developing automaticity.
• Ultimately, teachers/parents should not discourage the use of context in identifying words, but they should not prompt them to. Rather, they should ask them to closely attend to the letters and sounds of the word.
• Strategies: Have the student look at the word, slide through each sound, try different sounds to see which fits, and break the word into smaller parts. For more details, visit the original source listed below.

Did I read that word right?

• Core process: comprehension monitoring and fix-up
• Comprehension monitoring: paying attention to whether the decoded/identified word sounds right and makes sense in the context of the text
• Teachers/parents should prompt their students to practice comprehension monitoring and reread if they have to.
• This practice helps students accurately connect the word’s spelling to the correct pronunciation in memory

What does that word mean?

• Core process: application of vocabulary knowledge and strategies
• Vocabulary knowledge intersects with the ability to monitor comprehension and with word-reading development.
• Context is important here. Examples of contextual sources include graphics, surrounding words, dictionaries, peers, etc.
• Strategies: Have the student think about what the word means and what clues exist to the word’s meaning. For more details, visit the original source listed below.

What does the text mean?

• Core process: comprehension
• Content knowledge and decoding/identification accuracy influence comprehension.

Original Source:

Nell K. Duke, ASCD, "When Young Readers Get Stuck": https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/when-young-readers-get-stuck