Chapter 7: Irregular Word Reading

1. Chapter 7: Irregular Word Reading Teaching Reading Sourcebook 2nd Edition

2. Irregular Words: • Regular words are decodable words. • In a beginning reading program there are two types of irregular words. • Permanently irregular words: These contain one or more sound/spellings that are unique to that word or a few words and are not completely decodable. • Temporarily irregular words: These have one or more of the sound/spellings in the word that have not yet been introduced. Students lack sufficient letter/sound knowledge to decode the word.

3. High-Frequency Words • High-frequency words(sometimes called sight words because students must be able to identify them by sight) are words that appear often in print. • 100 words account for almost 50% of the words used in text in schools and colleges. • Almost 25% of these 100 words are irregular. • They include function words (e.g. articles, prepositions, pronouns, conjunctions) that are critical for comprehension.

4. Teaching Irregular Words • Students must practice to achieve automatic recognition of irregular words. • Repeated exposure in lists, word walls, word banks, and connected text increases sight recognition. • The more difficult an irregular word is, the more need for practice. Difficulty is based on • the number of irregularities in the word; • whether the word is in a student’s oral vocabulary. • It is important to teach irregular words systematically and explicitly and provide practice in text.

5. When to Teach, Assess, and Intervene • Irregular words can be introduced after students can read regular CVC words at a rate of about one word every three seconds. • It is important not to overwhelm students by introducing too many words at a time. • For students at or above grade level, monitor progress every 4 to 6 weeks. Monitor weekly for students below grade level. • Irregular word/high-frequency word reading assessment includes screening and progress monitoring.