Build Opportunities
Mark Weakland · 2023
Spelling is foundational to reading. The authors know that effective spelling instruction not only activates reading circuitry but also creates the neural pathways and cognitive “wiring” that lead to higher reading achievement. As the orthographic area of the brain gains importance, encoding and decoding develop. Soon patterns of all types are recognized and stored by the brain. Eventually words are saved in their entirety, ready for later use in reading and writing. When it comes to practicing phonics, one option is to have students read instructional-level decodable sentences, either with the whole group or with small groups during guided reading or intervention lessons. Instructional-level sentences contain words made from spelling features currently being studied. Reading decodable sentences is an opportunity for students to practice the sound, letter, and meaning patterns they are practicing in spelling now or have practiced in the past.