Week #7- Assignment 3

• Explain the three levels of words and how you can use word levels to decide which words to teach?

Familiar words- (ex: look and run) they are words that are familiar to students that don't have to be taught 

Frequent words- (freeway and democracy) these are words  that come up frequently in texts and content being taught and are applicable to the children's lives and are the most important to teach to students.

Highly technical words- words that are from different subjects like chemistry and biology that are difficult and unique and should be taught the the subject teachers.

• How do you teach your students to "chunk" words as a strategy for decoding unfamiliar words? When do you provide this instruction?

First, start by writing the words onto strips and then tear it and have the student read the words in separate chunks. Then, gradually put the pieces together and have the child fully read the word. students, can also practice using this strategy by using their thumbs to chunk the words and make it easier to read in separate pieces. Eventually, the student will become more familiar with being able to decode unfamiliar words independently.

• Based on Professor's Allington's comment and the classroom examples, what are some ways you might foster word study in your classroom?

Firstly, I will ensure that there is always plenty of reading material accessible to my students and that they are provided with books and texts that are rich in content and vocabulary. Secondly, I will focus on the different strategies I learned about, to help my students decode all different types of words that they may come across in their learning experience and on their journey of becoming fluent readers.