Third Grade Decoding Strategies

These two book report ideas correspond with the Utah State Core Curriculum for Third Grade, Standard 4: Phonics and Spelling-Students apply understanding of phonics and other strategies to decode and spell unfamiliar words while reading and writing.

BINGO

Compile a list of sounds on which the students are working. An example might be consonant diagraphs (ch, sh, wh, th) and consonant blends (br, st, pr, fr, fl, etc.). Arrange the consonant sounds randomly on a BINGO board. Distribute the boards and markers (dried beans work just fine) to the students.

Begin playing BINGO by sounding out the written sounds they have on their boards. When the students recognize the sound and its visual representation, they can put markers on that sound. Repeat several times, and then divide students into pairs.

Once in pairs, one student continues to play BINGO by marking off the letters as the other student verbally creates the coordinating sound. Then the students trade, so each has a chance to pronounce the sounds and recognize the words when pronounced by a partner. This activity is a good review for decoding using phonics.

Compare and Contrast

Work with a specific set of sounds that appear the same but can sound different: for example, “ow” as in flow and “ow” as in “wow.” With students, the teacher practices writing and sounding out the two options together. Then provide a list of words that use the “ow” sound. Have students work in groups of two or three. Together, the students divide the words into groups according to sound, matching the “rhyming” words.

Review this same concept later by reading books that incorporate the different sounds, and asking students to do a written response that uses the two different sounds (they have a vocabulary list that they have divided according to sound). Students then read aloud to a partner who checks that the student reads the correct sound.

This activity works to familiarize students with the different sounds they may encounter in decoding and helps them realize that there may be more than one way to say a group of letters.