Why Memorizing Words is Not a Best Practice
Learning how to read is an exciting milestone for both parents and children, but not all reading instruction is effective or respectful to the way the brain actually learns how to read. Rote memorization of words, often called “sight words” indirectly creates a plethora of problems for young readers and bypasses important components of learning in the brain. Learn what sight words actually are, how they support skilled reading, and the best approach to build a child’s sight word memory.
SIGHT WORDS
Sight words are previously learned words that can be instantly recalled and read automatically and effortlessly. Adults have a sight word memory between 30,000 and 70,000 words. When a child reads a word effortlessly and immediately “by sight,” they no longer need to provide the effort to decode the word. It feels easy, which improves a child’s fluency, comprehension, and confidence reading.
“A word is in the student’s sight word vocabulary when the word is consistently pronounced correctly, instantly, and effortlessly, without benefit of context.” – David Kilpatrick
Sight words can include high frequency words (i.e. said, the, my, can) or low frequency words (i.e. barometer, cosign, derivative.
HIGH FREQUENCY WORDS
High-frequency words are the most frequently used words in the English language. These words might be on the Dolch List, Fry Instant Words, or selected from stories in a child’s reading program. A very common practice in US schools is to have kindergartners and first graders memorize hundreds of words from these lists. (They also use the term sight words and high frequency words interchangeably, although they are different.)
Classrooms primarily focusing on high frequency words or memorizing sight words are indirectly creating reading issues for students.
By memorizing high frequency words, children are able to read texts earlier, which often creates a false sense of reading confidence. By the end of first grade, about 80% of the words a new reader encounters require decoding skills.
When children read primarily by sight, they train their subconscious to bypass the auditory cortex when processing a word. This leads to flipping letters and words. The linguistic processing is also performed in the auditory cortex, so children who read primarily by sight can also struggle with low comprehension.
A child who guesses while reading, struggles to read new words, or flips letters and words often in reading and writing likely relies too heavily on sight words and would benefit from explicit phonics and decoding instruction.
In addition, it’s a very inefficient process! It can take a child hundreds of repeitions to memorize one word.
A BETTER, RESEARCH- BASED APPROACH
Evidence tells us the way to get a word anchored into our sight word memory is through decoding with a process called orthographic mapping. When we do this a few times, it sticks in our memory and we can retrieve it easily. Download my Orthographic Mapping resource here!!
“Orthographic Mapping involves the formation of letter sound connections to bond the spellings, pronunciations, and meanings of specific words in memory. It explains how children learn to read words by sight, to spell words from memory, and to acquire vocabulary words from print.” - Reading Rockets
Although this process is wildly successful, it is absolutely not possible without a strong foundation in phonemic awareness. Children must have the ability to manipulate sounds in order to decode.
WHERE TO START?
Early literacy skills
Blending short CVC words
Mapping high frequency words (below)
Explicit, systematic, phonics instruction
High Frequency Words
After children have learned all letters and letter sounds, teach 10–15 prereading high frequency words that can be used to write decodable sentences when phonics instruction begins.
Introduce one word at a time, in order.
the
a
I
to
and
was
for
you
is
of
Integrate high frequency words into phonics lessons to allow students to make sense of spelling patterns for these words. You can categorize words according to whether they are spelled regularly or not – phonetically decodable words vs. irregular spellings.
You may be surprised to learn that 63% of high-frequency words on the Dolch 220 list are decodable using regular spelling patterns.The remaining 37% of “heart words” contain irregular spellings and should be mapped. Draw a heart over the irregular parts to signal we must remember these “by heart.”
Heart words can also be practiced at home as “sight words” since memorization is a much easier task for parents to help with than mapping or explicit phonics instruction.
FREEBIE!
Heart Words
the
a
of
you
was
said
they
what
very
yours
from
don’t
know
pretty
four
their
here
two
again
who
been
eight
today
does
goes
write
always
only
our
warm
use
carry
because
together
please
shall
laugh
Teach high-frequency words in groups that have similar patterns.
For example, while teaching the word some as a spelling rule breaker (heart word), explain that it is like come, or that above is similar to love.
Practice reading high-frequency words in sentences and books.
Although we want children to analyze words individually, they also must read them within the context of sentences and books.
Sources
Linda Farrell, Michael Hunter, Tina Osenga (2019) A New Model for Teaching High-Frequency Words
https://www.readingrockets.org/article/new-model-teaching-high-frequency-words
Ehri, L.C. (2005). Learning to read words: Theory, findings, and issues. Scientific Studies of Reading, 9(2), 167–188.
Flanigan, K. (2007). A concept of word in text: A pivotal event in early reading acquisition. Journal of Literacy Research, 39(1), 37–70.
“Essentials of Assessing, Preventing, and Overcoming Reading Difficulties.” David A. Kilpatrick, 2015. Published by John Wiley & Sons
ide, D. (2011). Uncovering the logic of English: A common-sense approach to reading, spelling, and literacy. Minneapolis: Pedia Learning.
Farrall, M. (2018, October). Understanding reading fluency: Research implications for assessment and instruction. Session presented at the Annual International Dyslexia Association’s Reading, Learning, & Literacy Conference, Mashantucket, CT.
Kilpatrick, D. (2015). Essentials of assessing, preventing, and overcoming reading difficulties. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Kilpatrick, D. (2016). Equipped for reading success: A comprehensive step-by-step program for developing phonemic awareness and fluent word recognition. Syracuse, NY: Casey & Kirsch.