
Imagine with me the recipe that most first grade teachers attempt to create a class of readers:
A dash of phonemic awareness, a larger measure of phonics, sprinkled with sight word games, simmered with an engaging read aloud, but not neglecting the obligatory 10 minutes in a writing journal.
Does the careful mixing of these many reading skills bake make a strong reader?
In many cases, yes! When that happens, it is delicious.
However, if we examine reading outcomes such as the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), just a few years later in 4th grade the outcomes for over 30% have turned sour.
This batch of readers does not demonstrate even basic reading achievement. 🙁
Bitterness and dis-engagement often follow fast upon repeated disappointed with learning to read. Tragically, each year the distance between the reading “haves” and “have-nots” grows larger.
What if?
What if we have forgotten to stir the ingredients and haven’t really finished the dish?
Might an approach that integrates phonemic awareness, phonics knowledge, high frequency word practice, spelling, and writing boost reading outcomes?
With child after child, from beginners to strivers, we do find that an integrated approach to the foundational reading skills prepares great readers.
Integrate; Don’t Isolate
Rather than teaching
- 10 minutes of phonemic awareness
- 20 minutes of phonics instruction, and then
- 15 minutes of handwriting and spelling instruction,
integrate these reading skills into one 5 – 10 minute instructional activity.
What does that look like?
One of our favorite fully integrated activities is called Switch It. This is what it looks like:
Or, here's another visual on the Switch It procedures:
- The teacher calls out a switch,“Switch ‘map' to ‘mop.'”
- Then the student makes the switch and says each sound as she moves each letter-sound tile/card:
“/o——/” - After she creates each new word, she segments, or separates, each sound in the word:
“/mmmmm/ /o—–/ /p/……'mop.'”
A Switch List for a beginner might look like this, with CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words:
map
mop
top
tap
sap
sat
Sam
While a slightly more advanced student might be challenged by this with some CVCC words:
rich
which
whip
tip
tin
ten
tent
sent
set
Here's a beginning reader, who is four, learning more about phonics information and phonemic awareness in the video below.
Notice how he is able to manipulate sounds in the easier CVC (Consonant-Vowel-Consonant) level, such as “chick,” but then demonstrates a leap forward by also manipulating the harder CCVC (Consonant-Consonant-Vowel-Consonant) word: “prick.”
Simultaneous, Integrated Sub-Skills
What skills do the children practice when they manipulate these letter-sound cards and say their sounds?
Several, you say?
Yes! Here are some of sub-skills that were addressed by just this one integrated activity:
- Phonemic segmentation
- Phonemic manipulation
- Consonant letter-sound knowledge
- Short vowel letter-sound knowledge
- Decoding
- Spelling
- High Frequency word analysis
- Connections between word identification and vocabulary
- Concept of the alphabetic principle.
Notice these multiple sub-skills were integrated and practiced simultaneously, and in short order….hmmm…does that pun work with short order cook? 😉
If you'd like a more scholarly dive into this activity and its benefits, read this article written by Bruce McCandliss, Isabel Beck, Rebecca Sandak, and Charles Perfetti. These researchers term what we call Switch It a “Word Building” technique, but the gist of the activity is very similar. With just this simple activity, these researchers demonstrated significant growth in phonemic awareness, decoding, and even….comprehension. Yep!
What are the benefits of this integrated approach to foundational reading skills?
- Saves time.
- Provides the pivotal transfer ability necessary for the child’s independent reading skills the next day and week.
- Develops the phonemic (sound-based) decoding precision necessary to be a strong reader and speller.
So, you want to be a better cook?
Re-examine your recipe.
Consider your scope and sequence and the isolated sub-skill after sub-skill tack.
Perhaps make a more effective, and efficient product if you mix phonemic awareness at the same time you teach decoding and letter-sound knowledge.
We follow a 1-page Streamlined Pathway that guides our thinking in a scope-and-sequence kinda way.
For example, in the first, bottom-left section, we teach multiple, integrated sub-skills: consonants, short vowels, phonemic awareness (all types), decoding, and high frequency words. All in just a couple of activities such as Switch It.
[See this post about Blend As You Read for our other early main activity that integrates multiples skills simultaneously.]
After working with hundreds of students and watching others work with thousands of students, we testify that students learn to read more rapidly and easily with an integrated approach.
And, the National Reading Panel demonstrated the value of this key ingredient to word identification when they noted greater impact from phonemic awareness integrated with letter-sound instruction.
Finally, consider this admonition from Marie Clay, creator of Reading Recovery:
“The lowest literacy achievers will have extreme difficulty bridging any gaps in the teaching programme and linking together things that have been taught separately.”
Please select a student and try the Switch It approach with him/her. A list of words will make it easier to get started….Download our FREE Switch It packet below to jump start your students' decoding!
Please report back here with what you found after trying Switch It. What have you discovered?
It would seem that while tiles can be used as a visual activity, it is much better simply to have students read (decode) the words and then spell (encode) them as they write, saying the sounds.
Once the students know the consonant sounds, then teach the short-vowel sounds.
Teach only a FEW of the highly-irregular high frequency words, such as THE, and teach them in a sentence or context, rather than in a list.
Next, have the students read only text or passages that are 100% decodable, meaning that the materials include only those phonics concepts and few highly-irregular words that the children have been taught.
In my experience using Pat Doran’s Phonics Steps to Reading Success, I can teach readers of all ages quickly and at a low cost. By second grade, students should be able to read any word in their spoken or hearing vocabulary. For primary students, the BOB BOOKS can be quite helpful for decoding/reading practice.
Pat, I agree that reading and writing words is essential for learning how to read. 100%! And much of what you describe in your method is also enfolded into Reading Simplified.
This post about Switch It describes just 1 of a handful of activities that make up the Reading Simplified system. Outside of this 5-minute activity, students also read and write words, as they say each sound (Read It) and sort words by their advanced phonics sound (Sort It). Then they Read Aloud with guided support from the teacher and finally Re-Read with support from peers, teaching assistants, technology, or volunteers.
What is essential and so efficient about Switch It, above and beyond just reading and writing words, is the power of phonemic manipulation to rapidly teach the child a self-teaching mechanism for decoding, as described by the widely-held theory by David Share (deep, but see here: http://www.ltl.appstate.edu/reading_resources/RE_6120_Readings_CHAPTERS/share_david_article.pdf) (See also the paper above by McCandliss et al.)
Our students master phonemic manipulation skills like top readers in as little as an hour, or sometimes a handful of hours, because of the power of this simple activity.
Then they are all set up to rapidly acquire the written code because they have a strong foundation. Dr. Keith Stanovich famously wrote about the rapidly accruing effects of early, strong phonemic awareness in his paper “Matthew effects in reading: Some consequences of individual differences in the acquisition of literacy” (find a link at the bottom of page here: http://www.keithstanovich.com/Site/Research_on_Reading.html )
Or, listen to how Dr. Stanovich describes the benefits of starting early with strong phonological decoding. In this video he notes, “If you have well-developed phonemic representations, you struggle less with the code…”
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lF6VKmMVWEc)
Thus, I find that phonics without integration of efficient phonemic awareness activities is a slower method for teaching students to read. Most students using our techniques learn how to decode above their grade level in about 12 hours of instruction.
I’d love to hear what you find if you try this technique!
I am amazed at how quickly this puts them in the driver’s seat. I teach a special needs student who was unable to read. I found this program and he is now reading all kinds of words and stories. It is a strategy that works for him and he is proud of himself.
Wonderful, Kathleen! So glad it is serving your readers well! 🙂
This was interesting and useful. It with the other article will help me to make a better reading programme for my class this new year.
Thanks for the good words, Janet! Hope you see benefits for your kiddos this New Year!
-Marnie
This is so important! Thanks for sharing!
xo, Helene
http://www.circleskirtsandpetticoats.wordpress.com
My pleasure Helene. Thanks for the encouragement.
Thanks very much, Eve! Hope it serves them well.
Superb strategies, which are simplified and user friendly. I will be definitely using them and all related materials. Thanks much for sharing
Simone
Simone, thank so much! Great to hear to hear that you found them simplified and user friendly. That’s my mission!
we are still on summer break.
I am stepping back into the classroom after many years staying home with my kids. I will be teaching first grade for the first time and have been nervous about really effectively teaching the kids to be strong readers. My former experience has been with older elementary. I have so appreciated all of these articles and ideas and feel SO much more confident about how to approach reading. I was dreading the “plod along through a reader” method that seems to be the go to for many classrooms. Thank you, thank you!
I downloaded the Switch It and the Read It, but am unable to find the letter-sound cards for Switch It to download. Help please.
Sarah, thanks for sharing your story and the encouragement you’ve found here! I’m excited for your year of teaching 1st grade! That’s the best grade for reading. 🙂
I believe a PDF of letter-sound cards for Switch It or Build It is here:
https://readingsimplified.com/childs-worldview/
I work in a school for children with learning difficulties so thank you for these ideas. Back to school today so will be trying them out soon.
Great! Switch It should be a great kick of to the new year!
After you try that, I recommend that you try teaching the Blend As Your Read strategy, which is taught in the activity, Read It. May you have a great year!
Thank you, thank you! I have a very low, rowdy group this year! Anything and everything is welcomed!
🙂 I hope I can hear how far your group travels….
I’ve been adding the switch it activity to my lessons- great! I used to do it and had forgotten about it, so I’m so glad to reintroduce it. The kids like it and it seems to help- especially for my students who have trouble segmenting words with words with consonant clusters. I have been following an oral pa program- Equipped for Reading Success by David Kilpatrick, but adding the letters/graphemess is helping those who need the extra scaffold. Thanks
Sarah Glaser
Super! Thanks so much for sharing your experience, Sarah. We hear that kids think it’s fun a lot! All the better!
I’m reading another one of David Kilpatrick’s book right now, Essentials of Assessing, Preventing, and Overcoming Reading Difficulties. It’s excellent.
Hi, I wanted to know if JK children don’t know they alphabets with sounds or just the letter recognition how can I challenge them?
I really enjoyed the video and am keen to implement it into the classroom for all the children.
I was wondering would adding pictures as visual aide with the word make it more interesting?
Thank you so much for this.
sincerely
Shehirnaz Hafeez
Shehirnaz, Switch It is the fastest way to help children of all ages learn the letter-sounds. I use it as soon as my students know about 5 letter-sounds.
However, if they are so young and inexperienced with literacy that Switch It would be too hard, then we use a variation of Switch It called Build It:
ReadingSimplified.com/teaching-letter-sounds
I don’t recommend using pictures unless your student needs the vocabulary support because s/he is learning English, too. The pictures will slow you down. The activity should take about 5 min. most days. (My videos of my Star Student in the Level Up Your Readers’ Achievement were a little longer than that because I was demonstrating the activity for the Level Up event.)
I have a sample of ‘Switch it’ and would love the whole program. How do I get a copy of the whole program? We started using it last term and are seeing some great results.
Tracie, thanks for sharing your success! Congrats!!
We are closed for general enrollment, but are offering access through an on-demand workshop, 3 Activities a Day to Keep Reading Difficulties Away. You can register here:
ReadingSimplified.com/event OR click on Reading Simplified Academy on our blog to get on the Waitlist for the next time we open for general enrollment.
I used some of the free Switch It activities with my Tier 3 Intervention students this year, and ALL of them showed reading growth. I am hoping to dive further in to the entire Reading Simplified system over the summer and be prepared to integrate it for all of my students in the upcoming year. I was really surprised by how motivated my students were. They enjoyed the structure of the activity and did not become bored with doing the same activity using other word lists.
Thanks so much for coming back and sharing your results, Corena! Congratulations!!
Read It and the Blend As You Read decoding strategy would be the classic next activity to complement Switch It. You can learn about Read It here.
And if you’re ready to get full access to the entire Reading Simplified system, we’d love to have you join the Reading Simplified Academy. Lots of other teachers have the same plan as you–study and prep over the summer and then start the new year with a bang. Since we’re open right now to those in our End-of-Year Challenge, here’s a link for you and others interested at this time. ($50 off off annual membership is RSA50.)
After downloading the free sample of switch word lists I tried it with my whole class. They love switch it!!! However, I realize after watching the video again I need to tweak the way I was wording it. I was saying….switch the ___ sound for ____ and then reading the word. I need to have them figure out what sounds to switch to make the new word I give them.
Sweet! Thanks for sharing your quick success, Vickie.
And good CATCH! Yes, this approach is a subtle tweak from a lot of common practices, but when you do ask the students to do the switching, they are given the harder cognitive task. It develops their cognitive flexibility, especially phonemic manipulation. Can’t wait for what Day 2 brings! 🙂
Yay! I tried out Switch It with one student before using with a group of five. The procedures were very easy to follow. The student I worked with needed reminders to say the sounds while moving the tile and to blend them together. A few errors when making two words, but a success for that student. The challenge for me will be finding the best way to organize 5 sets of sound cards. Thank you for including your suggestions, Marnie.
Hi Lori, I’m so glad to hear that you are having success with your student! In the Teachers’ Lounge, we have several members that have shared their strategies for organizing their sound cards if you need some ideas. 🙂
This is wonderful information. I have used the sample Switch it and have seen so much growth. After watching other videos, I decided to dive in and join the academy. I am glad that I can do this at my own pace. Wished I had found this before the school year started. Never to late to start. Thank you!!
Thanks so much for taking the time to write, Jennifer! You made my day.
May it be a great 2019 for you…and may your kiddos quickly catch up anyway with the mid-year start! (Please don’t be a stranger in the Teachers’ Lounge…we want to hear how it goes!) 🙂
Maybe this was covered, but I am looking to download a copy of the sound cards to print. Is there a place to go for those?
Thank you! Loved the webinar today. Very helpful!
So glad to hear that Katie! I see that you’ve already snagged the letter-sound cards. But for others, please head here.
Found them, thanks!
Quick work. 🙂
What is the big deal? These methods are old, nothing new or novel. Plus, I’m pretty sure Kilpatrick’s work speaks to the importance of solely doing phonemic awareness as beneficial as well. Maybe I read that wrong, but pretty sure it is also important to have this skill without the print as well.
I agree this activity is old. The Lindamoods developed this in the 60’s as far as I know. However, they are not commonly used, sadly, even though they are so powerful.
I agree that Kilpatrick stresses the value of oral-only advanced phonemic awareness. However, I have found, and a chunk of research suggests, that beginning with letter-sounds and phonemic awareness activities together yields faster outcomes. In an advanced version of Switch It, we recommend doing the activity with nonsense words and oral-only. That will help keep building the advanced phonemic processing that’s needed for mature reading. But initially, when students are still weak on their code knowledge, I have found connecting print and speech to more rapidly change outcomes, as in this example.
I have an 8year old in second grade and he is struggling in reading. What level of words should I start with when using this.
Heidi, sorry about the challenge! There are various tests that would give you more precise info, but an informal guess is probably fine, too, as we move up or down dynamically based on how the child responds.
It he doesn’t make many or any errors in a list, it’s too easy and we move up phonemic difficulty (i.e., from CVC to CVCC). If he gets frustrated and it’s too hard, we move down a list of phonemic difficulty (i.e., from CVCC to CVC).
Given his age, I would begin with a CCVC with several short vowels. Be ready to move up to CCVCC soon thereafter. The feedback is especially helpful as that’s how he’ll improve.
We played switch it. It was very encouraging seeing her eyes light up with excitement that she was actually able to read the words given to her.
Wonderful! So glad this is serving your readers well!
Is it needed to go through ALL the lists for Switch It? Given that I’m teaching virtually, I want to get the biggest “bang for my buck” so to speak. I’m wondering what list sequence would be best to help first graders progress. Thanks!
Good question Da’on. We mostly do NOT use all the lists as we want to always be challenging our students. To decide which list is the most challenging, we consider 2 questions: 1) which important letter-sounds does my student need to practice and 2) what is the highest level of phonemic difficulty (i.e., CVC or CCVC or CCVCC etc.) that my student can handle with my support?
This activity is a game changer. I have tried word builder before but it never helped my struggling students. This isolates the supports needed. Even a child who sits and does nothing while others read for fun was engaged checking those sounds! So excited for the rest of the activities in the course so that I can see more improvements in my struggling readers. I finally found something that clicked for me. I really think I can make this work with my kids.
Excellent Carrie! Thanks for sharing your experience. There’s something strangely magical about how the swapping of sounds in and out of words really forces some students to “see” things they couldn’t before.
We had so much fun while learning!
We had a blast learning the sounds and making words. I am excited to continue
We had a blast learning. I am excited to continue.
Hi Marnie,
I have a student who is in grade one and presently knows 4 sounds. I jumped into it with enthusiasm and have seen a rapid increase in his confidence and ability to learn. He is sooo excited to read and looks forward to reading street signs as soon as possible😀
Woo hoo!! That’s great to hear, Shelley! Congrats on the quick wins already. May he only continue to accelerate his growth…and enjoy reading.
I love this approach. I have a student who struggles with the basic concepts of reading/writing; therefore, it is great to have an approach where she is exposed with all the skills in one setting. Thank you for such great content.
Great to hear it works for you Audrey! Yes, putting all the pieces together at one time is so powerful.
Good morning. I was just wondering if the free switch it game is the complete set or are there more packs I can buy and add please. Students are really engaged in it. Even the higher level students as it allows them success and they assist other students also. Thank you.
Hi Jody, thanks for your interest! Most of our material are on reserve for members of our Reading Simplified Academy and not for individual sale. You can learn more about joining the Academy here: readingsimplified.com/academy
Do you teach letter names and sounds before you play the switch it game?
No, we use Switch It as a way to help support the teaching of letter-sounds, among other things. However, if kids don’t know 5 to 7 letter-sounds, then we start with Build It:
ReadingSimplified.com/learn-letter-sounds
And we don’t teach letter names until the student is on her way with a sound-based decoding approach.
I use the Learning Dynamic decodable books where I teach. I read you recommend the Bobs books, how are those different from the Learning Dynamic books?
I don’t have the Learning Dynamic books, Yvonne. They look as if they might be similar to the Bob Books. We first use our own decodable texts inside the Reading Simplified Academy and then supplement with other sets as needed.
How would you advise approaching this with a 16yo who reads “fine” except that she struggled in 1st and 2nd grade and I am coming to realize that the system neglected to offer her the tools to really do this phonetic decoding word. She gets by but completely avoids reading – especially out loud. Thanks.
It’s hard to say without more information. But I have seen many students with that pattern that have poor sound-based decoding. That is the foundational piece that stalls their efficiency, which can help make reading too hard to do for fun.
We have a couple of free nonsense word decoding tests linked here. They can reveal if the foundational sound-based decoding skills are part of the problem. Then the Reading Simplified system would be a good solution for improving her overall reading ability. Inside our Academy we would also happily help coach for how to improve motivation. Often when reading excellence is acquired, motivation goes up.
There are other challenges that a reader may face, though. The nonsense word test would be one thing I would do first as a screener to rule out a very common challenge.
These are wonderful tools to use with children!!
Thank you Emily! We agree….;)