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No Nonsense with Nonsense Words

“Cug mank grooply defo tra sork?” said Zog the Martian.

 
We can guarantee you were able to read that sentence, but comprehend it? Not unless you have spent a few years hanging out with little green men!
 
As of summer 2012 all 6 year olds will undergo a phonics assessment. The test will include 50% real words and 50% pseudo-words. There has been a fair amount of criticism of this plan but here at Get Reading Right we support this decision.
 

The Theory behind using Psuedo-Words

 

Giving Pseudo- words to children is a great way to test decoding skills. It ensures that they are using their decoding skills and not any other strategies, like remembering the shape of the word or guessing from the picture. It is the most reliable way to accurately assess that a child has mastered the essential synthetic phonics skill of decoding.
 
Yes, you didn’t comprehend Zog the Martian but you could certainly read back what he said. As I teach you to read Martian, I would also teach you to comprehend Martian, but comprehension is a skill I would teach alongside synthetic phonics.
 

Getting ready for the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check

 

If you are teaching a rigorous, synthetic phonics programme you will already be preparing your class for the check.
 
Here is what you should be doing:
 
  • The words children read should include both high frequency words (like 'dad', 'man', 'sad', 'ant') and more unusual words (like 'sap', 'din', 'nip'). This will ensure a child isn’t relying on recognising the word. Remember, words like ‘dad’ and ‘sat’ will have been seen lots in the stories Mum and Dad read to them, and many children will simply recognise them.
  • Don’t allow a child to guess from the picture. It’s no use having a picture of a man next to the word ‘man’. No reading is involved in guessing from that picture!
  • Start off slow – don’t get children to read sentences right away; start at the word level and when phonics skills are firmly embedded move onto the more complicated skills involved in reading sentences.
 
Our Word Practice Books fulfil all these criteria; they include 35% wider vocabulary than other decodable books, the pictures are unrelated to the words and they start at the word level. To request a free sample click here. Why not give practice at reading these pseudo-words? The Martian Reading card games give children lots of practice at decoding these made-up words.

 

 
Frapul mawka weefa zee gheigh! ("Good luck with the test", in Martian)
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