Supercharge Your Child’s Reading with Word Building Activities

As parents, we want to help our child learn to read. A solid foundation in reading helps our kids build on it quickly in all subjects and it also helps our kids feel confident in their abilities. But your family is busy, you have many responsibilities, you need to make the most of the limited time you have to work on reading with your child.

The Research is Clear

A study published in 2018 from The University of Oregon titled “The Effects of Phonics-Based Word Building Instruction on Young Children’s Reading Accuracy and Fluency,” randomly assigned 36 kindergarteners to either an experimental group or a control group. The experimental group received word building instruction that focused on phonics, including activities that involved manipulating letter sounds to build words. The control group received traditional reading instruction. The researchers found that the children in the experimental group showed significant improvement in reading accuracy and fluency compared to the control group. The word building instruction was particularly effective for children who were struggling with reading at the beginning of the study.

How can I start today?

A staple activity in my reading intervention groups is called Switch It from Reading Simplified and Dr. Marnie Ginsburg.

The activity involves writing letters on small pieces of cardstock or paper. If your child is just beginning to learn to read, use the letters c, t, m, n, s, p, r and a.

You say, “We’re going to switch it! Let’s start with the word ‘cat.'” Help your child from the word cat with their letter cards. Then say, “we are going to make a new word changing only one sound. Change the /c/ sound to /p/. What’s the new word?” The child would then respond with “pat.” You could then say “Change the /t/ to a /n/. What is the new word?” The child would say “pan”.

The activity can be adapted to suit the child’s level of ability, using more complex words or focusing on specific sounds or letter combinations. This activity also helps children develop phonemic awareness, which is the ability to hear and manipulate individual sounds in words.

Word Ladders

This activity has kids using pictures to spell words. As they climb the word ladder they change only one sound each rung. This engaging word building activity builds vocabulary and phonemic awareness – both critical skills necessary for successful reading.

Let’s Get Our Kids Reading

By choosing our time with our kids wisely, we can ensure they develop the reading skills they need to succeed in the classroom and beyond.