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Cueing
Systems for Reading
There are three main cueing systems that we all use to figure
out unknown words while we are reading.
The
first system is the
grapho-phonic
or
visual
cueing system. Our
strategies include looking at the letters and trying to think
of their sounds, looking at the word shape or length, or
chunks of familiar words (ow like in now or how). We help the
children remember this one by using these words,
"What does it look
like?"
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One-to-One
Matching
Read
it using your finger.
Did that match?
Were there enough words?
Did you run out of words? |
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Focusing
on Hearing Sounds in Order...
Say it
slowly. What do you hear?
What else can you hear?
... at the beginning?
... at the end?
... in the middle?
Start the sentence over. Get your mouth ready to say the
word.
Look through the word to the end. Say it slowly. |
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Connecting
Known to Unknown
Do you
know another word that...?
... begins that way
...ends that way
Do you think it looks like?
Do you know a spelling pattern or chunk like this?
Do you know a smaller word in this word?
Think of where you've seen this word before? |
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The
second system is based on the structure of language that we
know from years of absorbing oral language. We know that certain words "sound" right together.
For example, do we say, "Him and me are going..." or does it
sound better to say, "He and I are going to..." This system is
the
syntactic
cueing system. We help the children use this one with these
words, "How
does it sound?"
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Does that
sound right?
Do we say it that way?
You said... can we say it that way?
Skip the word and return to it after reading to the end
of the sentence. |
The
third system is based on meaning. You can predict what unknown
words might be because of the context around it. This is the
semantic
cueing system.
This system is prompted with,
"What would make
sense here?"
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Did that make
sense?
Would ____ fit there?
You said ____. Was that right?
Look at the picture. What would make sense?
Remember that ... so...
Try that again to see if it makes sense.
Stop and think. What have I read so far? |
We
need to help children use all three cueing systems, because
they all work together. Children who are taught only phonics
run into problems with the many exceptions in the English
Language. Going by meaning only will create reading errors.
And ignoring how it sounds will make the reading nonsense.
We
also try to help them monitor their own reading.
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Encouraging
Self-Monitoring and Self-Correcting
Use a pointer
to make them match.
I like the way you did that. Where was the hard bit?
Was that okay?
Why did you stop?
What did you notice?
I liked the way you tried to work that out.
What did you expect to see at the beginning? the end?
Were you right?
How did you know?
Try that again.
Read on. Then go back and see if you can solve the
tricky bit. |
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Encouraging
Cross-Checking
Look at the
beginning of the word and think about the picture and
what would make sense.
Can we say it that way?
Does it make sense?
I liked the way you reread that to make it sound right
and make sense. |
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