Principal's Message
Dear Parents and Carers,
‘Sound it out’
If you’re a Facebook user you’ve probably seen something like this, but have a go anyway and read the paragraph below:
I cnduo't bvleiee taht I culod aulaclty uesdtannrd waht I was rdnaieg. Unisg the icndeblire pweor of the hmuan mnid, aocdcrnig to rseecrah at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mttaer in waht oderr the lterets in a wrod are, the olny irpoamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rhgit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whoutit a pboerlm. Tihs is bucseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey ltteer by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Aaznmig, huh? Yaeh and I awlyas tghhuot slelinpg was ipmorantt! See if yuor flamiy can raed tihs too.
How did you go? I can bet that you had a lot more success than you thought you would and that it was easier as you went along (If you look to the end of the Principal’s Notes you can see the text in correct spelling).
Reading is about meaning!
So often we listen to our children read and when they pause at a difficult word we encourage them to ‘sound it out’. Often this is the first and only strategy we know to suggest. Your successful reading of the text above shows that reading is not about the individual letters on the page and that ‘sounding a word out’ would not be a successful strategy. In fact, much of our English language does not lend itself easily to being ‘sounded out’.
Reading is always first and foremost about understanding the message in the text. Successful readers do understand the visual patterns of letters/sounds but they don’t stay at that point. They soon move beyond that to predict and read ahead based on the message they are reading and use only the minimal visual letter/sound clues that are necessary to confirm they’re on the right track. Hence the need to only have the first and last letter correct in the above example.
Last Monday night the Junior Primary team held a workshop for parents on ‘Reading with your child’. It was designed to assist parents in understanding how to read with children at home in ways that support them as a developing reader. An information pack was given out to attendees of the workshop and sent home to Junior Primary families. If you would like to receive a copy of these strategies and the pack please contact the front office.
God bless.
Rachel Smith
Principal