OG tutor's question

One question I have is whether we should mention some of those patterns after the sorts for levels 14 and on. For example, with print to speech, we teach students to read y as a long i when it is at the end of a word and to read y as a long e when it is at the end of a two-syllable word. Would pointing this pattern out be helpful or is just the simple mechanism of knowing which sound is most common strong enough to help students start to build a familiarity with the patterns of English? I can see it being helpful for some, but difficult for others. Would this maybe depend on the student? 

The TRT answer is that there are two reasons not to teach those specific things:

1. The patterns mentioned don’t work consistently for secondary level vocabulary needs.
2. This rule-based approach causes a student to leave the text mentally to try to recall something that might not even work for what they’re trying to read.

OG: ‘read y as a long i when it is at the end of a word’

There are fewer than 20 words that fit this pattern (Brooks, Dictionary of the British English Spelling System - though it applies to American English too).
by, cry, dry, fly, fry, my, ply, pry, shy, sky, sly, spy, spry, sty, thy, try, why, wry (and scry – not sure that one is useful.)

 OG: ‘read y as a long e when it is at the end of a two-syllable word’

There are a significant number of important words where this isn’t the case:

• rely, ally, defy, comply, reply, supply, July, deny, awry
• 3-syllable words like occupy, prophesy (v.), multiply etc.
• all words ending with the suffix <fy>: classify, liquefy, beautify, nullify etc.

What does a completely rule-free TRT lesson look like?

Setting the scene:

• You’re working one-to-one.
• You’re building on the Foundations concepts learned in Levels 2-13. Contact us if you want to know what this includes.
• You’ve done the Level 14 <y> sorting lesson and you’ve looked at some of the patterns and discovered how the patterns aren’t perfect.
• The student has learned the concept that there can be several ways to pronounce a grapheme.
  • They didn’t know there are 4 ways to pronounce a letter <y> but now it makes sense and it makes sense of why they’ve been struggling to read more complex words in class.
  • They know that <y> at the end of a word can be /ee/ or /ie/. (This is the antidote to the patterns above.)
• You’ve consistently corrected ‘words that couldn’t be’ or ‘words that could be’.
  • They’ve practiced ‘try it the other way’ to arrive at a meaningful word that fits the context. (This is not the same as making meaning from context or guessing. It’s saying the sounds and listening for a word that ‘makes sense’ in that sentence or phrase.)
  • You’ve probably noticed that, when you give a meaning in the context of phrase or sentence, it feels familiar to the student.

How much information is required to successfully read text?

The answer will depend on where the student is on the literacy continuum. Are they self-correcting or relying on guided error correction? Here are two examples:

I hate to rely on my family for money, but I need $100 to pay my phone bill.

• Self-correction (our aim):

Student reads “I hate to really on my…pause as doesn’t make sense…tries it the other way…I hate to rely (yes!) on my family but”…etc.

This works because the student has ‘rely on (someone)’ or ‘rely on (someone for something)’ stored in their mental lexicon even before they can decode all those words. Even students who seem to have small vocabularies have phrases stored that they don’t use but that they know the meaning of when they hear them.

• Guided correction (key feature of TRT):

If they’re not at the self-correcting phase yet, you ask if they know what it means to ‘really on my family’. The error correction comes from listening, not from recalling a rule.

The error correction might also include vocabulary instruction if the student has never heard of ‘relying on someone’.

What about making a ‘word that couldn’t be’ error?

 ‘I don’t usually do well on tests but this time I’m going to defy all expectations!’

• Self-correction:

Student reads, “I don’t usually do well on tests but this time I’m going to defee…pause, what’s defee…try it the other way…defy all expectations!”

Student is either fine with that because they have ‘defy expectations’ stored in their mental lexicon or they will ask what that means. The tutor might also see that they said the correct word but the meaning hasn’t quite registered. “Do you know what it means to defy expectations”? That can lead to great conversation. You can talk about ways to use ‘defy’ in other phrases or sentences.

• Guided correction:

If they’re not at the self-correcting phase yet, you ask if they know a word ‘defee’. The error correction comes from listening and recognising meaning, not from recalling a rule or pattern.

It might also involve being told the meaning of ‘defy’ if that word isn’t in the student’s listening vocabulary.

What is the student’s experience?

The TRT (speech to print) student:

I picture the student remembering /ee/ and /ie/ when they see a y at the end of a word and listening for a meaningful word that makes sense in the context as a linear journey through the text. Patterns will be internalised with more and more practice.

The Print to Speech version (please contact me if this isn't accurate):

I picture the student trying to remember patterns or rules and their many exceptions as an unnecessary detour away from the text to recall information, then returning to the text to apply that information. When they arrive back, the only way to test whether they’ve recalled the information accurately is to say it and listen for a word that makes sense in the context which could have been done without the detour.

Neither is perfect, but the TRT way is a straighter path and cuts to the essentials of reading without detours. Of course, spelling requires something a little different, but it’s still built on the foundations laid down during That Reading Thing.