READING

Welcome to Decoding Strategy Instruction - The DSI Library Click the graphic to download our theoretical connection to Blooms Taxonomy. ||  ||
 * [[image:http://www.sharpteaching.com/CSIjpg/DSIsmallgraphic width="198" height="115" caption="DSI Decoding Strategy Instruction"]] || **Download the Overview**



**Tutorial 1:** [|Establishing a group routine] - video **Tutorial 2:** [|Teaching decoding strategies to the whole class] **Tutorial 3:** [|The differences between Stage 1 and Stage 2] **Tutorial 4:**[| Stage 2 Decoding Strategies - whole class] **Tutorial 5:** [|Managing the transition from DSI into CSI] - video || **D****SI TUTORIAL 1 –** **Establishing a group routine**
 * **Decoding Strategy Instruction** is primarily a guided reading routine for small groups. It is intended to fit into your reading programme which may include vocabulary development, phonics programmes, browser box and buddy reading as well as basic reading skills. ||  || DSI TUTORIALS and ATTACHMENTS

Our starting point for DSI (Decoding Strategy Instruction) is the guided reading group. In most junior classrooms the teacher meets with each of their ‘emergent’ or ‘early’ reading groups for 10-15 minutes daily during which time they work through a text which is at the students’ instructional reading age. As a result of the many hours we have spent observing and advising teachers in this art of guided reading, we present you with a simple structured routine which can be used with emergent (our DSI Stage 1) and early (our DSI Stage 2) readers.

Initially the focus is just on the routine; making sure that your students (AND YOU) get the **5 BITS** habit. When they start correcting you (“You missed out the question!”) you will know that they have got the routine.

**WHAT TO DO** **- View Video**

This video models our simple guided reading routine which we call **The****5 BITS.**

As you are watching make a note of each of the **5 BITS**;

> When you have given this your best shot, (have you really?) open the attachment ‘**The 5 BITS**’ and compare your notes with ours.
 * 1) What does the teacher say and do?
 * 2) What do the students do?
 * 3) What do you think the purpose is for each bit?
 * Click on the following links to open the attachments that go with this tutorial.**

**DISCUSSION POINT**

//'Why is it so important to have such a highly structured routine?'//

We have asked many junior classroom teachers about their guided reading routine. They talk about the need to mix things up – a bit of this and a bit of that depending on the day, the kids, the text. One of the dangers here is that we have become so captured by the need for child-centred learning that we move away from the well established fact that KIDS LOVE ROUTINE. They may kick against it when you try to impose it but in the end they are most comfortable when they know what is happening. Our desire to entertain them can be misplaced. ‘They will get bored’ reflects a misconception about learning. When children understand the purpose of a routine and are engaged in learning they don’t get bored.

The 5 BITS presents you with a strong routine which frees up the students (and the teacher) to concentrate on the practice of strategies that have been taught. This is the habitualisation of a reading process, a plan of attack for processing text. Rather than you providing all the signposts (what are they going to do when you are not there?) the **5 BITS** become the reminders which prompt them about what to do as they are reading. Let the **5 BITS** do the work for you. Our experience is that they don’t get bored; the routine gives them ownership of the session.

They will come to their guided reading session with a clear understanding about what is going to happen in that 10-12 minutes; they are going to do the work – practising their reading strategies, there will be a high level of focus required, there will be no new teaching – **5 BITS** prompts only - and at least two readings of the text.

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 * ** D ** **SI TUTORIAL 2** **–** **Teaching Decoding Strategies – a whole class activity**
 * ** D ** **SI TUTORIAL 2** **–** **Teaching Decoding Strategies – a whole class activity**

//What exactly do we mean by decoding strategies?//

Any knowledge, understanding, or way of thinking about how text works provides your student with a strategy to help them decipher the squiggles on the page.

So how do you teach these strategies?

Let’s look for a moment at a well acknowledged model for effective teaching and learning.

Explanation → Modelling → Guided Practice→ Independent Practice This provides a clear pathway for the explicit teaching of skills or strategies. If you agree with this progression, how much time do you think should be devoted to each of these steps?

Let’s apply this to a simple activity like teaching a child how to ride a bike. How would you go about doing that?

There would probably be some explanation – ‘You sit here; your feet go there; these are the brakes...’ followed by some modelling – ‘Look at me; this is how you do it.’

Then it is their turn – the guided practice with you the instructor running alongside holding on to the rider, or the seat, or the carrier on the back of the bike. How long will you spend on this? Five minutes? Half an hour? I don’t think so!!!! Unless the learner is a natural it would be hours of practice until the hand comes off and they can wobble off on their own. Now they are ready for independent practice. Lots of mileage to refine the skills and become ‘fluent’.

Going back to our model and allocating time as a percentage ... how about 10% - 15% - 30% - 45% Can you see where we are heading with this analogy? Explicit teaching of a new strategy, EXPLANATION and MODELLING followed by lots of opportunities for the learner to ’get their balance’ GUIDED PRACTICE, is a very powerful learning model when applied to the teaching of reading.
 * Where or when does this explicit teaching take place?**

We think it should occur in the whole class setting using the whole class formats that are already in place.


 * Phonics programme – the explicit teaching of the code.**

More and more schools are recognising the value of buildinga phonics programme into the first two years of instruction. Hopefully we have finally overcome the stigma attached to this. This usually is 10-15 minutes set aside for explicit instruction and is a whole class approach.

There are many quality programmes around that provide a developmental progression and we have no intention of reinventing the wheel here.

Here are some recommendations;

'[|Synthetic Phonics” from ‘Get Reading Right]'.

Anne Ross a New Zealand facilitator for this programme can be contacted at aross.grr@gmail.com [|Switch on to Spelling] for the juniors and Spelling [|Under Scrutiny] for seniors

Joy Allcock is a well known expert and can be contacted through her web page [|http://www.spelling.co.nz]

**Newsboard** or whole class modelling of the writing process is another opportunity for explanation and modelling of the letter sound relationships and building up an understanding of how words and sentences work. **Shared Book or Shared Reading**


 * This is the focus of this tutorial as we think it provides a great context for explicit instruction.**

Typically, Shared Book or Shared Reading occurs daily for 10-20 minutes. It is often an introduction to the reading session before the teacher works with small needs based groups. It involves the whole class gathered around the teacher with some enlarged text – a story, an article, a poem – and the reading of this text is shared by the teacher and the class around a specific instructional focus. The text is often used again on successive days allowing the students to tackle more complex strategies with text that is becoming increasingly familiar.

**WHAT TO DO** **– Shared Reading**

Start to think about your shared reading session as your teaching time. We suggest that each 10-20 minute daily session has one specific focus rather than being a smorgasbord of teachable moments. After the first session, or reading, we have provided a range of possible teaching focuses for subsequent sessions. They are not numbered in any order of importance and cover the range of decoding strategies that your readers will need to develop.

**INITIAL SESSION - Option 1**

Focus – enjoyment of a new story (first reading)

- modelling / developing familiarity with BITS 1,3,and 5

Learning outcomes

//Students can ...//

1. Interpret pictures (make connections between pictures and text)

2. Answer literal questions

3. Make sensible predictions about what will come next

4. Identify characters, story problem, outcome (narrative text) OR identify main ideas (non fiction text)

What to do:

Teacher presents a new story using some of the prompts from the 5 BITS – ‘What’s happening in this picture’, ‘Here comes a question’, and ‘What do you think will happen next?’ for each page. This reinforces the routine you are establishing in your groups. The story is usually read to the class without the students joining in and the focus is on enjoyment of the story.

There can be a quick recap of the story by focussing on identifying the characters, the story problem, and the outcome.

OPTION 2

Focus – Phonological patterns appropriate to the needs of the children

Learning outcomes (select 1 or 2)

//Students can identify ...//

Consonants

Consonant blends

Affixes (prefixes and suffixes - word endings)

Short vowel and long vowels

Compound words

Singulars and plurals

Words within words

What to do: > Discuss the phonological pattern(s) that is the focus of the lesson and brainstorm examples. > The story is reread with students invited to join in the reading. As always, there can be a challenge to read with expression and intonation – ‘Convince me you understand the sentences by the way you read them’. > Selected pages are used to identify and further illustrate the targeted phonological pattern. > Example – a specific consonant blend or a group of blends – having read the page students identify the use of the blend on that page. || **OPTION 3**
 * 1) Explanation, model or review of the LO
 * 1) Using the strategy in an authentic context

Focus – Developing understanding of print conventions appropriate to the needs of the children

Learning outcomes (select 1 or 2)

//Students can ...// > layout and design, font styles ||  || > Discuss the print convention(s) that are the focus of the lesson with some examples. > The story is reread with students invited to join in the reading. As always, there can be a challenge to read with expression and intonation – ‘Convince me you understand the sentences by the way you read them’. Selected pages are used to identify and further illustrate the print convention. > Example – Speech marks - if there are three characters in the story, divide the class into three, assign a character to each group. They have to read the words that come out of their character’s mouth as designated by the speech marks.
 * 1) Identify punctuation – capital letters, full stops, commas, question marks, apostrophes, exclamation marks, speech marks etc
 * 2) Identify visual features - bold or italic text and read together with appropriate intonation,
 * What to do:**
 * 1) Explanation, model or review of the LO
 * 1) Using the strategy in an authentic context

**OPTION 4**

Focus – Extending and enriching students’ vocabulary

Learning outcomes (select 1 or 2)

//Students can ...// What to do: > Show the students how to use the rest of the sentence to tease out the possible meaning of a word. Use a dictionary to check the meaning. > The story is reread with students invited to join in the reading. As always, there can be a challenge to read with expression and intonation – ‘Convince me you understand the sentences by the way you read them’. > Unfamiliar or difficult words are identified and the teacher models the use of the strategy or gets students to model for the rest of the class. **OPTION 5 & 6**
 * 1) Use sentence or story context to approximate meaning of new words.
 * 2) Use dictionary to check word meanings where necessary.
 * 1) Explanation, model or review of the LO
 * 1) Using the strategy in an authentic context

Focus – Top-down decoding strategies “3 Searchlights” and “Word Detective”.

These strategies will be discussed in Tutorial 4.

**OPTION 7**

Focus – CSI Stage 3 Strategy “I think that means”

The use of this strategy will be covered in Tutorial 5 where we look at the transition from DSI to CSI.


 * Click on the following link to open the attachment that goes with this tutorial.**

1. – this is a PDF chart of the suggestions above [|Back to top of page]


 * **DSI TUTORIAL 3: Understanding the differences between Stage 1 and Stage 2 when using the 5 Bits**
 * **DSI TUTORIAL 3: Understanding the differences between Stage 1 and Stage 2 when using the 5 Bits**

In this tutorial we look more closely at the group routine and how it develops from Stage 1 to Stage 2. For each of the 5 BITS we have indicated a progression as the readers come to grips with more sophisticated decoding strategies and apply them to more complex text.


 * 1. Picture Interpretation** **-** Teacher prompt: **“What is happening on this page?”**

Purposes: To engage readers and provide pre reading support to ensure success with decoding


 * Moving from Stage 1 to Stage 2 **


 * Stage 1:** ‘Emergent’ text is highly patterned with only one or two word variations per page. The picture interpretation should provide aural experience of those words before the readers confront them on the page.


 * Stage 2:** ‘Early’ text becomes less dependent on the picture cues. The pre reading discussion will be more about difficult concepts that the teacher knows are embedded in the story or article.

With experience the teacher will learn to adjust the amount of pre reading picture interpretation to meet the needs of the group.

HOWEVER, don’t neglect PI just because the students can ‘read’ the text. Reading has to be about ‘thinking’ not just ‘word calling’.


 * 2. Read the text aloud together** **-** Teacher prompt: **“Finger on the first word…GO”**

**Purpose: Use their decoding strategies to read the text** **– this is their chance to use what they have been taught** **.** Moving from Stage 1 to Stage 2


 * Stage 1:** Look for finger tracking- initially “bunny hopping” then move towards “point with your eyes”

Listen for slipstreaming – parroting what they hear – eyes not really on the text.


 * Stage 2:** Prompt for the use of ‘Word Detective’ and ’Roboting’ (phonics strategy) with word difficulties.

Review these strategies BEFORE reading and look for the use of them during the reading. Is there evidence of strategy use?

If you have got the level right and done the scaffolding in BIT 1 there should be some challenge but they should meet with success.

Do you have readers who are constantly ‘slipstreaming’ the other readers? – consider whether this student is in the right group.

Keep working on the oral reading; get the volume right so that you can hear everyone, discourage those who want to be too loud or read too quickly. Establish a consistent speed. In time they will switch off from each other and focus on their own reading.


 * 3. Questioning** - Teacher prompt: “**Here comes the question(s)”**

**Purpose: To check for understanding** and **encourage processing by anticipating what the question will be**


 * Moving from Stage 1 to Stage 2**


 * Stage 1:** Start with one very literal question for emergent readers.

Example - Text : “The dog ran down the road”. Question: “What did the dog do?”


 * Stage 2:** As the amount of text increases maybe two quick literal questions and an inferential one.

At this stage, questioning is important to encourage deeper processing, moving from ‘word calling’ to ‘getting the gist’ of the sentence.


 * 4. Find the Word**- Teacher prompt: **“Find the word .…?”**

**Purpose: To practice cross checking of decoding strategies (decide on a focus from the list of learning outcomes)**


 * Moving from Stage 1 to Stage 2**


 * Stage 1:** //“What’s the first sound? ...What’s the last sound?”//


 * Stage 2:** Root words, words in the words, syllables. Prompt monitoring – “Does it sound right, look right, make sense?”

Your school may have a strategy progression in place. Use whatever you feel is appropriate.


 * 5. Prediction** -Teacher prompt: **“What do you think is going to happen next?” (story)**


 * “What information do you think will come next?” (non fiction)**


 * Purpose: To engage in the text and develop big picture comprehension**
 * Moving from Stage 1 to Stage 2**


 * Stage 1:** Highly repetitious, patterned text – the prediction will usually be based on the pattern in the story.


 * Stage 2:** Students will start to demonstrate their ability to hold onto the developing storyline.

**WHAT TO DO** **1. Use the list of Learning Outcomes and the assessment sheet** (attachments) to identify what your students can do and their next learning step. Notice that this LO list makes connections to the ‘ 5 BITS’ and shows how the routine provides opportunities for your students to practice the learning outcomes and for you to monitor them using these strategies. **2. Develop your Stage 1 and Stage 2 ‘5 BITS’ routines with your groups.** We will be adding video clips later in the year. **DSI ONLiNE: Tutorial 3 Attachments** 1. DSI Stage 1 and 2 Learning Outcomes with connections to the 5 BITS 2.

**DISCUSSION POINT** **//“//****//What is the difference between the decoding strategies that students are using in Stages 1 and 2//****//?”//** If you look closely at the learning outcomes for the different stages you will see that Stage 1 decoding strategies are all about understanding how text works and wrestling with letters and words. The texts used at this level contain sentence patterns which provide the scaffolding for word recognition. We call these ‘bottom-up’ strategies because the focus is at the word level.

Stage 2 or ‘early’ readers are now calling upon a wide range of cueing systems to crack the code of increasingly more complex text. The key for Stage 2 to is to encourage students to go beyond just using visual cues to recognise words (‘Does it look right?’), and to also use semantic cues (‘Does it make sense?’) and syntactic cues (‘Does it sound right?’) to cross check. The hallmark of decoding fluency is where these three cuing systems have all been automated and are used simultaneous to cross check as the reader is monitoring their reading. We refer to these as ‘top-down’ strategies because the focus is at the sentence level. This is discussed further in tutorial number four.

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 * ** DSI TUTORIAL 4 Teaching Stage 2 Decoding Strategies – “3 Searchlights” and “Word Detective” **

In this tutorial we look at the explicit teaching of what we have called ‘top-down’ decoding strategies as a part of Stage 2. The ‘bottom-up strategies’ focus at the word level – ‘Does it look right’. We now want to develop the other sources of information, ‘Does it sound right’ and ‘Does it make sense’ which encourage more a whole language approach – using the gist of the sentence.

As always we suggest that the teaching of this is done in the whole class Shared Book setting and then look for the transference of this into the guided practice in small groups.

**WHAT TO DO**

Have a ‘3 Searchlights’ or a ‘Word Detective’ day with your Shared Book where the focus is on these strategies.

This was suggested as **OPTION 5** in Tutorial 2

Focus – Turning on the searchlights to cross check what they are reading (using all three sources of information).


 * //Does it look right? Does it sound right? Does it make sense?//**

Learning Outcome


 * //Students can … Use the three searchlights to monitor their reading for miscues//**

Success criteria: The student can identify miscues that don’t look, sound right, make sense

.while the teacher is reading (whole class shared book)

.while they are reading (guided reading in a group – Bit 2) ||  ||   ||   ||
 * What to do:**

1. Direct Instruction of each searchlight

Talk about ‘how the good reader is always monitoring or listening to their reading’. This involves having all 3 searchlights turned on to ‘light up the text’.

Use a poster as a visual reminder – to print off a copy

Use examples to practice each of the searchlights in isolation.

2. Using the strategy in an authentic context (your shared book)

Use the now familiar Big Book or enlarged text that you have been using for several days.

- Read aloud making miscues that don’t look right – students put their hands up when they recognise a miscue. Read the sentence aloud together with the correction. ‘Now it looks right because…’

- Read aloud to the students substituting words that don’t make sense. Student’s can’t see the text they put their hands up when they hear an error. Reread the sentence. “Now it makes sense because…’

- Read aloud to the students substituting words that don’t sound right – endings missing, different part of speech. Student’s can’t see the text - they put their hands up when they hear an error. ‘Now it sounds right because…’

- Increase the complexity by encouraging students to monitor all 3 searchlights at once.

REMINDER: It will take considerable practice for the student to internalise and automate this strategy.


 * When it comes to reading groups**

1. Have a quick review / reminder before starting on the book (see lesson planning sheet)

2. Look for evidence of this being transferred into the reading of the text during Bit 2.

3. Regularly ask the students whether they are doing it at a silent, ‘in their heads’ level, and whether it is helping them with their reading.

Once the 3 searchlights have been established – the notion that there are 3 sources of information that the reader should be looking for and listening to as they read - the focus can shift to “Word Detective’.

This provides the reader with a clear strategy for attacking and solving unfamiliar words as they are encountered

.

OPTION 6

Focus – Establishing a strategy for “What do I do when I come to a word I’m not sure of?”

Learning Outcome


 * //Students can … Verbalise and Use the Word Detective strategy when confronted by an unknown or unfamiliar word//**


 * **What to do:**

1. Direct Instruction of Word Detective

Explain the analogy of a detective looking for clues to solve problems. Use a poster as a visual reminder – to print off a copy.

Model the strategy using ‘thinking aloud’.

Read a sentence aloud and pause at a difficult word. Your students prompt you to use the strategy. || || 2. Using the strategy in an authentic context (your shared book)

Use the now familiar Big Book or enlarged text that you have been using for several days.

Mask some of the more difficult words on the page – a small card with a piece of blue tack will do. Leave the initial letter(s) showing.

Read aloud together. Follow the steps of the Word Detective to get more clues (first sound, read on, rerun)

GOT IT !! Take the card off the masked word and check – Does it look right, sound right, make sense?

REMINDER: It will take considerable practice for the student to internalise and automate this strategy.

**When it comes to reading groups**

1. Have a quick review / reminder before starting on the book (see lesson planning sheet)

2. Look for evidence of this being transferred into the reading of the text during Bit 2.

3. Regularly ask the students whether they are doing it at a silent, ‘in their heads’ level, and whether it is helping them with their reading.
 * Click on the following links to open the attachments that go with** **this tutorial**

1.

2.


 * DISCUSSION POINT**


 * //“What is the purpose of teaching this strategy?”//**

Many students when asked, “What do you do when you come to a word you are not sure of?” do not have a clear strategy. By explicitly teaching this strategy and by regular practice and restatement of this strategy they develop a powerful tool which greatly enhances decoding fluency.

[|Back to top of page] **DSI TUTORIAL 5: Managing the Transition from DSI to CSI**


 * When are my students ready for CSI?**

There are a lot of factors that can influence a good transition from DSI to CSI. General knowledge, depth of vocab, life experience, oral confidence, learning confidence, maturity and the like. As the above video shows an important indicator is reading confidence and the need to monitor this when you begin using CSI. Of course the main requirement is that the reader has achieved a reasonable level of decoding fluency with material at a reading age of about 7-8 years.

This means that they can process sentences at this level with reasonable speed and accuracy, recognise decoding difficulties and apply a range of strategies quickly and efficiently to unlock or fix-up word difficulties.

If you want me to be more specific I would say that when tested on a running record (or our Informal Prose Inventory) the accuracy level needs to be within the instructional range of 94-97% (minimum) or above with a self correction rate of no more than 1:5. This means that the reader is self-correcting at least 1 of every 5 miscues they make while reading unseen text. If the reader is only self-correcting 1 in 10 miscues then obviously the focus for instruction needs to be on the Stage 2 strategies.

If the above criteria have been achieved it means that the cognitive load is not great; the reader is decoding this level of text without a great deal of cognitive energy being expended, and the brain has been freed up for the more demanding task of practicing comprehension strategies.


 * Choosing material for CSI**

We have noticed that some of the Ready to Read series (NZ text) do not lend themselves well to the ‘I think that means’’’ (ITTM) Stage 3 strategy. These texts are ideal for developing and extending decoding fluency but are often too long for the more intensive processing required with ITTM and the language is not challenging enough. We suggest using the Handy Resources material (Reading age 7-8) or New Zealand School Journal material if this is available to you.


 * Where do I to start?**

There is no harm in introducing the Stage 3 strategy “I think that means...” to the whole class (see CSI Stage 3 Tutorial 1). You will be aiming this of course at your top reading group(s) but it won’t hurt the rest of the class to have a gentle exposure to it. One of your whole class 10 minute Shared Reading sessions each week could become an “I think that means...” session.

Start with one group (your top group) on CSI and see how it goes. Once you have some experience with CSI you will quickly get a feel for whether your group is ready for this or not. It is impossible to clearly define when a group is ready because of variables like maturity, oral confidence and personal experiences. You will end up with a mixture of DSI and CSI reading groups as your readers move through the transition.

Please feel free to contact us at any time if you have any queries about this. We are working on providing you with more DSI video clips and will notify you when these are added to this library.
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