Let’s get back to our example with Sarah. We know that memorizing words is not an efficient way to learn to read, because if a child hasn’t been exposed to a word before, they won’t be able to decode it or make meaning from it. Some students rely on memorizing vocabulary in order to read. Thus, we are getting a true assessment of the child’s ability to decode, and therefore, a true understanding of their knowledge of phonics. However, that is not a true assessment of whether or not she understands CVCe or how to decode CVCe words.īy using nonsense words, we remove all context clues (words and pictures alike). It’s great that Sarah was able to use context to help her read! I’m not saying Sarah doesn’t have good reading skills. She then reads, “The kid is on the slide!”Īlthough Sarah was able to use context clues to read the word slide, she didn’t use knowledge of CVCe words to decode the word slide. Sarah realizes the word slide starts with /sl/, so she assumes the word is slide.

She looks at the picture where she sees a slide. The sentence reads, “The kid is on the slide.” Sarah might read “The kid is on the /slid/…” and then become confused when she sees the “e”.

What are cvce words