Canker Research? Try a Different Letter Sound.

Don't you love it when you are conferring with students and know exactly what to do after listening to them read? That is what happened when I sidled up next to a sixth-grade student who is fairly new to our school. She was reading about a man who was raising money for cancer research. Instead of cancer, she read canker and continued to read.

At the end of the paragraph, I asked her if there were any words that didn't sound quite right, and she responded, "Yes, that one"
"I agree" I said. "The fact that you noticed shows that you are thinking about what you are reading as you go. I'd like to introduce you to an accuracy strategy that I think will really help you with words like the one you met today. It's called Try a Different Letter Sound. There are letters in our alphabet that make more than one sound. So, when I read a word that doesn't sound quite right, I go back and see if it makes sense if I try one of the other sounds a letter can make. The first secret you need to know is to stop when a word doesn't sound right. Don't keep going. Trust your brain when it says 'That doesn't sound like a real word.' Then go back and take another look at it."

"Which word didn't sound right to you?" She pointed to cancer.
I asked, "What do you know about the letter c? Sometimes it sounds like ..."
"A k" she said, "and sometimes it sounds like s."
"Yes! So, let's look at canker. Try the other sound c can make."
"Cancer. Oh! Cancer research! That makes sense."
"It does!"

"Try a different letter sound is a fantastic strategy. I even use it as a grown-up. So from now on, whenever you come upon a word that doesn't sound quite right, stop, go back, try a different sound for the vowels or consonants, and see if you can discover what the word really is. Thanks for reading with me today."