– This is an online event. You will be sent a Zoom link on the same day as the session. Do not worry if you cannot attend on the day, we will send you a recording –

Did You Know?  Research shows that the first 100 high-frequency words make up about 50% of reading material up through the middle of secondary school, while the first 300 make up about 75% and the first 1,000 make up about 90%!

Recognising these words automatically, without effort, boosts reading.  It helps overall reading accuracy and speed.  It frees up mental energy for understanding as well as for tackling more difficult words.

Many children with dyslexia find high-frequency word reading challenging.  How can we make this easier for them?

This Spotlight session will explore ways to improve high-frequency word recognition, both in terms of accuracy and fluency.  In particular, it will focus on a new reading game, Phrase It®, designed specifically for building automatic sight-word recognition and reading fluency in a game format. It can be used by parents, specialist teachers, and teaching assistants 1:1 or in small groups from early years through secondary school.  It focuses not just on the early high-frequency words but the full set of 1,000 words commonly encountered when reading.

Join us for a session nn boosting high-frequency word reading!

This talk will include:

• who high-frequency words are for

• what they are, where and when we see them

• why they are critically important in the reading process

• how they are usually taught

• how they might be reinforced and practised so they are recognised at sight
• how a new reading game called ‘Phrase It’ can help to boost accuracy and fluency of HFW reading

Bio:

Marlene is an Educational Psychologist and Specialist Teacher.  She has been a Tutor on the Level 7 Diploma in Teaching and Assessing Learners with Dyslexia / SpLDs course for many years.  She has extensive teaching and assessment experience across the age span.  Before joining HADC, Marlene served as a SENCo and Specialist Teacher.  She also worked in an academic capacity at Yale University and the Institute of Education.

Marlene has co-authored resources with other Helen Arkell team members, including Anyone Can Spell It: A Guidebook for Teachers and Parents and the Helen Arkell Spelling Test 2.  In 2021, she published Just in Time(s): Times Tables Tips and Tricks When the Usual Methods Just Don’t Stick: A Parent and Teacher Resource for Students of Any Age along with an accompanying Student Workbook.  An on-demand Spotlight session is available on this topic here.

Most recently, she has been working on a reading game called Phrase It®.  It is designed to build automatic word recognition and reading fluency.  It can be used by parents, teachers, tutors, and teaching assistants with a variety of pupils across the age span.  She will be sharing this game with you today. Phrase It® can be found on our online shop here.