Words in the world
English · Early Years · The School
Words you already know
You can already "read" some words. You do not sound out one letter. Your own name is one. STOP on a red sign is another. EXIT above a door too. You know these words by their SHAPE. You know them by their colour. You know them by where they sit. That is real reading. It is the first kind everybody learns.
Two ways to read a word
There are two ways to read a word. One way: know the WHOLE word at once. You know a friend’s face this way. Other way: sound out each letter. Blend the sounds together. You have practised this with s-a-t-p. Grown-up readers use both ways. They switch without noticing.
Where words live
Words are not only in books. Look at a cereal box. Look at a bus front. Look at a shop sign. Look at a road sign. Each place gives you a clue. EXIT sits near a door. STOP sits on a red sign. The PLACE helps, before you read one letter.
Look at a STOP sign. First clue: it is red. It has eight sides. You have not read anything yet. You already guess the word. Second clue: the word is short. It has a tall letter at each end. Third clue: sound it out. S. T. O. P. Does it match your guess? Yes! All three clues agree. Now you feel CONFIDENT.
Go word hunting
Find three words today. Do not open a book. Look on a box. Look on a sign. Look on a screen. For each word, ask yourself: did I know it straight away? Or did I sound it out? Both answers are reading. Tell someone the three words. Tell them where you found each one.