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What is the point of nonsense words?
Nonsense words follow predictable phonetic patterns. If students have learned the common sounds of the words, they can reveal the depth of their learning in a quick assessment. Assessing nonsense words gives you an idea of what the student might need to work on next.
Why is it important to be able to read nonsense words?
Nonsense word fluency measures a student’s ability to decode individual phonemes and then blend them together to read. So, nonsense word reading works really well as a quick, reliable, and valid way of assessing part of the alphabetic principle.
How do you read nonsense words?
Make sure that nonsense words are clearly identified as words that are not real. For example, Reading Horizons methodology uses an asterisk to mark each nonsense word. Explain to students that nonsense words do not make sense. In other words, they have no meaning unless you give them meaning (remember this book?).
What is the main problem using nonsense words to assess phonics?
The main reason why nonsense words are essential to assessing phonics and decoding is because students cannot say/decode the word without understanding the phonics skills within the word.
Should nonsense words be taught?
Parents and teachers worry that nonsense words will confuse their children and will interfere with learning new words. While we wholeheartedly agree that students need to work with real words, we also know that nonsense words play an important role in effectively teaching students how to read and spell.
How do you help students with nonsense word fluency?
Students can cut and paste real and nonsense words, sort nonsense words from a word bank, or color by code. Students say the words as they pop up on the screen. The time between the slides can be decreased as the students gets faster and more fluent with the words. You can grab up a free slideshow HERE.
What is a nonsense word test?
An exercise from Scholastic that tests students’ mastery of sound-spelling relationships. The Nonsense Word Test very specifically assesses students’ decoding abilities at their grade level in a way that is independent of their semantic comprehension of the words themselves. …
Is there such a word as nonsensical?
(of words or language) having little or no meaning; making little or no sense: A baby’s babbling is appealingly nonsensical. (of behavior, conduct, actions, etc.) foolish, senseless, fatuous, or absurd: His nonsensical behavior was unusual for such a serious person.