Glossary · Fluency and assessment
What are nonsense words?
Definition
Nonsense words, also called pseudowords, are made-up words that follow real spelling patterns, such as vop or blim, used to check decoding without memory helping.
A student can't have memorized a word that doesn't exist. So reading vop correctly shows they know the letter sounds and can blend them. Reading cat correctly might just mean they've seen it many times.
That's why many screening and progress-monitoring measures include a nonsense-word task. Accuracy and speed on these words track closely with real decoding skill in the early grades.
Nonsense words are a check, not a diet. Students who practice nonsense words all week get better at nonsense words, which tells you little. Use them sparingly in teaching, mostly in contrast lines, and don't practice the actual items from any test.
In a lesson
After a lesson on short u, mix two made-up words into a line of real ones: tug, vum, rub, jup, cut. A student who reads vum and jup correctly is using the code, not memory.
Why does this matter for the record?
If a student reads real words well but nonsense words poorly, note it. They may be relying on memory and need more blending practice.
Rate each skill as you teach it
Needs support, Developing, Secure. The rating schedules the review and builds the report.