Routine · Longer words
Count the beats before reading
Say a long word, count its beats, then match each beat to a vowel in the written word.
- Time
- 2 to 4 minutes
- Skill
- Longer words
- In a session plan
- Word reading
When to use it
When long words first appear, or when a student reads only part of a long word and stops.
Materials
- The word list
- A pencil to mark vowels
Steps
Shown with example words: word napkin; words napkin, sunset, basket.
Get ready
Say napkin aloud before the student sees it.
I do
Clap the beats of the spoken word and count them. Show the written word and mark each vowel sound. Say that each beat has one vowel sound.
Say: Napkin. I clap two beats. In the word, I find two vowel sounds. One vowel sound in each beat.
We do
Say the next word. Clap and count together, then find the vowel sounds together.
You do
For each word in napkin, sunset, basket, the student claps the spoken word, then marks the vowels in the written one.
Student: Counts beats, then marks one vowel sound per beat.
Check
Show a new written word. The student predicts the number of beats from the vowels, then reads it to check.
If the student...
Counts a silent e or a vowel team as two beats.
Say the word again and clap. Show that the two letters make one sound, so they get one mark. Mark it together, then the student marks the next word alone.
Tips
- The point is the link between spoken beats and written vowels. Keep it quick and move on to reading.
- In a group, have students hold up fingers for the count all at once.
Example words
- Word
- napkin
- Words
- napkin, sunset, basket
Original routines written by Literacy Trail. In the app, every routine is filled with your student's lesson.
Related routines
- Clap the syllablesJoin spoken syllables into a word, then clap a word back into its syllables.2 to 4 minutes · Warm-up
- Split between two consonantsFind the two vowels, split between the consonants in the middle, read each part, then the word.4 to 6 minutes · Word reading
- Sound-by-sound blendingRead a new word one sound at a time, joining each sound to the ones before it.3 to 6 minutes · Word reading
- Stretch and readHold each sound and slide into the next without a break, then say the word.2 to 5 minutes · Word reading
Have this routine filled in for every lesson
In Literacy Trail, the session plan picks a routine for each block and fills it with the words, sounds and sentence from your student's lesson. Every plan starts with a 15-day free trial.