Making Words Stick: A Four-Step Instructional Routine to Power Up Orthographic Mapping

The average reader instantly recognizes 30,000 to 70,000 words—with no need to sound them out. How does that happen? Through a process called orthographic mapping. This book explains the process by which readers embed words into their long-term memories, and the instruction necessary to help K–5 students do just that. Teachers will learn how to connect decoding, encoding, and meaning through a four-step, research-based, classroom-tested routine that accelerates students’ abilities to lift words off the page and capture them in reading and writing.

Educator Takeaways: 

• No more rote memorization of words–this routine makes words stick permanently so students spend less time and energy decoding, more time reading.

• Provides the missing link for K-2 teachers who must teach foundational skills and who need to accelerate older striving readers.

• Includes classroom videos that show the four-part routine in action, and downloadable tools to implement it.

• Can be integrated with any K-5 reading curriculum to provide a stronger foundation for kids.