Nonsense words and reading fluency

I have mixed feelings about the practice of requiring children to sound out nonsense words as part of evaluating their reading development.

Here’s the first thing we need to think about: what exactly are we DOING when we read?

Many experts will tell you that reading means mapping what we see in text onto our already existing verbal language. This is how we make meaning from print. When a child reads the word “cat” and matches that letter configuration with the concept she already has in her mind of “cat,” a meaningful connection has been made.

This is why one of the first words many children learn to read and write is “mom.” There’s a very meaningful connection once you realize that the letters “mom” represent that lady who feeds you, hugs you, reads you books, and tucks you in at night. (And if you’re lucky, lets you play baseball in the house. No? Was that just me?)

Nonsense words can be very confusing because there’s no way to match what we see to what we know. Struggling readers are used to looking at words and trying to make SENSE of them - “Hmm, I see a ‘c’ and a ‘a’ in this word . . . maybe it’s ‘cat’?”

With nonsense words, students are told - well just read the sounds. This goes against everything they’ve been trying to do thus far in their journey as readers! Many students’ first instinct is to make the letters they see into a possible real word – and thus they “fail” at reading the nonsense word.

Nonsense words are also confusing because they often contain patterns that we just don’t see in English. Words don’t end in “v” (except for names like Liv.) Words don’t end in “j.” Usually a short word ending in the /s/ or /l/ sound has a doubled consonant. (miss, kiss, doll, well.) "C" followed by "e" or "i" has varied pronounciations: English patterns suggest here that the c should make a /s/ sound (or a /ch/ sound!), not a /k/ sound. And that’s too confusing. (cent, cell, cello, circus, city, cider.)

So long story short, I just want to make sure that with nonsense words, we don’t cause setbacks for already struggling readers. For many kids, the jumble of letters that make words already makes no sense whatsoever – we need to consider the mental processes and emotional experiences of these kids as we present this new concept. And I think I have an awesome way to do that: a word sort that allows children to sound out words, then identify whether it's a real word or a made-up one. Instead of putting a list of confusing nonsense words in front of a kid and saying "read these," let's build up their ability to deal with the nonsense words by having fun with them. I deliberately chose nonsense words with spelling patterns that make sense (it took a LONG time.)

Given the chance to practice with and explore these words in a fun way, students are much more likely to do well on their DIBELS assessment - after all, that's why we're making them read the nonsense words in the first place, right?