The Science of Reading: Sight Recognition

This workshop focuses on the essential role of sight recognition—the ability to instantly and automatically identify words—in developing fluent, skilled readers. Participants learn how sight recognition connects to long-term memory and how it frees cognitive resources for comprehension. The session explores the process of orthographic mapping, which links phonemes to graphemes in the brain to create stable spelling and word memory, as well as its application to high-frequency and irregular words. Educators engage with grade-level activities and routines designed to systematically build the phonological, decoding, and mapping skills that underpin sight recognition.

• Students’ difficulty in developing automatic word recognition, leading to slow and laborious reading.
  
  
• Lack of explicit instruction in orthographic mapping and phoneme-grapheme connections.
  
  
• Challenges in teaching high-frequency and irregular words using evidence-based, structured literacy approaches.
  

1. Understanding and Applying Orthographic Mapping: Participants will learn how to explicitly teach the phonological awareness, letter-sound correspondence, and decoding skills that allow students to map words for instant recognition.
   
   
2. Differentiated Sight Word Instruction: Educators will gain strategies for teaching high-frequency and irregular words through multisensory, grade-appropriate activities, including Elkonin boxes, rhyming/alliteration tasks, and advanced phonemic manipulation.
   
   
3. Integrating Sight Recognition into Daily Literacy Instruction: Attendees will develop routines and classroom practices that progressively move students from decoding to automatic recognition, improving fluency and comprehension.