#Nonsense word writer free#

For example, the nonword qif found on the sample worksheet above is not only a nonsense word, but it is also impossible to decipher using common English conventions. Many of the letter patterns are sequences that are unlikely to be encountered by the child in real reading environment. To start with, valuable class time is wasted teaching children to decipher words that don’t exist. Rather than helping, this teaching strategy makes it more difficult for dyslexic kids to learn to read.

The whole point of testing a child’s ability to decode nonsense words is to assess their ability to rapidly decode unfamiliar letter sequences. But if children have been previously exposed to the same letter patterns via worksheets or practice sessions, then there is no way to sort out whether the child’s performance on the test is due to phonetic ability or memorization. Unfortunately, this teaching practice undermines and invalidates the use of the assessment.

#Nonsense word writer free#

Many websites provide free instructional worksheets for teachers to use, including materials labeled as “DIBELS practice” and recommending “repetitive practice.” Many of these materials contain words drawn directly from the DIBELS assessment. And because dyslexic students have persistent difficulty with phonetic decoding, then it might seem logical to invest extra effort in helping struggling readers gain this ability.

Part of this is a teach-to-the-test mentality - if “Nonsense Word Fluency” is part of the assessment regime, then the most direct way for a teacher to assure that her students can pass the test is to invest time in teaching the underlying skill. Because this is a skill that children are now tested in, it has now also become a skill that is increasingly being directly taught.