Decoding

Young children easily learn to associate whole words with concepts or ideas – at this early
stage in reading development, children can “recognize” familiar words, but that does not
necessarily mean they are “decoding” them. Decoding words involves sounding them out
and arriving at a pronunciation that other mature readers agree with. Furthermore, that
decoding process should not be laborious – not if the child is going to be a successful
reader. Successful readers can very quickly and easily pronounce written words. Skilled
readers (college level students) can recognize words in less than one-fifth of a second.
They recognize words so easily and automatically, they cannot help but decode words that
are put in front of them. Young children cannot identify words so quickly, but they should be
able to identify a word in less than a few seconds.

When children spend so much of their energy concentrating on sounding out words in text,
there is nothing left over to concentrate on meaning and understanding. Decoding must be
fluent and automatic so that comprehension will not suffer.

Furthermore, at least in English, sometimes sounding out words is not sufficient. Some
words in English are not “spelled the way they sound.” That is, they have irregular
spellings – “one” does not rhyme with “bone” or “gone” (which don’t rhyme with each other).
Arguably, it rhymes with “done,” but where does the /w/ sound come from?

To be successful readers of English text, children must be able to quickly identify both
regular and irregular words. Thus, there are three tasks in the Decoding subtest: Fluency,
Regular Words, and Irregular Words. A child that quickly and easily reads the words in the
Fluency task does not need to be tested with the other two tasks. Children who struggle
with the words in the Fluency task, however may at least need to be tested with the
Regular Words task (depending on the frustration level of the child). The words chosen for
the tasks in this subtest were drawn from two databases that list words according to how
often they come up in speech or text (called the Word Frequency) and according to how
early in life most people learn the words (called the Age of Acquisition).

Children who perform well on this task do not need to take any of the more basic
assessments – teachers may wish to use this assessment as a screen to make
assessment more efficient.

Children who are having difficulty with this task, however, need more instruction in the
patterns that exist in English text. First children learn how to sound out regular words, then
they learn how to correctly pronounce irregular words. So emphasizing the regular patterns
is most beneficial for students struggling to decode words. For ideas about instructional
activities that could be used to help children develop letter knowledge, consult
www.balancedreading.com. Also, Patricia Cunningham has a series of books available
that provides very effective lessons for helping children to detect the patterns in the English
Decoding

writing system. Check out Making Words, Making Big Words, and the wonderful book
with the unfortunate title, Phonics They Use.

Abecedarian Reading Assessment • www.balancedreading.com • Page 29

Decoding - Fluency

Give the child the list of words printed on the next page (the page can be copied and
folded in half so that either List A or List B is visible). Ask the child to read all twenty words
out loud to you. Give the child one minute to complete reading all of the words. If the
child gets hung up on one word, instruct him or her to skip it and go on. Make a note on
the student’s score sheet of the child’s responses, and indicate hesitations or errors by
circling them.

Tactfully discontinue administration of the assessment if the child misses three of the first
ten items, or if the child is laboring to decode these words. If a child does not perform well
on this assessment, proceed to the other decoding sections. If, after some instruction in
decoding fluency, you wish to retest the child, there are two equivalent versions of this
test. To pass this task, the child should quickly and accurately identify 16 out of 20 items.

If the child is able to read these words fluently and effortlessly, then it is not necessary to
give the other decoding assessments.

List A: List B:

1. DOT 1. ADD
2. PIG 2. TEN
3. TENT 3. HIT
4. BAIL 4. CHIP
5. WORD 5. BEND
6. CART 6. NOTE
7. BRICK 7. SALT
8. GUESS 8. SPELL
9. SEW 9. GRAPE
10. BALL 10. PEOPLE
11. GROW 11. SUIT
12. CAGE 12. OWL
13. NEST 13. CAVE
14. SONG 14. YARN
15. LETTER 15. TRADE
16. PEACH 16. COAL
17. SKATE 17. TOWER
18. HONEY 18. CREAM
19. FLOWER 19. PEPPER
20. GIANT 20. MAGIC
Decoding

Abecedarian Reading Assessment • www.balancedreading.com • Page 30

Decoding - Fluency - Student Sheet

List A: List B:

dot add
pig ten
tent hit
bail chip
word bend
cart note
brick salt
guess spell
sew grape
ball people
grow suit
cage owl
nest cave
song yarn
letter trade
peach coal
skate tower
honey cream
flower pepper
Decoding

giant magic

Abecedarian Reading Assessment • www.balancedreading.com • Page 31

Decoding - Irregular Words

Give the child the list of words printed on the next page (the page can be copied and
folded in half so that either List A or List B is visible). Ask the child to read all ten words
out loud to you. If the child gets hung up on one word, instruct him or her to skip it and go
on. Make a note on the student’s score sheet of the child’s responses, and indicate errors
by circling them.

Tactfully discontinue administration of the assessment if the child misses three of the first
five items, or if the child becomes frustrated. Two equivalent lists are provided if, after
some instruction in decoding irregular words, you wish to retest the child. To pass this
task, the child should get 8 out of 10 words correct.

List A: List B:

1. ONCE 1. DONE
2. SAID 2. TWO
3. MR. 3. MRS.
4. COULD 4. SCHOOL
5. MONEY 5. WORM
6. PIECE 6. SIGN
7. SUGAR 7. BUSY
8. ENOUGH 8. SWORD
9. TONGUE 9. THOUGH
10. CANOE 10. COYOTE

Decoding

Abecedarian Reading Assessment • www.balancedreading.com • Page 32

Decoding - Irregular Words - Student Sheet

List A: List B:

once done
said two
Mr. Mrs.
could school
money worm
piece sign
sugar busy
enough sword
tongue though
canoe coyote

Decoding

Abecedarian Reading Assessment • www.balancedreading.com • Page 33

Decoding - Regular Words

Give the child the list of words printed on the next page (the page can be copied and folded
in half so that either List A or List B is visible). Ask the child to read the first ten words out
loud to you. If the child gets hung up on one word, instruct him or her to skip it and go on.
Make a note on the student’s score sheet of the child’s responses, and indicate errors by
circling them.

Tactfully discontinue administration of the assessment if the child misses three of the first
five items, or if the child becomes frustrated. Two equivalent lists are provided if, after
some instruction in decoding irregular words, you wish to retest the child. To pass this task,
the child should get 16 out of 20 words correct.

There are two parts to the regular word decoding section. The first is a list of familiar regular words
that the child has probably seen in print before. The second is a list of regular words which are
probably not familiar to the child. The first list should be easier than the second, but if the child is
developing good reading skills, neither list should be overly challenging. Good readers can sound-
out even unfamiliar regular words without undue effort.

If the child performs well with the first ten words, ask him or her to read the second ten words from
the list. If the child does not decode the first ten words easily and accurately, then you should not
ask him or her to read the second ten.

List A: List B:

1. DAD 1. DOG
2. DUCK 2. SOCK
3. HILL 3. MUD
4. HUSH 4. SHEET
5. GAME 5. WALK
6. RAIN 6. KICK
7. BIKE 7. FROG
8. KING 8. SPOON
9. SWEET 9. BRUSH
10. BLOCK 10. SMOKE

11. TAX 11. FIX

12. MASS 12. JADE
13. RENT 13. MAZE
14. VINE 14. TAPE
15. ZONE 15. VOTE
16. HINT 16. SKILL
Decoding

17. TROOP 17. STAFF

18. NERVE 18. SPREE
19. SLANG 19. STRUT
20. AMAZE 20. AUDIT

Abecedarian Reading Assessment • www.balancedreading.com • Page 34

Decoding - Regular Words - Student Sheet

List A: List B:

dad dog
duck sock
hill mud
hush sheet
game walk
rain kick
bike frog
king spoon
sweet brush
block smoke

tax fix
mass jade
rent maze
vine tape
zone vote
hint skill
troop staff
nerve spree
Decoding

slang strut
amaze audit

Abecedarian Reading Assessment • www.balancedreading.com • Page 35

Decoding -
Score Sheet Student Name____________________
Date____________________________

Fluency Total:_________ Total:_________

List A: List B:

1. DOT __________ 11. GROW __________ 1. ADD __________ 11. SUIT __________
2. PIG __________ 12. CAGE __________ 2. TEN __________ 12. OWL __________
3. TENT __________ 13. NEST __________ 3. HIT __________ 13. CAVE __________
4. BAIL __________ 14. SONG __________ 4. CHIP __________ 14. YARN __________
5. WORD __________ 15. LETTER __________ 5. BEND __________ 15. TRADE __________
6. CART __________ 16. PEACH __________ 6. NOTE __________ 16. COAL __________
7. BRICK __________ 17. SKATE __________ 7. SALT __________ 17. TOWER __________
8. GUESS __________ 18. HONEY __________ 8. SPELL __________ 18. CREAM __________
9. SEW __________ 19. FLOWER__________ 9. GRAPE __________ 19. PEPPER __________
10. BALL __________ 20. GIANT __________ 10. PEOPLE __________ 20. MAGIC __________

Irregular Words Total:_________ Total:_________

List A: List B:

1. ONCE __________ 1. DONE __________

2. SAID __________ 2. TWO __________
3. MR. __________ 3. MRS. __________
4. COULD __________ 4. SCHOOL __________
5. MONEY __________ 5. WORM __________
6. PIECE __________ 6. SIGN __________
7. SUGAR __________ 7. BUSY __________
8. ENOUGH __________ 8. SWORD __________
9. TONGUE __________ 9. THOUGH __________
10. CANOE __________ 10. COYOTE __________

Regular Words Total:_________ Total:_________

List A: List B:

1. DAD __________ 11. TAX __________ 1. DOG __________ 11. FIX __________
2. DUCK __________ 12. MASS __________ 2. SOCK __________ 12. JADE __________
3. HILL __________ 13. RENT __________ 3. MUD __________ 13. MAZE __________
4. HUSH __________ 14. VINE __________ 4. SHEET __________ 14. TAPE __________
5. GAME __________ 15. ZONE __________ 5. WALK __________ 15. VOTE __________
6. RAIN __________ 16. HINT __________ 6. KICK __________ 16. SKILL __________
7. BIKE __________ 17. TROOP __________ 7. FROG __________ 17. STAFF __________
8. KING __________ 18. NERVE __________ 8. SPOON __________ 18. SPREE __________
9. SWEET __________ 19. SLANG __________ 9. BRUSH __________ 19. STRUT __________
10. BLOCK __________ 20. AMAZE __________ 10. SMOKE __________ 20. AUDIT __________

Notes:___________________________________________________________________
Decoding

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Abecedarian Reading Assessment • www.balancedreading.com • Page 36