E76| How Vocabulary Supports Multisyllabic Word Reading in Upper Elementary with Dr. Laura Tortorelli and Dr. John Strong

Think back to first grade.

Most kids are learning to decode short, predictable, single-syllable words.

Cat, sit, fast.

But by the time students hit third grade, the text terrain starts to shift dramatically.

In fact, research shows that a staggering 65% of unique words in third grade classroom texts are multisyllabic.

And by the time they reach fourth grade, an estimated 80% of students scoring below proficient on the NAEP struggle with multisyllabic words.

So many children seem like good readers in the primary grades, but they suddenly hit a wall.

And the reason is because multisyllabic decoding isn't just phonics but with longer words.

So how can we help older elementary students bridge the gap between simple sound letter patterns and complex academic vocabulary? Today we're joined by an outstanding research team, Dr.

Laura Tortorelli and Dr. John Strong, to discuss their recent paper, Multisyllabic Decoding Achievement and Relation to the Vocabulary at the End of Elementary School, published in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology.

Looking at data from over 300 upper elementary students, they explore why treating advanced decoding and vocabulary as separate instructional buckets is a major mistake.

In this episode, we're going to unpack some fascinating findings like why nearly 100% of the kids could read a word like mushroom, but only 5% could decode the word bugle.

And we're going to look at the powerful role of words age of acquisition plays in reading accuracy.

Most importantly, they'll share some important practices from their classroom intervention, Read Stop Write, to help teachers seamlessly integrate vocabulary and decoding instruction.

A lot of great takeaways from this episode.

And as always, make sure to stick around after the interview for Jake's take on the conversation.

Think back to first grade.

Most kids are learning to decode short, predictable, single-syllable words.

Cat, sit, fast.

But by the time students hit third grade, the text terrain starts to shift dramatically.

In fact, research shows that a staggering 65% of unique words in third grade classroom texts are multisyllabic.

And by the time they reach fourth grade, an estimated 80% of students scoring below proficient on the NAEP struggle with multisyllabic words.

So many children seem like good readers in the primary grades, but they suddenly hit a wall.

And the reason is because multisyllabic decoding isn't just phonics but with longer words.

So how can we help older elementary students bridge the gap between simple sound letter patterns and complex academic vocabulary? Today we're joined by an outstanding research team, Dr.

Laura Tortorelli and Dr. John Strong, to discuss their recent paper, Multisyllabic Decoding Achievement and Relation to the Vocabulary at the End of Elementary School, published in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology.

Looking at data from over 300 upper elementary students, they explore why treating advanced decoding and vocabulary as separate instructional buckets is a major mistake.

In this episode, we're going to unpack some fascinating findings like why nearly 100% of the kids could read a word like mushroom, but only 5% could decode the word bugle.

And we're going to look at the powerful role of words age of acquisition plays in reading accuracy.

Most importantly, they'll share some important practices from their classroom intervention, Read Stop Write, to help teachers seamlessly integrate vocabulary and decoding instruction.

A lot of great takeaways from this episode.

And as always, make sure to stick around after the interview for Jake's take on the conversation.