2.2 Word Reading & Sentence Reading (SESAT 1-Primary 1): Decoding, Sight Words & Sentence Meaning

Word Reading and Sentence Reading

Between hearing sounds (Sounds and Letters) and reading full passages (Reading Comprehension), Stanford 10 checks two bridge skills: reading single words and reading short sentences for meaning.

At Primary 1, Total Reading is the sum of four subtests: Word Study Skills (30), Word Reading (30), Sentence Reading (30) and Reading Comprehension (40), or 130 items with a 115-minute guideline. Pearson notes that Word Study Skills and Sentence Reading "are evaluated across a broader age range" than in earlier editions because early literacy is an important focus of Stanford 10. At Primary 2 both subtests drop out and Reading Vocabulary takes their place.

Pearson does not publish complete item specifications for these subtests. Independent practice materials for early-grade achievement tests usually present a picture with printed word choices for word reading and a printed sentence with picture choices for sentence reading. The skills below are what both formats require.

Word Reading: Two Routes to a Word

Skilled young readers identify words in two ways, and good preparation builds both:

1. Decoding: sounding out regular patterns: closed syllables such as map and step, silent-e words such as cake and ride, blends such as frog, and digraphs such as ship and chin.
2. Sight recognition: knowing high-frequency words instantly, including irregular ones that cannot be fully sounded out (the, said, was, of, one, where, come).

Most word-reading errors come from look-alike words: the student reads the first letter or the overall shape and guesses.

Sentence Reading: Every Word Changes the Picture

Sentence items check whether a child can read a whole sentence and understand exactly what it describes. Answer choices usually differ in one detail, so the student must hold the complete meaning in mind. The details that most often decide the answer are:

• Position words: in, on, under, behind, next to, between.
• Negation: "The dog is not in the box."
• Number and plural: a bird versus two birds; cat versus cats.
• Who did what to whom: "The cat chased the dog" and "The dog chased the cat" use the same words in a different order.
• Descriptive words: big, small, wet, empty, broken.
• Time order: "Before she ate, Ana washed her hands."

A Four-Step Routine

1. Read the whole sentence, pointing to each word.
2. Picture it: who, where and what is happening.
3. Check each choice against every detail. Cross out a choice the moment one detail is wrong.
4. Reread the sentence if two choices still look right; the small word you skipped usually decides it.

Building These Skills at Home

• Daily decodable reading: short books written with patterns the child has learned.
• High-frequency word practice: five new sight words a week, read in phrases ("in the box," "said the man") rather than in isolation.
• Draw-the-sentence game: the child reads a sentence such as "The red ball is under the chair" and draws it, then checks the drawing word by word.
• Change-one-word game: read "The cat is on the mat," then change one word ("The cat is not on the mat") and talk about how the picture changes.

These habits also prepare children for Reading Comprehension, which begins at Primary 1 and continues through TASK 3.

Common Mistakes and Quick Fixes

Young students tire quickly, so short practice sets of five to eight items, followed by a quick discussion of why each answer is right, build accuracy faster than long practice tests. Praise careful checking as much as correct answers: on a test where answer choices differ by one detail, the checking habit is the skill.