How High Frequency Words and Fry Phrases Improve Your Child's Reading Fluency

Fluency

In this blog, we will go over some simple steps you can take to help your child increase their fluency and become a strong reader. Fluency is the ability to read with speed, accuracy, and expression. You can help your child with this skill by teaching them the words and phrases which occur most often in written language. You will do this by teaching the high frequency words, heart words, and phrases. High frequency words are words which appear most often in stories and texts. Most of these words are easy to sound out. Others, which don’t follow normal decoding, we call Heart Words. This is because we all end up knowing a part them by heart. Fry phrases represent some of the most common phrases your child will encounter in their daily reading. Helping them to learn these words and phrases will increase your child’s fluency and ability to read.

Remember to enjoy this process. This is a bonding time for you and your child.

"Fluency is the ability to read with speed, accuracy, and expression."

High Frequency Words

High Frequency Words

Edward Dolch & Edward Fry

As mentioned, high frequency words are words which appear most often in stories and texts. In 1936, Edward Dolch created a list of the most commonly used words in children’s books. These initial 220 words, with an additional 95 nouns, was added to by Edward Fry who later compiled a list of over 1,000 common words found in children’s textbooks. We will share the most current list of high frequency words commonly accepted among educators. They are ranked in order of how often they appear in print. We will start with the most common to the least common.

There are two types of high frequency words - the first which can be sounded out (decodable words) and the other which have irregular spelling patterns (non-decodable words). We call this second type Heart Words because your child will need to learn the irregular spelling pattern by heart.

Heart words have an irregular or unpredictable spelling pattern in them. Most of these words may also have a part of the word your child already knows. Here is an example of a heart word.

"Heart words have an irregular or unpredictable spelling pattern in them."

The word is FIND. The common spelling pattern tells us this should be pronounced f i n d (short i sound). Your child may know the sounds for F and ND. The only part they need to learn by ‘heart’ is that the “I” makes a long sound. FIND

Next Steps with High Frequency Words

Fluency is the ability to read with speed, accuracy, and expression. The benefit of your child knowing High Frequency words and having them in their sight word memory (knowing them automatically) is that it aids with fluency. By mastering high frequency words, they will know approximately 50-80% of the words they will come across in their reading. Therefore, they will be able to read more quickly and confidently.

"By mastering high frequency words, they will know approximately 50-80% of the words they will come across in their normal day to day reading."

While there are 600 high frequency words most commonly agreed upon, we have provided the top 100 on the 'Tools' section of the website. Have your child read from the list of words. Make a small mark by each word your child does not know. This will give you an idea of the words they can work on. As mentioned before, words with a heart (♡) symbol by them have irregular spelling patterns. Part of the word your child can probably sound out. The other part they need to learn by heart.

Good luck. Knowing what words your child already knows allows you to focus your time and energy on where they can improve their fluency.

High Frequency Words Cards

You can take big steps to help your child become a great reader. Knowing what high frequency words your child recognizes automatically, will help them. Celebrate what they know!!! Now you will help your child learn the words they do not know.

If you like, you can print off the 1 - 100 High Frequency words flash cards.

Take your list of words. Find the first 5 - 10 words your child did not know automatically. These are the words they will focus on for the week (or whatever amount of time you need for your child to recognize them automatically). Once you have your word cards, you are ready to do all sorts of activities with your child to help them learn the words.

Start by doing this with each card. Go through the words several times.

1. See if your child can sound out the word. (Remind your child they know many of the sounds already. See what sounds your child knows within the word.)

2. You say the word on the card.

3. Say the word together with your child.

4. Have your child say the word on their own.

"Once you have your word cards, you are ready to do all sorts of activities with your child..."

Repeat this process until your child can get the word correct without you having to say the word first. Once your child can recognize and say the word correctly three different times, they are ready to add new words to their deck of word cards.

You are ready to do some activities to help your child learn these words. You can use these flashcards and go through the cards every day until you feel your child has mastered them. You may choose to incorporate any of the activities in the following sections. Make this part of your daily reading routine.

Remember, you’re helping your child learn Heart Words. As explained earlier, Heart Words have a part of the word which contains an irregular spelling/pronunciation pattern. The great thing about these words is that there is still part of the word your child knows. Take for instance SAID. The sound S and D are probably sounds your child knows. The only sound they need to learn by “heart” is the ‘AI’ in the middle of the word. The AI creates the E sound which makes the word SAID. When you talk about heart words, try to help your child recognize all the sounds they do know about each word and then see what they need to know by “heart”. It is so exciting to empower them with this knowledge.

Here’s another example:

The word IS. The common way to sound this out is a Z sound at the end. With this word, the s makes a z sound. The I is predictable so, the only part your child needs to know by ‘heart’ is the z sound at the end. This same predictable/unpredictable pattern is also found in the word, HIS.

If your child has not learned all of the spelling patterns, some words may seem like Heart Words to them at first. For example, EACH. EA is a vowel team and makes the long E sound. Your child may need to be told this. They may already know that CH is a digraph and makes one sound. Therefore, they will know part of the word. EACH

The more you explicitly show them the parts of each word and the associated letters, the more your child will remember them.

Note: Most children can work on ten words at a time. However, you know your child best. If 10 words are too many, choose 5 or 3 words at a time. Or if your child is learning the words at a quicker pace, do more than 5 or 10 at a time.

Don’t forget. Have fun! :)

Literacy Games!

The Stomping Game

The Stomping Game is so fun. My kids loved this one! It is a physical activity. This will help your child cement this word into their sight vocabulary.

The Stomping Game

Instructions:

Put as many words as you like face up on the floor in front of you and your child. Call out a word and have your child STOMP on the word card. :) Call out another word and continue with that same pattern until you have called out all of the words. Do this again.

Easier version: Once your child stomps on a card, have them turn the card over.

If your child stomps on the wrong card, tell them the correct name of the card they stomped on and then restate the name of the card they need to stomp on.

The Slapping Game

This is one of my favorite games. And... it's not what you're thinking.

The Slapping Game

Instructions:

Start with a stack of word cards face down. Have your child turn the card over. The first person to say the word and slap the card gets to keep it. The object of the game is to get the most cards. Note: I would usually let my child get the most cards. :)

Add more cards to the stack as your child continues to learn more words.

When your child knows the words quickly and automatically, this helps them to read at a fluent pace.

Have fun!

The Naming Game

Instructions:

This game is similar to flashcards. Set a timer. We recommend three seconds per word card in your deck. (Ex. Ten cards = 30 seconds) Start the time and see how many word (names) cards your child can get correct. Each time they get a card correct, they get to keep the card. If by the time the timer goes off and your child has named more cards than you, they win that round!

The Naming Game

Play until they can get all the word cards in the stack in the allotted time. Then, to make the game more challenging, reduce the time and give your child two seconds per card. Ultimately, if your child can get all the name cards with a one second time per card they have fully mastered those words.

The Matching Memory Game

Here’s another fun game. You and your child are probably familiar with this as matching pictures but here we’re going to match words.

The Matching Memory Game

Instructions:

Print off 2 sets of cards or make your own. You may use any of the word cards your child already knows so there are more cards to play with. Turn all the cards over so they are face down. One person turns over 2 cards and reads the words. If the cards do not match, they are turned back over and it is the other person’s turn. The other person then turns over 2 cards and reads the words. If they match they keep the cards and go again. This continues until all of the cards are matched. Then have your child read all of the matches. Even yours. :)

The ‘I Spy’ Game

This is a super fun way to practice your child’s knowledge of high frequency words. It can be played anywhere. There are two versions of this game. A visual “I Spy” version and an auditory Bingo version.

The 'I Spy' Game

Instructions:

In the visual ‘I Spy’ version. Have your child sit on your lap or right next to you as you read. Each time your child recognizes a high frequency word you have been working on, he gets a point. Set a goal. When she gets enough points to reach the goal then celebrate your child’s success.

In the auditory bingo version, you can either print off the bingo boards we created or make some up on your own. Then as you read to your child (this works especially great with chapter books like The Magic Tree House series), have them listen for words that are on their board. Acknowledge when your child gets a row correct but celebrate when the whole board is filled up.

One last version is to have your child find the word card which you have placed around the house. You can hide the cards around the room and see if your child can find them. When they find a card, have them tell you the word on the card.

phrases

Practicing Fry Phrases

Learning to recognize high frequency words by sight is a great way to increase your child’s fluency. Fluency is the ability to read with accuracy, speed, and prosody (proper expression). Another way to increase a child’s fluency is to have them practice reading phrases. A phrase is a group of words combined together. Some phrases make a complete sentence. When a child can read words as phrases or as a group of words, their fluency grows. Edward Fry created a list of 600 phrases containing high frequency words. Practicing these phrases exposes your child to most of the high frequency words we talked about in the last session.

"Edward Fry created a list of 600 phrases containing high frequency words."

The benefit of your child practicing these phrases is they see and read words as a group. They also practice recognizing or reviewing high frequency words at the same time.

Ways to learn them:

Read the phrase first to your child.

Read the phrase together.

Have them read it by themselves.

The goal is to have your child read all the phrases in a column with 100% accuracy. You can do a little bit at a time. Your efforts will pay off.

Here’s a Parent tips:

Read the words as a group - not trying to read each individual word.

Ex. Your little boy. Can come here. Are so long.

Instructions:

Take the first 25 phrases - break it up into 5 parts of five. Read the first phrase to your child. Read the phrase together. Have your child read the phrase to you. Do that with the next 4 phrases. Then have your child read each phrase 3 times in a row.

Next day, review the previous 5 phrases and try 5 more. See how it goes. You know your child best. If they can do more, give them more, if they need less, give them less.

Have fun doing the phrases. They are organized from easiest to more challenging words.

Assessing Fry Phrases

Now that you have helped your child learn the phrases, let’s see what they know.

Assessing where your child is with each list is your next step. The times shown on are nationally accepted averages for children reading at grade level at the beginning, middle, and end of year.

Grade Level	Reading time at the Beginning of Year	Reading time at the Middle of Year	Reading time at the End of Year
1st Grade	-	75 Seconds	50 Seconds
2nd Grade	53 Seconds	40 Seconds	36 Seconds
3rd Grade	43 Seconds	34 Seconds	32 Seconds
4th Grade	36 Seconds	32 Seconds	28 Seconds
5th Grade	30 Seconds	28 Seconds	26 Seconds

"See if they can improve a little bit each time."

See how close you can get to these standards. While this is the standard for a child who is at grade level, see what your child can do. Have your child read a list of 25 phrases and see how long it takes them. Keep trying and see how close they can get to the national average. Remember, to keep it fun and like a game. See if they can improve a little bit each time. As the parent, you’ll know when your child is doing their best and when you should move on to the next list.

FEY Phrases

Another great way to help your child with language structure and fluency are FEY phrases. These phrases combine all the high frequency words based on the grade of the child. If the child knows the Pre-K high frequency words, they will be able to practice them as phrases using the Fey phrases. The kindergarten list is comprised of all the Pre-K list and K list of high frequency words and so on through 3rd grade. Again, learning the phrases helps your child see words related to other words. This helps with fluency and comprehension.

You may use all the same strategies for assessing and practicing these phrases as you did for the Fry phrases.

Conclusion

This is it! Helping your child to learn the high frequency words is very beneficial. Continuing to practice these phrases will strengthen your child’s ability to read. More phrases are listed within the 'Reading at Grade Level' course. Now, your child will take this knowledge and move on to fluency passages. It will be exciting to see how your child progresses through the passages.

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