story by Claire Miller
In Pre-K and elementary school, students are learning the key elements of reading and writing – things like phonics, vocabulary, spelling and comprehension strategies.
When they transition to middle school, students are expected to read and understand more complex texts than before, including reading multisyllabic words – ones that have more letters, letter sounds that aren't as predictable, and other elements that make understanding the word more complex compared to simpler words.
Multisyllabic words can be difficult for middle school students to read and understand, particularly if they have learning disabilities. To address this, Assistant Professor Brennan Chandler co-authored an article published in the Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy outlining four teaching routines that educators can use to support word-level reading skills for students with learning disabilities: The essential skills routine, the syllabication routine, the morphology instructional routine and the oral reading fluency instructional routine.
"It is essential that older students continue to receive instructional support to promote the development of their word reading efficiency," the authors wrote. "Research has demonstrated the effectiveness of structured, systematic approaches to reading instruction across various student populations, including those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds."
The essential skills routine involves teaching students to identify and pronounce vowel teams, or when multiple vowels are next to each other in a multisyllabic word.
Educators can start by giving direct instruction explaining vowel teams, including what they look like and what they sound like when they're spoken aloud. Then, they can give students the opportunity to read the vowel teams aloud and correct any mispronunciations, and then give them a sentence or paragraph from a text with vowel teams included.
To address the vowel and syllable-based challenges that can come with reading multisyllabic words, teachers can use the syllabication routine in their classrooms. In this method, teachers can explain the long and short sounds that each vowel makes and then teach students to identify each syllable in a word.
"One effective strategy that has been used in reading interventions to help older students identify syllables and read multisyllabic words is ESHALOV: Every Syllable Has At Least One Vowel," Chandler and his colleagues wrote. "In English, (almost) every syllable has at least one vowel letter. Therefore, teachers can provide instruction on how to flexibly divide multisyllabic words into syllables so that every syllable (i.e., word part) has at least one vowel letter."
When students mispronounce these words, teachers can correct them by encouraging them to think about the word as one they've heard before or trying out alternate pronunciations for the letters they're reading.
In the morphology instructional routine, educators focus on morphemes, or "the smallest meaningful units of language,” according to the authors.
One major component of this routine includes teaching students about affixes, which are used at the beginning of a word (a prefix such as "un-" or "dis-") or the end of a word (a suffix such as "-ing" or "-ed").
Teachers can ask students to break down a word into distinct parts, including the affixes and the base words they're part of; for example, the word "dishonest" includes the prefix "dis-" and the base word "honest." Educators can also provide students with a combination of affixes and base words and ask students to build words using these units of language.
The final strategy the authors recommend is called the oral reading fluency instructional routine, which includes three main elements: Introducing key words that are central to a text's meaning; providing multiple opportunities for students to interact with the same text; and asking students questions to gauge their comprehension.
Chandler and his colleagues note that these four teaching routines can be used individually or together, depending on what their class needs. And it’s key for educators to assess their students’ unique learning needs and review students’ performance over time to see where changes need to be made.
“While many secondary-aged students are skilled word readers, there are just as many who are not. Up until this transition to expert, word reading is an extremely demanding cognitive task – and it does our students a disservice when we (e.g., teachers and adults who are likely to be proficient readers) undervalue how important skilled reading is and how challenging it can be,” the authors wrote.
About the Researcher
Brennan Chandler
Department of Learning Sciences
Brennan Chandler is an assistant professor of special education and dyslexia in the Department of Learning Sciences. He received his Ph.D. in Special Education with a focus on learning disabilities from the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to completing his doctorate, he worked as a special and general education teacher in both public and private settings. Chandler’s research focuses on improving academic outcomes for students with dyslexia and other significant literacy difficulties through testing and developing reading and writing interventions.
Citation
Chandler, B. W., Toste, J. R., Hart, E. J., and Kearns, D. M. (2025). “Instruction to Support Word-Level Reading Skills for Adolescent Learners with Learning Disabilities.” Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 68, 380–391. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaal.1399.