Orthographic Mapping - Explained!

Summary

In this video, Anna Geiger explains the concept of orthographic mapping, a mental process that helps readers recognize words instantly by connecting sounds, letters, and meanings. She emphasizes the importance of phonemic awareness, letter-sound knowledge, and phonics decoding in facilitating this process. Geiger stresses that orthographic mapping is not a skill that can be taught through activities but rather a result of practice. She also warns against relying on context or pictures to solve words, urging educators to focus on quality decodable texts to ensure students successfully map words for future recognition.

Takeaways

• 😀 Orthographic mapping is a mental process that allows readers to recognize words instantly by connecting sounds (phonemes) to letters (graphemes).
• 😀 Sight words are not words that cannot be sounded out; they are words that have been orthographically mapped into a reader's memory.
• 😀 Phonemic awareness, letter-sound knowledge, and phonics decoding are essential skills for orthographic mapping to occur.
• 😀 Understanding orthographic mapping helps educators make better instructional decisions for teaching reading.
• 😀 Early readers may need multiple exposures to a word to map it successfully before they can recognize it automatically.
• 😀 A proficient reader can instantly recognize 30,000 to 70,000 words without needing to sound them out.
• 😀 Quality decodable texts are critical in promoting orthographic mapping because they allow students to apply their phonics knowledge.
• 😀 Using context clues or pictures to solve words can bypass the process of orthographic mapping, which is counterproductive for early readers.
• 😀 Orthographic mapping is not a skill or an activity but a mental process that occurs when foundational skills like phonics are mastered.
• 😀 Educators should focus on teaching phonemic awareness, letter-sound knowledge, and decoding skills to help students map words effectively.
• 😀 Phoneme-grapheme mapping is different from orthographic mapping; the former is an activity, while the latter is a mental process that results from strong phonics instruction.

Q & A

What is orthographic mapping?

Orthographic mapping is a mental process by which readers connect the sounds of a word to its letters, allowing them to instantly recognize the word without needing to sound it out.

Why is orthographic mapping important in reading?

Orthographic mapping helps readers recognize words automatically, which is crucial for fluent reading. It reduces the need to sound out every word, allowing readers to focus on comprehension and reading more efficiently.

What are the three forms of each word involved in orthographic mapping?

Each word has three forms: its sounds (phonemes), its letters (graphemes), and its meaning. These three aspects are connected through orthographic mapping.

What is the difference between phonemes and graphemes?

Phonemes are the individual sounds in a word, while graphemes are the letters or letter combinations that represent those sounds.

How does orthographic mapping work in practice?

Through repeated exposure, students connect the sounds of a word to its corresponding letters. As they decode words, these mappings allow them to recognize the word automatically after enough practice.

What role does phonemic awareness play in orthographic mapping?

Phonemic awareness is essential because it allows students to identify and manipulate individual sounds in words, a foundational skill needed to map those sounds to the correct letters.

How many exposures does it typically take for a student to orthographically map a word?

For beginning readers, it may take many exposures to map a word, but by second or third grade, most students can map a word with just one to four exposures.

Why is it important to avoid using context or picture clues when teaching beginning readers?

Using context or picture clues can bypass the orthographic mapping process, preventing students from connecting sounds to letters. It's better to focus on phonics and decoding to allow for proper orthographic mapping.

What is the misconception people have about orthographic mapping?

A common misconception is that orthographic mapping is an activity, like a lesson or center. In reality, it is a mental process that occurs when students repeatedly practice decoding and mapping sounds to letters.

How can teachers help students practice orthographic mapping?

Teachers can provide quality decodable texts, which allow students to practice applying their phonics knowledge and strengthen their orthographic mapping. These texts should focus on phonics rather than relying on context or pictures to solve words.