If you saw the read the word “egress”, would you think it is:

  1. A type of bird;
  2. A headdress worn by a princess in Ancient Egypt; or,
  3. The action of going out or leaving a place?

Would it help you more if you saw the word in a sentence?

Egress from this carpark is to be via the access lane in the rear.

Comprehending the meaning of a word is different to decoding the letters and sounds in a word to know how to say it aloud. But these skills do rely on one another.

Today’s Comprehension Tips

  • Written by Misty Adoniou (Associate Professor in Language, Literacy and TESL, University of Canberra), via theconversation.com:

Tip 1: teach phonics through words already in the children’s vocabulary;

Tip 2: build your children’s vocabulary by talking and reading to them so that they encounter words in all their many and varied guises. Seeing a word in many different contexts is more important than just seeing the word flashed at you many times;

Tip 3: teach reading through real books with real language so that children learn the rhythm and patterns of English grammar;

Tip 4: give children lots of real life experiences and talk to them about what they see. Trips out and about, and chats about things beyond their everyday environment are important.

Our speech pathology and psychology clinic is located in Braddon, ACT, in Canberra’s CBD. Call us on 5117 4890 or email reception@inpositivehealth.com to get in touch.

In Positive Health, Canberra. Nel MacBean Speech Pathologist Canberra. Campbell MacBean Psychologist Canberra.