Why We Use NONSENSE WORDS in Kindergarten and a FREEBIE!

What is a nonsense word anyway? 

Nonsense words are 3 letter words (CVC) that you can sound out but they are not "real" words. LUP is a great example.  When I was first introduced to nonsense words as a form of assessment in kindergarten I thought it was RIDICULOUS. Why on earth would I teach my kids words that aren't real? What a waste of time right? 

Wrong!

You and I read nonsense words without hesitation, even though they are not real words because we have the ability to process all 3 letters at one time (because we are great readers!)  When students are learning to read they have to read each letter individually L-U-P.  In the very beginning they may not even get all of the sounds. Using nonsense words gives them many different combinations of letters that they might see later in larger words. 

Nonsense words are parts of whole words
Conifer, decompose, retina.....think about the chunks within those words that are nonsense words. When students have the ability to blend sounds naturally instead of struggling though each one larger words become less of an obstacle for them.  

Using nonsense words to assess gives multiple different perspectives in one assessment. 
When I listen to student decode nonsense words I can tell you a couple of different things about them right away. 

• Do they know their consonant sounds? Are they mixing up b's and d's, is there a specific letter giving them trouble (Y, H, N?) or do they just struggle on all of them?
• Do they know their vowel sounds? Listening to a child read nonsense words is the one time that I can hear explicitly what sounds they struggle with. 
• Are they ready to start blending the sounds? Is their processing speeding up to the point that they can blend two sounds without a lot of effort? 
• How is their confidence? When the processing and the confidence picks up they are ready to fly and reading all around them really opens up from that point forward. 

Using nonsense words to practice these skills is NOT teaching to the test.  The processing that happens during this practice is what helps students become better readers. Do they improve on the assessment, yes! If you stop looking nonsense words as a ridiculous exercise in data collection and instead as a way to reinforce a skill that will make students better readers your entire perspective will change.

Here is a simple run down of the changes I see in students from the beginning of kindergarten to the end. 

I created these practice pages for students to use during their independent reading time and have them for FREE HERE. I also use lots and lots of regular WORD FAMILY resources too. This is just one way we practice in our classroom. 

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