Word Attack: Chunky Monkey
General Word Knowledge Strategies
Eagle Eye reminds a reader to look at the pictures or illustrations.
Lips the Fish reminds a reader to use their mouth muscles and get ready to say the word aloud.
Skippy the Frog reminds a reader to skip the word, continue to read the next sentence or two, then go back to re-read.
Tryin’ Lion reminds a reader try again and re-read.
Meaning Bird reminds the reader to ask themselves if what they read makes sense.
Helpful Kangaroo reminds a reader to ask for help if they have tried some of the above strategies.
Specific Work Attack Strategies
Each of the following Word Attack Strategies have a separate blog with step-by-step instructions.
Chunky Monkey reminds a reader to break the word into smaller pieces or chunking.
Flippy the Dolphin reminds a reader to flip the vowel sound from long to short or short to long.
Sliding Seal reminds a reader to cover the word, then slowly slide hand from left to right.
Spot ‘n Dot reminds a reader to Spot ‘n Dot vowels. This assists with finding syllables. See Syllable Division Rules for helpful tips.
Stretchy Snake reminds a reader to stretch out a word.
Word Attack: Chunky Monkey
For Novice through Expert Readers
GOAL: To break a word into pieces then put back together.
Materials:
Index cards; 5x7 will offer a bit more room than 3x5
Word Box OR Ring
if using a Ring, punch a hole in upper corner or center of card
Select words from:
Coxhead Academic Words
Reading Vocabulary
Word Lists
Word Attack Activity:
Select 3 to 5 words from the following categories:
Look for affixes (prefixes & suffixes) and “chunk” together:
PREFIX: re / read
SUFFIX: sing / ing
Look for beginning blends or digraphs and “chunk” together:
BLEND: str / ipe
DIGRAPH: sh / ip
Look for double consonants in the middle of the word and split to “chunk”:
DOUBLE CONSONANTS: rab / bit pump / kin
Look for Greek or Latin roots:
GREEK ROOT: photo / graph
LATIN ROOT: audi / ence
Look for a word within the larger word and “chunk”:
WORD WITHIN a WORD: be / come