Which practice best supports early readers with decoding difficulties?

• A. Intensive, targeted decoding interventions with explicit instruction, modeling, guided practice, and progress monitoring.
• B. Whole-language approach with no explicit instruction.
• C. Only silent reading practice.
• D. Memorizing sight words without instruction.

Answer: (A)

Explicit, systematic decoding instruction with modeling, guided practice, and ongoing progress monitoring is the most effective way to help early readers who struggle with decoding. When instruction is explicit, we break down how sounds map to letters, teach blending sounds to form words, and show strategies for sounding out unfamiliar words. Modeling demonstrates exactly how fluent decoding looks, so students can imitate the process. Guided practice provides the right amount of support and prompts as students apply these skills, and progress monitoring keeps the instruction responsive, signaling when to boost practice, adjust strategies, or intensify supports.

Other approaches fall short for those with decoding difficulties because they don’t provide the same structured, explicit pathway to decode unfamiliar words. A whole-language approach without direct decoding instruction doesn’t systematically teach letter-sound relationships. Silent reading alone doesn’t build the bridging skills between letters and sounds. Memorizing sight words without instruction helps with recognition of some words but doesn’t develop the ability to decode new, decodable words, which is essential for reading growth when encountering unfamiliar text.