Four Steps to Effective Word-Reading Intervention for Older Students

Reading is a critical skill for all students, but for many in grades 6–9, it becomes an increasingly difficult hurdle.

In our previous blog, Why Older Students Struggle with Reading: Common Skill Deficits and How to Spot Them in the Classroom, we discussed common reasons secondary students struggle with grade-level texts, including one of the most foundational issues: an inability to decode fluently, especially with multisyllabic words.

While word reading difficulties were once considered an elementary school concern, recent national assessments show that more older students are reading below grade-level benchmarks. This highlights the growing need for targeted intervention at the secondary level.

However, many middle and high school educators are not trained to teach foundational reading skills. With packed schedules and diverse classrooms, finding time to plan and implement targeted intervention can feel overwhelming.

The good news is there are evidence-based interventions that can significantly improve word reading for secondary students, and we've developed a practical four-step approach for doing just that.

In this blog, we provide secondary teachers with guidance to help them support struggling readers with word-reading difficulties. In four steps, we’ll explore how educators can build older students’ decoding skills, equipping them with the tools they need to read words with accuracy and confidence.

Why Reading Intervention for Middle School Students Still Matters

As students move into the secondary grades, the texts they encounter become increasingly complex. They're expected to decode and understand terms like reconstruction, homeostasis, and juxtaposition — words that are essential to success in social studies, science, and English language arts.

According to the Simple View of Reading — a well-known and often-used theory developed in 1986 by researchers Philip B. Gough and William E. Tunmer — comprehension depends on the following key components: decoding (accurately and fluently reading words) and language comprehension (understanding what those words mean in context). When either component is weak, reading comprehension suffers.

Struggling decoders often spend so much mental energy just sounding out the words that they have little left for understanding complex sentences, vocabulary, or making meaning from the text. Even if they have strong oral language skills, slow or inaccurate word recognition can derail their comprehension. These students may skip unfamiliar words, grow frustrated, or disengage, not because they lack interest but because decoding remains a barrier.

That’s why targeted decoding intervention in secondary grades can be essential. Strengthening word recognition ensures that students can fully access grade-level texts across all subjects, so they can focus on the other critical parts of text comprehension.

Step 1: Assess and Build Foundational Word-Reading

So now that we have our why, it’s time to dive into how we can strengthen secondary students’ word-reading skills.

Effective intervention starts with understanding each student’s current skill level. In a previous blog, we dove into the benefits of utilizing quick phonics screeners to pinpoint gaps in students’ phonics knowledge. This type of assessment helps identify which students struggle with common vowel and consonant letter-sounds and combinations, and which students are ready for more advanced instruction.

Below is a list of some of the most foundational phonics skills:

• All consonant sounds
• Short and long vowels (e.g., the /ă/ in cat, the /ē/ in he)
• Vowel-consonant-e (e.g., cake)
• Vowel teams (e.g., boat, scream)
• R-controlled vowels (e.g., fur, stir)
• Diphthongs (e.g., boy, spoil)

While this is not a comprehensive list, it does encompass a majority of the most basic phonics skills a student must internalize before tackling more advanced skills such as letter combinations like -dge (budge) or -ough (cough).

Importantly, instruction in foundational phonics should address the same concepts for both younger and older readers; however, the instructional approach at the secondary level must shift to respect the needs and development of adolescent readers.

Teaching Syllable Types, Patterns, and Morphology

One effective approach to support secondary students in decoding multisyllabic words is to anchor instruction in syllable types and syllable patterns rather than isolated sound-spelling pairs.

Rather than spending extended time practicing short vowels in single-syllable words like man, older students can learn to recognize closed syllables and vowel-consonant-e (VCe) patterns, which enables them to decode more complex, age-appropriate words like manmade or escape.

Start this kind of instruction with two-syllable words and gradually increase complexity to three- and four-syllable words, using high-utility vocabulary from content areas.

Alongside syllable types, syllable-division patterns, such as CVC, VCCV, and CVCC, can help students break unfamiliar words into readable chunks. However, it is important to note that in the English language, syllable division rules have many exceptions and are not always reliable, especially in three-syllable-plus words.

Secondary students should also be provided with ongoing morphology instruction, which includes teaching prefixes, suffixes, and base or root words. Understanding that a word like unbelievable consists of un- (prefix), believe (base), and -able (suffix) allows students to not only decode the word accurately but also derive its meaning, an essential skill for understanding academic vocabulary in science, history, and language arts.

Step 2: Multisyllabic Word-Reading Routine

In conjunction with familiarizing students with syllable types, patterns, and morphemes, the next step is to teach a consistent word-reading routine that they can use when encountering unfamiliar multisyllabic words.

This routine focuses on identifying meaningful word parts (morphemes) like prefixes, suffixes, and base words.

1. Look for prefixes and suffixes. Circle them.
2. Underline the base word or root that remains.
3. Break the word into parts (syllables types/patterns can be useful here) and pronounce each.
4. Blend all parts together and say the word aloud. Discuss the meaning.

For the word disagreement:

1. Circle dis- and -ment
2. Underline agree
3. Pronounce: dis – agree – ment
4. Blend and define: "not in a state of agreeing"
   • dis = not
   • agree
   • ment = state of

The key to making a word-reading routine successful is consistency and guided practice. This will ensure students can appropriately apply the strategy when reading complex texts in any subject area and encountering unfamiliar words.

Step 3: Embed Spelling Instruction

Spelling, also known as encoding, is a powerful tool to reinforce decoding. When students spell multisyllabic words, they internalize sound-symbol correspondences and build a deeper understanding of word structure.

This process not only solidifies their ability to recognize words quickly but also helps them to predict and decode unfamiliar words in the future. By actively constructing words, students engage with the phonological and orthographic patterns more deeply than through simply reading them.

1. Introduce a target word (e.g., carefully).
2. Decode it together using the routine. For example, identify the base word careful and the suffix -ly. Discuss the meaning of each part and how they combine.
3. Identify syllables (e.g., care/ful/ly). Have students clap or tap out the syllables to reinforce the auditory segmentation of the word.
4. Practice spelling the word and others with the same patterns (e.g., helpfully, gracefully). Encourage students to write these words from dictation, focusing on the individual sounds and letter combinations within each syllable.

Embedding spelling practice into reading intervention strengthens orthographic mapping (the process by which words become stored in long-term memory for automatic retrieval). This strengthened mapping means that when students encounter these words again, they recognize them instantly without needing to laboriously decode them.

Step 4: Provide Ample Practice to Build Automaticity

Automaticity is a critical bridge between foundational word-reading skills and fluent, meaningful reading. When students can recognize words quickly and effortlessly, they free up cognitive resources to focus on comprehension.

This is especially important for adolescent readers, who often encounter dense academic vocabulary and increasingly complex multisyllabic words across subject areas. But achieving automaticity doesn’t happen without intentional, sustained practice.

For older students, practice materials must be developmentally appropriate and respectful of their age and interests. Adolescents should not be given materials that feel are juvenile or disconnected from their experiences. Instead, word-reading practice can be embedded into texts that look and feel grade-appropriate, even if the language is intentionally simplified.

This is where structured word-reading routines become especially powerful: they help students break down and decode unfamiliar multisyllabic words within meaningful content, allowing them to apply decoding strategies in context while remaining engaged and confident.

To develop automaticity, students must have repeated opportunities to read these words not only in isolation but also in connected text. This type of practice helps reinforce accurate word reading and prepares students to apply their skills independently.

It also highlights a common challenge: many students who can decode in isolation still struggle to read connected text smoothly and with appropriate expression. These difficulties often stem from fluency gaps, an area closely tied to word reading, but one that requires its own instructional attention.

The goal is to ensure students have ample practice reading multisyllabic words in varied formats. Repeated reading of word lists, sentences, and passages — with feedback and scaffolded support — builds the accuracy and confidence students need to access content across the curriculum.

Overcoming Word-Reading Challenges Can Lead to Overall Success

Addressing word-reading difficulties in secondary students is crucial for their overall academic success. By implementing these four steps — assessing foundational knowledge, teaching a multisyllabic word reading routine, embedding spelling instruction, and providing ample practice — educators can equip struggling readers with the tools they need to confidently decode complex words and grade-level texts.

Before you go …

• BLOG: Why Older Students Struggle with Reading: Common Skill Deficits and How to Spot Them in the Classroom
• BLOG: Scaffolding in Education and How to Use It to Support Struggling Secondary Readers
• PODCAST: Leveraging the Science of Reading with Older Students