This sign is a wonderful Christmas present from two of my tutoring students. The girls are sisters in first- and third-grades.
I really appreciate these girls because they “get it.” They understand that guessing is the enemy of expressive oral reading, rapid silent reading, and high comprehension.
For reasons I have never fully understood, all my tutoring students have been taught to read by guessing from a memorized base of sight-words and context clues. Instead of decoding words by paying close attention to their spelling patterns, they have been taught to guess from multiple clues.
I have found the following “Secret of Reading” to be the best advice I can give my students to help them improve their reading almost overnight.
Mr. Potter’s Secret of Reading; “Look at all the letters the right way, and no guessing.“
Every teacher should have a “No Guessing Zone” sign in the front of their classrooms to remind the students. In fact, I am planning to start selling signs just like the one above as soon as I get a Market Place set up on my own website: www.donpotter.net.
