When Students READ Words Accurately in Isolation But Not In Context....

They have "cracked the code" of phonics but haven't yet reached a level of orthographic mapping where they recognize words instantly. Repeated Reading: Have the student read the same short passage (50–100 words) multiple times. This is the most effective way to build automaticity with a specific set of words. Scooping or Phrase Cues: Draw "scoops" under phrases in the text (e.g., The big dog / ran fast) to encourage the student to read groups of words together rather than one by one. Pyramid Reading: Build sentences one word at a time (e.g., The / The cat / The cat sat). This allows the student to practice the beginning of the sentence multiple times, building speed before hitting the new word at the end. Choral and Echo Reading: Read a sentence aloud and have the student echo it back with the same expression and speed. This models what fluent reading should sound like. Use Easier Text: Ensure the student is practicing fluency with independent level books where they already know 95% or more of the words automatically. Challenging text is for decoding practice; easy text is for fluency practice.