What is orthographic mapping?
"Orthographic mapping is the process that readers use to store written words for instant and effortless retrieval. It is the means by which readers turn unfamiliar written words into familiar and instantly recognizable sight words." (Kilpatrick, 2015).
This process involves the reader using a proficient phonemic awareness of the spoken language (being able to isolate and distinguish between individual speech sounds) and aligning those sounds to the letter symbols representing them in the spelling of the word. This is supported by an automatic understanding of letter to sound relationships. This 'speech-to-print' work, whether done consciously or unconsciously, is what "maps" the words into memory for future retrieval when reading. An understanding of the word meaning, developed through prior oral language experiences, helps solidify retention of the word's spelling.
"Mapping" allows the brain to store information in connected ways that enables swift retrieval, however, the human brain does not have the capacity to memorize every word as whole units. Instead, it stores spellings of words in "meaningful letter strings" (Kilpatrick, 2017) that are scanned and retrieved from memory while reading.
(Source: Shira Ronn, c/o doyoureadme.ca)
Educators support readers with this process through intentional phonemic awareness and phonics instruction, aimed at readers gaining automaticity, plus ongoing rich oral language exposures to new spoken words. Unfamiliar words in print can be explicitly broken apart and analyzed to connect speech sounds, spelling patterns and meaning. Frequent interactions with print, where children are doing the work to decipher and connect to pronunciation and meaning, assists the mapping process.
A few websites to dig deeper into orthographic mapping:
Phonics to Orthographic Mapping
The Role of Orthographic Mapping in Learning to Read
Orthographic Mapping: How we learn to read so fast!
"What is orthographic mapping and why should all teachers know about it?" is a recorded workshop session unpacking orthographic mapping and how teachers can explicitly support early readers in this process.
* Surrey teachers: The password to the video is accessed by clicking the green button below. *
