Fall 2025      Volume 53, Number 4

Mapping the Path to Sight Word Mastery: Foundations of Orthographic Learning for the Developing Reader
By Michele Byrne

Document: Special Feature  

Introductory Paragraph:  Approved in January 2024, the Illinois Comprehensive Literacy Plan (ICLP) “provides districts with a means to develop a comprehensive core literacy program with methods for differentiated learning to address the varying literacy needs of students” (Beltchenko, 2024, p. 16). The goals of the ICLP encourage practitioners to evaluate their readiness to provide students with high-quality, evidence-based instruction in equitable learning environments.  One critical area for reflection in literacy instruction is sight word mastery, which supports word fluency and plays an essential role in early literacy development. A critical process in reading development for building fluent word recognition is orthographic mapping—the mental process that enables students to store words for automatic retrieval, making them sight words, words they can recognize instantly. Orthographic mapping requires readers to connect spellings to pronunciations and meaning through phonological awareness and letter-sound knowledge (Kilpatrick, 2015). The overarching purpose of this article is to explain orthographic mapping—what it is and how to teach it effectively using evidence-based strategies during the early developmental stages of students’ word learning.

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.33600/IRCJ.53.4.2025.18

Page Numbers:   18-33