Why Your Students Skip Words and How to Fix It for Good

Have you ever noticed your students skipping over small words like “the,” “and,” or “is” when reading aloud?

It can be frustrating, especially when you know they’re capable of reading those words. You might even find yourself wondering, “Why do they keep skipping these simple words?”

You’re not alone—this is a common problem, and it’s not your fault.

Student skipping words when reading aloud a student error

What Are We Missing?

The truth is, your students aren’t being careless. Their brains are skipping these words because they haven’t orthographically mapped them yet.

Orthographic mapping is the cognitive process for how we permanently store words in our long-term memory.

When a student hasn’t mapped these words, they don’t recognize them instantly. Their brains are not attending to these words as meaningful parts of the sentence, so students often skip them altogether.

Does Skipping Words Really Matter?

You may be thinking, “Well, a couple of skipped words every now and then doesn’t matter.” But let me show you how the meaning of a sentence drastically changes when one word is deleted.

“The kids are painting in the yard.” If “in” is skipped the sentence would read, “The kids are painting the yard.”

“The car drove on the road.” If “on” is skipped the sentence would read, “The car drove the road.”

Hmmm, both of these examples would greatly alter the student’s understanding of the text.

And what happens if students continue to skip words or substitute similar looking words? Then they will likely continue to struggle in reading.

Skipping these small words can lead to bigger problems—comprehension issues, lack of confidence, writing difficulties, and a growing gap in their reading abilities.

No More Skipping Words

Imagine this: What if your students could effortlessly read every word on the page, no matter how small (or big!)?

As their teacher, you are in the perfect position to help your students master these small but crucial words.

By teaching your students to connect the sounds they hear, to the letters they see, and to the meanings they understand, you are giving them the tools to recognize these words automatically.

When you focus on these connections, those tricky small words start to stick. Students begin to read them automatically, just like they do with bigger, more noticeable words. And the best part? They stop skipping them!

Imagine your students reading smoothly and confidently, hitting every word on the page.

No more skipped words, no more choppy sentences. Just fluent, expressive reading.

You’ll see their confidence soar as they realize they can tackle any text, no matter how many “small” words it contains.

And it’s not just about reading. This success builds a strong foundation for everything else.

Your students will become better writers, spellers, and thinkers. They will approach reading with excitement instead of hesitation, knowing they can conquer any text in front of them.

And for you? You’ll feel a sense of accomplishment knowing you have equipped your students with the tools they need to succeed, avoiding the pitfalls of frustration and discouragement.

You’ll have a classroom full of readers who are not just getting by but thriving.

You Can Do This

You can transform your students’ reading by stopping the practices of:

Memorizing words on flashcards
Drawing a line around an irregular word’s shape
Using context or pictures to figure out the unknown word

Instead, you can tweak your instruction by simply connecting a word’s:

Sounds (phonemes)
Letters (graphemes)
Meaning

You can absolutely teach these small words on your own. But if you want to fast-track your success, I’ve got something that can help.

My course, The Orton Gillingham Answer Key: Decoding Errors is designed to help you become an expert in helping your students stop skipping words.

This is one of 25 decoding errors where you will learn proven strategies that keep your students from stumbling, so they don’t fall into the trap of reading failure..

Don’t let these small words hold your students back. Equip them with the tools they need for reading success. With the right approach, your students will stop skipping words and start soaring in their reading!