What is the DISSECT strategy?

Picture this – you are reading a book, but had so little base vocabulary that you have to pause and ask for help each time you encounter an unfamiliar and difficult word.  Imagine a student doing the same. The probability of the book left unfinished is high. Presence of unfamiliar and challenging words makes reading difficult for some students and is often the reason for their disinterest and poor reading skills. How can we as teachers, simplify the process of reading? Why not teach them to DISSECT the word?

DISSECT strategy, simply put, helps students to decode unfamiliar words using a combination of word analysis strategies and context clues. This problem solving strategy helps students to identify a difficult word within the content, improves reading comprehension, builds up their vocabulary and reduces errors during oral reading. As the name by itself is an acronym mnemonic, it makes application easier as students are able to recall the steps involved with ease.

The DISSECT Mnemonic

D: Discover the content: In this step, students are told to read the entire sentence by skipping over the unknown words. Using the context of the passage, they are asked to guess the word that is suitable to that sentence. If the guessed word is incorrect, they are to proceed to the next step.

I: Isolate the prefix: From the first few letters of the word, are the students able to identify any prefix phoneme, which they can pronounce? If yes, isolate them by drawing a box around the prefix. To facilitate recognition, students are given a list of prefixes prior to the activity.

S: Separate the suffix: The suffix is separated in a similar manner as the step before.

S: Say the stem: If students are able to identify the ‘stem’ of the word, they are asked to pronounce it along with the prefix and suffix. For example, in the word “inseparable,” “in” is the prefix, “able” is the suffix and the remaining “separ” forms the stem. If students are unable to pronounce or identify the stem, then they are to progress to the next step.

E: Examine the stem: In this step, students are taught to dissect the stem into simpler readable portions using the rules of twos and threes.
1. The first rule is that if the stem begins with a vowel, the first two letters are separated and the stem is to be read out; if the stem or any part of the stem begins with a consonant, then separate the first three letters and try to pronounce it. This rule is to be applied until the end of the stem is reached.
2. If the word is still un-readable, then the second rule is to be applied. In this, the first letter of the stem is isolated and students try to pronounce the remaining word by applying rule one.
3. The third rule is that when two vowels are present together, students are to try out the various possibilities using the rules of pronunciation they are familiar with.
If the student is still unable to pronounce the word, they should progress to the next step.

C: Check: They are to check with the teacher to see what the word means, and how it is pronounced.

T: Try the dictionary: Students use the dictionary to identify the word and pronounce it using the pronunciation guide. They are also asked to read up on the definition and examples there to understand the word well.

 Learning the DISSECT strategy

Form a baseline.  Using a 400 word, timed reading test, evaluate the student’s word identification skills on ability and grade passages. Armed with this base score, it is easier to encourage students to use the strategy. This test  score, also serves as a yardstick against which their progress can be measured.

Introduce the strategy. Use a DISSECT poster as a visual aid. Explain the purpose, the steps involved, the results expected and the situations in which the strategy can be applied.

Model the strategy. Using the think aloud strategy, and voice out the thought process behind each stage. After the demonstration, encourage students to perform the same in small groups or in pairs, to scaffold the learning and proceed with individual application, once they have mastered the strategy.

Students can be encouraged to create a list of prefixes and suffixes and these can be used later as an aid for practicing. They can also model the think aloud strategy (when in pairs) to strengthen comprehension and learning of the steps involved. A DISSECT checklist can be used, with each stage checked out after its completion.

Discuss here: What are some strategies you use to help your students understand and learn unfamiliar words?