Triple R Teaching How to promote orthographic mapping - with Michelle Sullivan
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Sep 15, 2025 Michelle Sullivan, the creative mind behind the Colorful Classroom and host of the Literacy in Color podcast, shares her extensive knowledge on orthographic mapping—an essential cognitive process for fluent reading and spelling. She discusses the importance of phonemic awareness, offering strategies to help students internalize word structures and move beyond rote memorization. Additionally, she highlights engaging classroom activities and the connection between morphology and literacy, empowering educators to enhance reading abilities effectively.
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What Orthographic Mapping Is
- Orthographic mapping is a cognitive process that stores words for instant retrieval by linking sounds, spellings, and meaning.
- Once a word is truly mapped, it becomes an automatically retrievable unit in long-term memory.
Apparent Knowledge That Didn’t Stick
- Michelle recalls students who appeared to 'know' high-frequency words but later forgot them because the words weren't mapped.
- She contrasts superficial visual recognition with true orthographic mapping that endures over time.
Why Mapping Requires Sound Awareness
- Mapping anchors letters to sounds and connects that form to meaning and function in the brain.
- This process relies heavily on phonemic awareness and knowledge of letter–sound correspondences.