Orthographic mapping is essential to sight word development. Orthographic mapping is not something we can teach. It is a brain process. What we can do is to teach in a way that facilitates it. The research shows with certainty that proficient readers do not learn words as a whole. To read words as if by “sight”, all readers must orthographically map those words. Consequently, the most effective reading instruction for novices is that which facilitates this process. Understanding this is essential for teachers of novice readers effectively; without it, we risk relying on practices and strategies that are not effective for most students. Reading is not primarily about recognizing the overall shape or pattern of a word. This is particularly dangerous for novice readers, who are the most vulnerable. Decades of research have already established that proficient readers do not become proficient by looking at the shape of words or memorizing them. Our visual memory has a limited capacity. To my knowledge, there is no research supporting the idea that spelling is a visual task where students simply “see” words in their rather than sound them out when reading or spelling. On the contrary, skilled spellers rely heavily on phoneme–grapheme knowledge, semantics as well as morphology, etymology, and statistical knowledge of spelling patterns.

Pro tip: Keep it simple. Keep it consistent. Keep it clear.