A Simple Tool for a Complex Problem:The Slider Card

As I have been working with students this year in guided reading, I have noticed that students from first grade, on up to 4th grade, have a common issue.  Many are not checking all the way through a word when they make an attempt at an unknown word, or are problem solving an unknown word. 
This year I work with students in guided reading in all the grades, 1-4.  I was noticing on my running records and notes that many students are trying the first letter and making a guess that looked almost right, then not checking.  These were mostly first graders- example: they said grass for ground.  My second graders were doing the same thing, except maybe sliding for slipping.  My third graders might say blushing for blistering.  My fourth graders were doing the same thing, except their words were even more complex, with more parts.  I thought about what I could do to help them notice.  They were not monitoring with visual information from left to right. Sometimes, they were stuck on the word and would just blend the beginning sounds and that's it!  bl, bl, bl....  Say more!!! (I thought). 
What to do? 
I started thinking about what I would do when I was a Reading Recovery teacher.  Ding!! (light bulb)  One of the strategies that I would try was to get the good ole slider card out and show the student how to effectively process through the word left to right.  Sometimes it is very important to show the kiddos EXACTLY where to look and how to look through the word.  Sometimes kids just grab on to a feature that stands out in the word, not good!  I had to show them how to look at the first part, the middle part and then the last part.  The slider card can isolate the word and focus the eyes.  The slider card can do many things.  You can isolate the beginning sounds, a certain part or chunk of the word that may be known, or show the whole word.  The slider card is easy to make and a great tool to help teach students how to look left to right through a word.  It is just one tool that you can use to help teach kids during guided reading.
I found it helpful even when working with third and fourth graders who were having trouble chunking multi-syllabic words in smaller print.  They were having a hard time really seeing the parts they knew in longer words.  I only used the tool for a short time as a scaffold until they could do it on their own with their finger and then their eyes only. 
All you need is some heavier card stock paper and a thinner sentence strip or regular paper cut into a strip.  I have uploaded a picture of one to show you if you haven't seen one before. 
I hope this may help someone out there who is having the same issue.  Happy Teaching!!

Brooke