Let’s be like Chunky Monkey and look for some chunks in these words we don’t know!” Don’t Know the Word? Chunk It! Then explain, “Chunky Monkey likes to find little words or easy ‘chunks’ inside of words to help him figure out new words he doesn’t know. Distribute strategy fans and have your students open them to Chunky Monkey. You’ll want to have a cute, stuffed monkey on display when you introduce this in a whole class setting. This strategy will serve as a lifelong decoding tool for your students, so be sure to introduce him as soon as they’re ready! As they use their knowledge of letters, words and print conventions, your students can use Chunky Monkey to tackle multisyllabic words.
It reminds readers to search for familiar phonics patterns within a word to help them solve it. Like Stretchy Snake, the Chunky Monkey strategy involves the Graphophonic, or Visual, cueing system. The Chunky Monkey strategy can help your students grasp the concept that they can look for smaller words and easy chunks as they try to figure out the new and bigger words they’ll encounter. With such an amusing name, the Chunky Monkey strategy fan is cute and adorable, but don’t let that fool you: Chunky Monkey is a hard worker! He helps young readers identify recognizable “chunks” in the new words they encounter. Kids love monkeys–it’s just a fact! They’re funny and spontaneous, and they never fail to make us laugh.
