Here is how we coach each step and why each step is important. (Depending on their age, we share as much of this explanation with children as we think they can make sense of With older struggling readers, we explain it all. They love to know how brains work!) 
1.	Put your finger on the word and say all the letters. 
 It is very important here that they are saying the letters‑not sounding out the word by saying individual sounds.  English is not a sound‑it‑out‑letter‑by‑letter language and the worst readers are the ones who try to do it letter by letter. We want them to say all the letters so that we know that they have indeed looked at them all in the right order and having them say them is the only way to know for sure. We also want them to say the letters because there is strong evidence that retrieval from your brain's memory store is auditory. If you are just looking at, letters and searching in your brain for that word or a rhyming word, it is apt to be harder to find than if you .say the letters which goes through the brain's auditory channel.
In our experience, if children are reading at the right level and say the letters of an unfamiliar word aloud, they will sometimes immediately correctly identify that word. Proof positive that they needed that auditory channel for retrieval! When they say all the letters and then successfully pronounce the word, cheer! They have scored a goal. "See, it was in there. You just had to say it so that your brain could find it!" If after they say all the letters, they still don't know the word, remind them of step two. (The exception here is strange names. If the word they are trying to decode is Timbuktu, Claribel or Houdini, we just pronounce it for them and let them continue reading. The decoding strategies in the remaining steps don't help with names.)
2  Use the letters and the picture clues
	For this to work, you must be doing some pictures walks with the whole class prior to reading in which you preview the pictures and have children find a few words by asking them to stretch out a word and think about the letters they would expect to see. Children should know that just guessing based on pictures or just on letters won't get them very far but the two together are a powerful team. The child who sees the word raccoon and says all the letters and then glances at the picture may indeed see a picture of a raccoon. The picture, along with the letters we know he has looked at because he just said them, will often allow him to decode the word. So, once the child has said all the letters aloud, cue him by saying something like, "Will the picture help?" "What is that animal called?" If the child gets the word correct now, cheer! If not, proceed to step three	
3 Look for a rhyme you know.
           Like Step Two, Step Three will only be helpful if you have been stressing each day during Working With Words that you can often figure out a word you know by looking at the pattern. Raccoon for example rhymes with, moon and soon. If the child does not see this, the coach can say, "That word rhymes with moon and soon! If the child still doesn't get it, proceed to the final step. 
4. Keep your finger on the word and finish the sentence and pretend it's the covered word. 
            Guess the Covered Word is the activity we use during Working with Words to help children use beginning letters and context to figure out words. Children become very good at this during the Words block but they often need to be coached to use it as they read. We have them keep their finger on the word so that when they have read the sentence, they can quickly look back at the letters. Most times, if children in your coaching group are reading at the right level, they will be able to figure out the word through using the four steps. Everyone should cheer and talk about how they did it! If they can't figure it out, it is often a word they don't have in their listening