Words Their Way

Presenters:

Carol CoccoJanice Lauber

Caroline PetermannKaren Pulgrano

July 2011

What is word study?

Word study includes phonics, spelling, and vocabulary instruction.

Orthography intertwines with oral language, reading and writing in a literacy braid.

Why is word study important?

Word study is an essential component of successful reading and writing instruction as determined by the National Reading Panel (April 2000).

It enables students to become fully literate.

“The purpose of word study, then, is to examine words in order to reveal consistencies within our written language system and to help students to master the recognition, spelling, and meaning of specific words.” (Bear et al, 2008).

Effective Word Study Instruction

“Teaching is not telling.” (James, 1958)

Students need hands-on opportunities to manipulate word features in a way that allows them to generalize beyond isolated, individual examples to entire groups of words that are spelled the same way.” (Juel & Minden-Cupp, 2000)

“The best way to develop fast and accurate perception of word features is to engage in meaningful reading and writing, and to have multiple opportunities to examine those same words out of context.” (Bear et al, 2008).

What is the basis for developmental word study?

Layers of Spelling Development

Alphabetic– Represents the relationship between letters and sounds

Pattern– Looking beyond single letter-sound match-ups and

searching for patterns that guide the groupings of lettersMeaning– When students learn that groups of letters can represent

meaning directly

Stages of Spelling Development

EmergentLetter NameWithin WordSyllables and AffixesDerivational Relations

How does Words Their Way differ from other word study approaches?

10 Principles of Word Study1. Look for what student use but confuse.2. A step backward is a step forward.3. Use words students can read.4. Compare use that do and words that don’t.5. Sort by sound and sight.6. Begin with obvious contrasts.7. Don’t hide exceptions.8. Avoid rules.9. Work for automaticity.10. Return to meaningful texts.

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Assessment

Spelling Inventories (Several times a year)– Primary– Elementary– Upper-Level

Feature Guides – Analysis

Classroom Composite– Grouping

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Grouping Students

According to developmental stagesFluid and flexible groupsMonitor frequently– Formal Spelling Inventories– Student Writing– Observation of sorting/activities– Assessment of lesson sorts– Spell checks/unit assessments

Word SortsTypes of Sorts

– Sound: picture, word, and blind sorts– Pattern: word sorts– Meaning: concepts, spelling-meaning (includes homophones and

homographs)Approaches to Sorting

–Teacher-Directed Closed Sorts–Student-Centered Open Sorts

Variations of Sorts–Guess My Category–Writing Sorts–Word Hunts–Brainstorming–Repeated Individual and Buddy Sorts–Speed Sorts–Draw and Label/Cut and Paste

Companion Books

– Word Sorts for Within Word Pattern Spellers -Yellow Book– Word Sorts for Syllables and Affixes Spellers -Green Book– Word Sorts for Derivational Relations Spellers -Blue Book

These companion books contain reproducible sorts, step by step directions to guide students through sorting lessons, follow-up extension activities, and unit review assessments.

Word Study Notebooks

Record SortsSentencesDefinitionsWord HuntsWord Explorations/ObservationsPrinciplesInteresting WordsGolden LinesWord ObservationsSemantic Maps