Words Their Way Vocabulary

One of the things I love about the Words Their Way program is that while my kiddos are working on CVC words, vowel patterns, and word families, they are also getting to practice vocabulary!  One of the challenges with the program, though, is that there are so many words and so many options for practicing them!


This summer I spent a lot of time thinking about how to make my Word Study time more effective for all of my spellers.  I typically have quite a range in my classroom -- from kiddos struggling to differentiate short vowels (like bed vs. bid) to those working on r-inflected words (like "harm" or "turn").  I wanted to ensure that everyone got sufficient practice with spelling their words and also learning their meanings.  I looked at a number of different resources and finally developed a plan for Word Study Centers.

I decided that we needed two weeks with each sort, and currently I have three different groups working on different sorts.  On the first day with a new sort, all of the kiddos cut out their sorts, write their initials on the back (so they don't lose their pieces), and try to sort.  I will often pull a small group of kiddos to discuss the "rule" or system for sorting their words.  The next day, the kiddos do speed sorts and write the rule; I check in with each of them to see that they are reading and sorting the words correctly.  Then they work with a partner: they sort together and do "blind sorts" where one partners says a word and the other partner writes it down.  

During the second week, the kiddos get to choose from a variety of centers that reinforce and extend their learning.  Some of the more popular choices include letter magnets, letter cubes, and illustrating their words.  Illustrating is particularly great for words with multiple meanings, like "shed" or "tag"!  They keep all of the papers in a binder along with a mesh pencil case where they store their scissors, glue, and active sort pieces, so they have all of the materials they need for any center.

{Get this FREEBIE: Writing Mat, Illustrate Mat, and Sorting/Gluing Mat!}

I assess all of the students at the end of each two week period and determine whether they are ready to move on to the next sort. So far, this method is working well -- it gives me enough time to check in with each group and also seems to give the kiddos enough time to really become familiar with their words. I also encourage the kiddos to refer back to previous sorts when they get stuck on a word in their reading or writing.  They get so excited when they come across a word that they have had in a sort and I can actually see them become stronger readers and writers!