Word Study Updates (and UPDATED FREEBIE)

This fall, I changed up the way that I do Word Study in my classroom to try to make it "stickier" for my kiddos.  (I blogged about it here: Words Their Way Vocabulary).  During the first semester, I liked the new routine and on my mid-year Spelling Inventory assessment the kiddos showed growth as well.  However, I noticed that not all of the my kiddos were making adequate progress.  

As I thought about why this might be, I realized that some kiddos were not using their practice time efficiently or productively.  In the building stations (like letter magnets and letter cubes), some kiddos were just playing with the materials, not actually spending time practicing the words from their sort.  In other stations, the kids were quickly writing a few words and then spending the rest of the time drawing.

I decided to make some changes for the second semester to ensure that all of the stations were equally productive.  First, I added an extra day to our routine to focus on writing all the words in the sort.  The kiddos write the words and underline the spelling pattern.  After they have written all the words, they can highlight over them or "rainbow write" (trace over the words with three colored pencils).  The kids love these options and it ensures that they have all write all of the words at least once.

I also created a new recording mat for students to use in the building stations.  When the kiddos choose a station, they have to start by writing 6 words that they want to build.  Then, as they make each word, they have to check it off on the recording mat.  When they use stamping letters, they can actually stamp the words right on to the mat! 

With these additions, I'm more confident that my kiddos are getting adequate practice writing their new words.  Given that my ultimate goal for Word Study is transferability to writing, this is very important.  Plus, I've increased the accountability so I can follow up with any kiddos who do not complete their work during Word Study time.

We've been using this system for the past 9 weeks and I can already see the improvements!

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