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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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!

Word Study Routines

Last year, I posted here about how we review rhyming word families, using the Words Their Way program.  This year, I've been thinking about how I want to set my students up for success with this program once again.  In the past, I've noticed that although most kiddos appear to be very successful with their sorts during the week, they often struggle to incorporate taught spelling patterns into their own writing.  I think this has to do with the lack of context with the words during word study, and sometimes a mis-match of skills and sort (i.e. kiddos working on sorts that are too hard or too easy).  

This year I'm trying to incorporate more practice opportunities into our word study routine, including building rimes (adding different consonants to at), writing words, and reading rhymes.  This week I started by having the kids think of words that rhyme with cat, before we even looked at the sort.  I drew pictures of the -at words they thought of on a large "at" (see picture).  Then I modeled using the WTW sort to match -at words and pictures.  

The following day, we used magnets to create -at words, and then the kiddos got to cut out their own pictures and words.  While the class worked on matching their sort pictures and words, I pulled a few kiddos over to make sure they could independently read the words, with and without the pictures.  This coming week we will use our sorts again for a few simple games.  The kiddos will write words to match pictures and fill in blanks in sentences using the same words.  They will get to highlight rhyming words in phonics readers (if I can find them in our storage closet ;) )  Finally, I am hoping to give a short weekly check -- quiz -- to see if they are able to write the practiced words as well as new rhyming word or two.

Hopefully these extra activities will help the kiddos generalize what they learn during word study into other times of the day, when they are reading and writing independently!

Word Families

I use Words Their Way to teach word study.  I think this program is great because it's so hands-on for students.  Each week I introduce a new spelling pattern and the kiddos get to manipulate the words within that pattern as they sort, match, read, and write their word sort pieces.  At the end of the week, students glue their sort into a Word Study Journal and write a list of the words to reference as their own word study dictionary.  We began the year by doing the word family sorts.  Many of these are review from Kindergarten, but it's important to go over the short vowel sounds and practice these common word families because they are essential to reading and writing.

I made posters for each of the word families as well so that the kiddos can easily reference them during reading and writing.   (I got the clipart for the posters online.)