What is Word Study?Professional Development Study

GroupPS 48 Summer Planning

July 20th --25th

What is Word Study?Teaching students to use word analysis strategies in reading and writing. • Word Analysis -examining the parts of words and patterns.• Analogizing – recalling words already learned (or parts of words) to read/write new words. ( If you can spell “wait”, you can spell…)

To be effective, Word Study must have these components:

Teaching students spelling strategies

Helping students memorize high frequency words

Teaching students to generalize spelling patterns

Creating conditions that develop students’ spelling

consciousnessCommunicating with parents about your

methods.

How is it different from a traditional spelling program?

Traditional• Teacher provides the

rule to be learned.• Student learn specific

sounds/words• Students learn sets of

words and sounds• Grade level spelling lists

Word Study• Student discovers the

rule• Students look for

patterns and exceptions• Students learn habits

and strategies• Developmental stages,

assessment driven

Developmental Stages

• Emergent• Letter Name-Alphabetic Stage• Within-Word Pattern Stage• The Syllables and Affixes Stage• Derivational Relations Stage.

Emergent Spellers Age 1-7 Grades: pre-K to mid-1

• Writing looks like this:

• Activities o Talking and reading to children o concept sorts develop vocabularyo picture sorts develop phonological awarenesso alphabet games and activities develop letter recognitiono font sorts and matching games establish upper- and

lower-case equivalenceo beginning consonant picture sorts secure initial phonemic

awareness.

Letter Name-Alphabetic StageAges: 4--8 Grades: K to early 3

• Students spell this way:M MN MIN = mineJ JV JRF DRIV = driveT TP TEP = tipBK BAK = back

• Activities:– comparing and contrasting initial and final consonant sounds

through picture sorts– word banks develop sight-word vocabulary – hunt for words that begin or end the same– sort pictures and words to contrast single consonant sounds with

consonant blends.

Within Word Pattern StageAges: 6 -12 Grades: 1 to mid-4

• Students spell this way:Seet sete Crie cry Nale nail Fownd foundRoap rope Bote bought

Activities: • Sort pictures to contrast long and short vowels• Use teacher-made word sorts to examine long vowel patterns• Collect words in word study notebooks• Sort words by grammatical and semantic features• Conduct word hunts for specific long and complex vowel

patterns• Play card games such as Homophone Rummy

Syllables and Affixes StageAges: 8 - 15 Grades: 3 to 8

students spell this way:hopping confussunatend plesurcapchur disposulActivities:o Study consonant doubling, common suffixes,

and past tense endings in sorts and word huntso study common prefixes and suffixeso interrelate spelling and meaning in word study

groups

How do we assess spelling?

• What rules and what sight words is the child using?

• What is the child “using but confusing?”

• What is absent?

At what stage is this third grader?

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (LZW) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

And what about this one?

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (LZW) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

The Staple of Word Study: Sorting

Why? Leads to discovery,and…– What we discover on our own is more

enduring.

• Concept Formation: – You give some words, children come up with the

categories.– Children find words, come up with the rule.

• Concept Attainment: – You demonstrate the categories, children infer from your categories what the rule is.

Let’s try a sort.

Questions

• When do we do Word Study?• What assessment/s will we use?• Do we want our word wall public or personal?• What structures & supplies will support us?

Notebooks, folders• What dictionary skills are necessary?-- online and in

hand• How can we differentiate?• What about Spanish word study?

The “Diane Snowball Approach to Word Study”

:• Look At The Word (so hard that when you close your eyes you can

still see the word

• Say The Word

• Spell The Word (Close Your Eyes – Let’s Spell Together)

• Cover the Word (spell the word over and over again)

• Write the Word (Get the White Boards, Markers – Open your eyes and write the word)

• Check the word with your partner

Have-a-Go Spelling Checker

Word From My Writing

Have-A-Go Have-A-Go Correct Spelling

Copied Spelling

Teacher Resources for Word Study

http://www.wordcentral.com/ (links and activities)http://www.spellingtools.com/ (links, articles and activities)http://wwwfp.education.tas.gov.au/english/wordstudy.htm (links, articles and activities)http://www.theschoolbell.com/Links/word_walls/words.html (word wall ideas)http://davis.dadecountyschools.org/wordstudy/davis.htm (downloadable sorts)http://teachers.santee.k12.ca.us/Carl/word_way.htm (all kinds of word work, including downloadable sorts. Some great, some ok)http://www.canteach.ca/elementary/songspoems1.html

http://www.poetry4kids.com/poem-60.html : Great selection of poems!!