Word Study Guide
for Grades 1-4
scr / str / spr / oddballscrap / stress / spray / squirrel
scream / strict / sprout / squint
scribe / stripe / spry
Livonia Public Schools
Word Study Committee, 2011
Table of Contents
Acknowledgement …………………………………………………………………. 3 Introduction …………………………………………………………………… 4
Components of Word Study …………………………………………………… 5
Developmental Stages of Spelling …………………………………………………… 7
Spelling Inventories …………………………………………………………………… 8
Primary Inventory Directions …………………………………………………… 11
Primary Inventory Feature Guide ……………………………………………… 12
Elementary Inventory Directions ………………………………………………. 13
Elementary Inventory Feature Guide ………………………………………….. 14
Word Study Grouping Charts ……………………………………………………… 15
Word Study Resources ………………………………………………………………. 18
LPS Word Study Resources by Levels …………………………………………….. 20 Words Their Way Level A …………………………………………………. 22 Words Their Way Level B …………………………………………………. 24 Words Their Way Level C …………………………………………………. 26 Words Their Way Level D …………………………………………………. 28 Words Their Way Level E …………………………………………………. 30 Words Their Way Level F …………………………………………………. 32
Aligning Making Words Lessons with Words Their Way Word Sorts ………………. 34
Additional Resources for Making Words …………………………………………….. 38
Getting Organized for Word Study ………………………………………………….. 39
Word Study Activities ………………………………………………………………… 41
Word Study Routines …………………………………………………………………. 43
Word Sorts for a Variety of Purposes ……………………………………………….. 47
Additional Ideas for Written Practice ………………………………………………. 49
Games to Support Word Study ……………………………………………………… 50
Word Study Explorations …………………………………………………………… 54
Strategies for Spelling Accurately in Writing ………………………………………. 55
Monitoring Student Progress ……………………………………………………….. . 57
Letter to Family and Homework Letters ………………………………………….... 59
Phonemic Awareness Instruction ……………………………………………………. 64
37 Common Rimes …………………………………………………………………… 65
Word Walls …………………………………………………………………………… 67
Vocabulary Introduction …………………………………………………………….. 75
Word Jar ……………………………………………………………………….. 76
Inferring the Meaning of Unknown Words ……………………………………. 79
Explore A Word ………………………………………………………………… 81
Acknowledgement
The Word Study Guide was developed by a team of teachers to be used as a resource to guide the teaching of the “Language and Word Knowledge” pillar. This is one of the five pillars of the balanced literacy program which is the foundation of our district’s literacy framework.
The district wishes to express its appreciation to the teachers who worked on the initial Word Study Committee. A special thanks also to the following teachers who developed this resource guide:
Chris Schulte, Roosevelt Elementary
Shari Mayne, Cass Elementary
Brandy Rost, Webster Elementary
Bette Knedgen, Kennedy Elementary
Judy Polce, Johnson Upper Elementary
Their contribution of time, expertise, and insight is greatly appreciated. The district also wishes to acknowledge Christine Fankell, Elementary Literacy Facilitator, for her facilitation skills and leadership talents in working with the team of teachers in the development of this guide.
Sheila Alles
Director of Academic Services
Introduction
What is word study?
“Word study has become an umbrella term used to describe teaching practices related to word knowledge. Teaching this knowledge supports students as they develop fluency and understanding in their reading, as well as the ability to craft thoughtful writing.” (Brand, 2004)
Word Study is instruction in the following areas:
· Phonological Awareness
· High Frequency Words
· Spelling
· Vocabulary
“Word consciousness integrates metacognition about words, motivation to learn words and deep and lasting interest in words.” (Graves, 2006) Actively engaging students in inquiry-based word study creates authentic learning and promotes the application of word knowledge in reading, writing, listening and speaking.
Although there are many pedagogical differences, Word Study contains a core set of beliefs for grade levels K-6.
· Word study should foster a consciousness of word knowledge.
· The approach to word study should be differentiated in order to meet the developmental needs of each child.
· A spelling program should include an initial assessment as well as ongoing formative assessment to determine needs and monitor growth.
· Instruction should focus on the explicit teaching of strategies as well as exploration of groups of words.
· An inquiry-based approach encourages students to manipulate and explore words. This approach leads to a deeper understanding of spelling and application of word knowledge to a larger body of words.
· Word study is based on authentic words in context. These words should be used within reading, writing, and the content areas.
· Word study is a dedicated time for explicit instruction of phonological awareness, spelling and vocabulary.
Components of Word Study
Introduction
Word study encompasses a developmentally appropriate study of phonological awareness, high frequency words, spelling, and vocabulary. Through daily instruction, students will construct knowledge and form generalizations about how written code and language works.
Spelling is a thinking process rather than memorizing a list of words. Therefore, teachers need to develop a climate for word study that includes exploration, risk-taking, and having fun with words. Instruction should be focused and connected to literacy workshop and content areas. The goal of word study is to lead students to become lifelong readers and writers.
Phonological Awareness and Phonics
Phonological awareness is a broad term that includes the ability to separate sentences into words and words into syllables. Phonemic awareness is an aspect of phonological awareness and includes the ability to hear, identify and manipulate the individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words.
Phonics is the understanding that there is a predictable relationship between phonemes (the sounds in spoken language) and graphemes (the letters and spellings that represent those sounds in written language). Phonics knowledge is developmental and is important not for itself, but in its application. Phonics instruction is integrated into beginning reading and writing instruction. (Cunningham, 2005)
High Frequency Words
High frequency words occur frequently in reading and writing. For children to be fluent readers and writers, they need to instantly recognize and be able to spell these words. In the beginning of the year teachers should assess their students’ knowledge of high-frequency words. Throughout the year teachers support and build upon the use and spelling of these words. High-utility words are also essential for students to learn. This would include thematic, content-based, or self-selected words.
Spelling
Spelling (orthography) is the ability to use the correct sequences of letters in the writing system. Students grow in their understanding and use of word recognition, word building, word solving and spelling patterns. Through explicit instruction, students acquire knowledge of words and move through the developmental stages of spelling. (See “Developmental Stages of Spelling” in this guide). Direct instruction is focused and accommodates the differentiated needs of students. The ultimate goal of spelling instruction is to increase accurate spelling in writing.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary refers to the words students should know in order to communicate effectively. Students need to be exposed to listening, speaking, reading and writing vocabulary. Comprehensive vocabulary instruction should include rich and varied language experiences. Teaching individual words, word learning strategies, and fostering word consciousness are part of vocabulary development.
Vocabulary is taught across the curriculum in context-based instruction. Knowing, understanding and applying vocabulary is an important part of word study instruction. Students need repeated exposure to newly acquired words and their meanings. The classroom climate fosters word consciousness and a love of words.
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Developmental Stages of Spelling
Stage 1 / Stage 2 / Stage 3 / Stage 4 / Stage 5· Scribbles letters and numbers
· Writing is a mixture of pictures, letter shapes or signs
· Randomly uses both conventional and invented symbols
· Lacks concept of word
· Writing is translatable only by the writer
· Lacks letter sound correspondence
· Pretends to read and write
· Mixes upper and lower case
· Repeats known symbols / · Writes strong consonant sounds
· Often uses letter names to represent sounds
· Uses beginning and ending sounds in spelling
· Reads word by word in beginning readers
· Changing letters in words to form new words (hot – hit – sit - set)
· A few correct spellings in writing
· Attempts to match letters and symbols to sound
· Uses onsets and rimes in writing
· Omits most silent letters / · Spells most single syllable, short vowel words correctly
· Writing becomes recognizable to others
· Incorporates beginning consonant blends
· Splits words into beginning, middle, and end
· Attempts to use silent long vowel markers (NALE – nail)
· Uses known sounds to write words
· Pronunciation plays a large part in spelling
· Puts extra letters in to cover gaps in knowledge / · Uses common spelling patterns
· Spells most single syllable words correctly
· Makes errors in spelling multi-syllable words
· Includes a vowel at every syllable
· Correctly spells and uses high frequency words
· Visual memory of spelling patterns
· Some spelling should be automatic
· Majority of letters in spelling are correct, but might not be in correct order
· Uses strategies other than phonics
· Begins to use silent letters / · Explores and examines the functions and meanings of words and how these affect spelling
· Investigates the origins of words and history of spelling systems
· Extends knowledge and use of appropriate reference systems
· Spells most words conventionally
· Joins spelling and vocabulary studies; links meaning and spelling
· Examines common and less common roots, prefixes, and suffixes
· Examines content related vocabulary with greater focus
· Has a large bank of sight words
· Makes analogies to known spelling patterns
In all stages students will:
· Use a range of strategies to spell words
· Try alternatives to see which spelling “looks and feels” right
· Effectively use appropriate spelling resources and references
· Learn words across content areas
· Develop an ability to spell correctly when writing with speed
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Spelling Inventories
Spelling inventories are used as a tool for identifying developmental spelling stages of students. Ideally, the same inventory would be given three times a year to monitor growth. A suggested timeline for these inventories is mid-September, January, and late May. There are two spelling inventories that are part of the Words Their Way program that can be used to assess the spelling levels of your students. The Primary Spelling Inventory is used in kindergarten through third grade. The Elementary Spelling Inventory can be used as early as first grade and through sixth grade. Schools that want to give all grades the same inventory for data purposes should give the Elementary Spelling Inventory.
Feature Guides are used to analyze the spelling inventories. Before assessing your students, you will need to make a copy of the corresponding Feature Guide for each student in your class. These will be used when scoring the inventories and identifying the developmental spelling level of each student. Students are assessed on different features of words, not just on accurately spelling the word. For example, if the word is bed and a child spells the word bad, the child would still get the points for beginning sound and ending sound, yet not earn the feature point for mid-word vowel sound.
The information gained from spelling inventories is used to identify the needs of students and differentiate instruction. Using the data from the inventory, you will identify a developmental spelling stage for each student and form word study groups. Typically, a class would have students grouped in the level that corresponds to a grade level and one level above and/or below. Administering the spelling inventory again in January will allow you to reassess student needs and adjust the groups as needed.
Procedure for Administering the Spelling Inventory
Below is the suggested procedure for administering spelling inventories:
1. Identify the inventory that would work best for your grade level and group of students.
2. Administer the inventory to your students by reading words and sentences as specified in the Primary or Elementary Spelling Inventory. (A copy is included in this guide or may be found in Words Their Way: Word Study for Phonics, Vocabulary, and Spelling Instruction, fourth edition).
3. Use the Feature Guide to score the inventory. (See below for details and tips on scoring).
4. Determine how you will group students for instruction using the Spelling-by-Stage Classroom Organization Chart. (A copy is included in this guide or may be found in Words Their Way: Word Study for Phonics, Vocabulary, and Spelling Instruction, fourth edition).
Tips for Administering the Spelling Inventory
· Feel free to allow students to stop midway through the spelling inventory if they begin to miss several consecutive words in a row. One way to approach this is to identify a point in the list where you anticipate it becoming a challenge for some of your students, and then give the inventory in two sessions. After scoring the first portion, you would only give the second portion of the list to students that made few or no errors in the first part of the list.
· Use the same inventory throughout the year to monitor student growth and achievement.
· Some teachers like to use three different colors of pen and mark the same Feature Guide at the beginning, middle, and end of the year for each student. In this way, teachers can monitor student progress over time.
Analyzing Results
· To determine the developmental spelling stage for each student:
o One simple rule is to look for the first column on the Feature Guide in which a student misses 2 spelling features. Then look for the spelling stage at the top of the column.
o Use the chart – “Words Spelled Correctly/Total Feature Points + Words Spelled Correctly by Spelling Stages” in Words Their Way: Word Study for Phonics, Vocabulary, and Spelling Instruction by Donald Bear.
· Use the Word Study Grouping Chart to sort students by their developmental stages. Simply write student names under the developmental stage. Then create groups of students that have similar needs.
· As you are grouping your students, remember that word study is just one small chunk of your day and it needs to be manageable. When looking at the levels of your spellers on their Feature Guide, look for clusters of scores to help you determine your groupings. Remember, any more than three groups can be difficult to manage! When grouping students whose spelling level is not an exact match for your groupings, use your professional judgment, what you know about the student as a learner, as well as the data from the Feature Guide to help guide your decisions.