Word Study Wonderings

Joanne C. Letwinch Language Arts Literacy Specialist Tatem School PTA Meeting October 13, 2010

Some Things to Know

• What is English orthography?

• What is a proficient speller?

• Why word study and not just spelling?

English Orthography

• The alphabetic spelling system used in the English language • The set of rules that govern how speech sounds are represented in writing ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_orthography , accessed 4-26-09)

What is Word Study?

• Learning Word Patterns – Investigate and understand patterns in words – Eliminate the need to learn the spelling of one word at a time.

• Developing a general knowledge of English spelling – Examine words to discover spelling generalizations – Learn the regularities, patterns, and conventions of English orthography (Leipzing, 2000) (Bear, Invernizzi, Templeton, Johnston, 2008)

The Importance of Word Study

• Full literacy requires that students have knowledge of specific words.

– Examples: rain, rane; which, witch • The relationship between specific knowledge and general knowledge support each other.

(Bear, Invernizzi, Templeton, Johnston, 2008)

The English Spelling System

• Not as irregular as we think • Eighty-four percent of words is predictable for the most part.

– Focus on instruction to demonstrate how English is regular and predictable .

– Assist students in memorizing the most common irregular words.

• Knowing word origins aids in spelling correctly.

( Moats, 2005)

Why Word Study and Not Just Spelling

• Word study examines the consistencies in the written form of the English language; therefore, students learn the, “recognition, spelling, and meaning of specific words.” (Bear, Invernizzi, Templeton, and Johnston, 2008, p. 4).

Why Word Study and Not Just Spelling

• Instruction is through: – linking words to texts and a systematic scope and sequence of word level skills.

– providing hands-on practice through the examination, categorization, and manipulation of word features and their application. Avoid rules. Develop strategies instead.

• Students: – develop accurate perception of word features through meaningful reading and writing.

– have a number of opportunities to examine those words out of context.

Developmental Stages of Word Study

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

(Bear, Invernizzi, Templeton, and Johnston, 2008)

Emergent Stage

• Generally Pre-K to First and ages 1-7 • Student: – Knows the name of some letters.

– Scribbles letters and names.

– Usually lacks letter-sound correspondence.

– Needs to learn the concept of a word and how to notice symbols.

(Bear, Invernizzi, Templeton, Johnston, 2008) (Marten, 2003)

Letter-Name Alphabetic Stage

• Generally K-early 3 rd and ages 5-7 • Student: – Knows letter names and uses them for invented spelling.

– Experiments with letter sounds using mostly beginning and ending sounds.

– Has much to learn at this stage.

• Initial and final consonants • CVC, short vowel patterns; s, r, l blends; ck, nd, ng, nk blends; final sound of y, adding s to nouns, and some easy contractions and beginning homophones (Bear, Invernizzi, Templeton, Johnston, 2008) (Moats, 2006) (Marten, 2003)

Within Word Pattern Stage

• Generally grades 1-4 and ages 6-9 • The student uses word patterns and word families; beginning consonant digraphs and two-letter consonant blends.

• Single syllable and short vowels are usually correct, as are the majority of high-frequency words.

• The student begins to explore long vowels, r-controlled vowels, diphthongs and vowel digraphs.

(Bear, Invernizzi, Templeton, Johnston, 2008) (Marten, 2003)

Syllables and Affixes Stage

• Generally grades 3-8 and ages 8-18 • The student correctly spells single-syllable words and consistently uses short vowels and initial digraphs and blends correctly.

• Long vowels are almost always correct and silent letters are beginning to be used correctly.

• Linguistic features to learn are compound words, plurals, simple inflectional endings, stress and accent on syllables, and prefixes and suffixes.

(Bear, Invernizzi, Templeton, Johnston, 2008) (Marten, 2003)

Derivational Patterns Stage

• Generally grades 5-12 and ages 10-adult • The student spells almost all words correctly.

• Misspellings are generally errors in etymology or morphology.

• Instruction should focus on word origins, Greek and Latin word roots, stems and suffixes, and unusual plurals.

(Bear, Invernizzi, Templeton, Johnston, 2008) (Marten, 2003)

Words Their Way Program: How it Works

Pre-Assessment

Use the spelling inventory researched and developed by Bear and Barone (1989), which is widely used and accepted.

(Bear, Invernizzi, Templeton, Johnston, 2008)

• • •

A Walk Through the Week

On Monday, the teacher will typically introduce the sort in order to highlight the pattern (s) and discuss and highlight the pattern and its effect on spelling and meaning.

Demonstrate the word sort and point out any “oddballs.” On Tuesday, the students will cut and sort their words and engage in one or two different sorts depending on the categories or word meanings. Students and teacher will practice the sorts together, work in pairs, etc.

Purpose for Sorting

• – The main purpose of sorting is to gain automaticity with the pattern (s) and word meanings. • Leads to fluency in both reading and writing Accuracy and speed are indicators of mastery.

• • • • •

Types of Sorts

– – – – Sound sort: Teacher/student says word. Student places word in the correct column.

Blind sort: Using only the key words, a student calls out a word and the second student says or points to the correct key word.

Blind writing sort: Same as above, except the second student writes the correct word underneath the key word.

Pattern sort: Guess the category: a student or teacher begins to sort the words. With the next card, say it and ask the student to state the category.

Speed sort

Application and Words in Context Days 3-4

• • • • • Second Activity Page in Student Workbook Games Word Hunts Scrambled Words Rhyming Activities

Homework

• • • • – – Games http://k12.pisd.edu/schools/aldridge/par ent%20Handbook/word%20study%20ga me%20for%20lc%20.pdf

Word Hunts Sorts Word Study Notebook Include sentence/paragraph/rhyming/story writing

Word Hunts

• – – • • • • • • Daily word hunts-Very important in making the connection between spelling and reading Find five or more per week Be sure it is the actual sort pattern and sound, not just the same spelling Look for a word that fits the weekly sort anywhere Driving in the car Reading in class or at home, individually or together In a commercial on TV In the dictionary Through family discussion

Word Study Notebooks

Weekly Assessments

• • • – – Sort and paste Writing words correctly based on pattern Include bonus words Include high-frequency words Attached rubric

High-Frequency Words

• Use words from students’ writing • Use list included with hand-outs –Five new words per week –Include as part of a word wall –Hold students accountable

References

Bear, D. R. Invernizzi, M. Templeton, S. Johnston, F. (2008). Words their way: Word study for phonics, vocabulary, and spelling instruction. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson-Prentice Hall.

Bear, D. R, Invernizzi, M, Johnston, F. (2005). Word study

in action: Words their way teacher resource guide.

Parsippany, NJ: Pearson Learning Group.

.

Cunningham, P. M. (2009). Phonics they use: Words for reading and writing. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Leipzig, D. H. (2000). Word study: A new approach to

teaching spelling.

http://www.readingrockets.org/article/80?theme=print . Accessed April 15, 2009.

References

Lucht, L. B. (2006). The wonder of word study. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Marten, C. (2003). Word crafting: Teaching spelling, grades 3-6. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Moats, L. (2005). How spelling supports reading: And why

it is more regular and predictable than you may think.

American Educator, Winter 2005-06.

Moats, L. (2006). Speech to print: Language essentials for teachers. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Publishing