Introduction to Word Study

1. Introduction to Word Study Created by Jevonne Smith

2. Let’s Be Honest… • The Word Study program is a process… it takes TIME! Be patient with yourself. Each year of implementation becomes easier! • It is OKAY not to know/understand the features and or sorts • Must be willing to seek out help/assistance from other colleagues • Several resource books are available

3. Let’s Be Honest… • This will be UNCOMFORTABLE for MANY! • Expect to see the “unexpected” • Must be taught with FIDELITY. Builds from one feature to another, so it is critical that each feature be taught thoroughly. • Educate our parents

4. What the Research Says • Researched based developmental spelling program • Charles Read (1971); researched preschool children’s spelling inventions • Edmund Henderson and his students and colleagues at the University of Virginia confirmed and extended Read’s findings. • Their research suggested a stage-like progression of spelling development through which children advance from a reliance on sound to more patterned-based strategies as their experiences with print and the English spelling system broaden.

5. The stage that best characterizes a child’s spelling is known as the child’s stage of development. This differs from child to child, even within the same class, because children progress at different rates through stages. • More is involved in learning words than just memory. • Word study reflects the interplay of sound, pattern, and meaning relationships. “Those who set out to remember every letter of every word will never make it. Those who try to spell by sound alone will be defeated. Those who learn how to ‘walk through’ words with sensible expectations, noting sound, pattern and meaning relationships, will know what to remember, and they will learn to spell English (Henderson, 1990).”

6. In word study, students are taught to explore the sound, pattern, and meaning relationships among words through various compare and contrast strategies known as word sorts. • By examining words in their reading and words used in their writing, children discover consistencies that enable them to generalize their understandings to other words and learn to read and spell more efficiently. • Helping children learn to “walk through words” requires informed teachers who know where each student is along the continuum of spelling knowledge and who use this information to plan instruction that is appropriate for diverse needs.

7. Recognizing spelling errors is easy, but knowing how to interpret them for meaningful instruction is difficult without a firm understanding of the way word knowledge develops. • The Developmental Spelling Analysis (DSA) was developed by Kathy Ganske in 1999, to enable teachers to identify each child’s stage of development and to distinguish the orthographic features that students either already know or have no idea about. • Reading and writing provide the purpose and the vehicle for learning about words, and words study serves as the means for strengthening and advancing students’ understanding of words so they can read and write more fluently.

8. Stages of Spelling Development • Stage I: Emergent (Preliterate) • Stage II: Letter Name • Stage III: Within Word Pattern • Stage IV: Syllable Juncture • Stage V: Derivational Constancy

9. Jigsaw Reading • Stage I: Emergent Spelling (Preliterate); page 8-10 • Stage II: Letter Name Spelling; page 10-13 • Stage III: Within Word Pattern Spelling; page 13, 16 and 17 • Stage IV: Syllable Juncture Spelling; page 17, 20 and 23

10. Assessment • All students begin with the Letter Name assessment, no matter what grade level. • Each assessment is set up to test each one of the features within the stage. • Beginning of the year use Form A for each of the stages (as needed). • Give one assessment at a time.

11. Formation of Developmentally Appropriate Groups • Groups must remain small. Three to four groups is the typical number of groups. On occasions, this may differ depending on the class. • Once the developmental stage has been identified for each student, the teacher will need to identify the feature (within the stage) to begin instruction.

12. 5- mastery of the feature • 4- strong understanding of the feature • 3- some knowledge of the feature • 2- little knowledge of the feature • 1- limited knowledge of the feature • 0- no knowledge of the feature

13. Small Group Instruction • Refer to Word Journeys • Cycles are two weeks in length. • Activities are completed during the two week cycles for guided practice. • Depending on the feature of study, instruction could last for a long duration of time. • Remember, you want to lay a strong foundation with each feature so that the children can continue to build upon their knowledge.

14. Day One: Introducing the Sort • This day will take up more time than any of the other “word study” days. Explicit instruction must occur on the start of each exploration of new words. • Use a no-specials day • Introduce two groups on Monday and the other two on Tuesday. All students will be ready to go for Day Two on Wednesday. • Have students cut out and initial the backs of their cards for morning work on Day One • One white copy that stayed at school and one blue copy that went home.

15. Three-S • Say It • Spell It • Sort It

16. Summative (Formative Assessment) • Completed on the last day of the cycle. • Should incorporate words from the current sort, but must include words that were NOT practiced in the sort. The new words will follow the same word patterns that were practiced during the two week cycle. • Be sure to tell the students and the parents about this upfront!! It is not a secret or a trick!! • If the entire group did not master the sort, a new sort may need to be created to repeat the cycle again. If a few students did not master it, they will need to be pulled separately for remediation. • Begin with the next sort and start the two week cycle again.

17. Initial Implementation • Begin the school year by developing a strong classroom culture. • Clearly going through each day of the cycle and modeling exactly how you expect things to look, operate and run. • Modeling is the key to the success!! • Lead the class through two complete whole group cycles before instructing small groups based on developmental needs. • Small group instruction will most likely begin in early October.