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4/12/18
Dr. Sullivan
I worked with my CT to plan the word study lesson. She showed me the word lists for the
following week from Words Their Way. The third grade classroom where I am placed has 14
students placed into three different groups for word study: letter name, syllable juncture, and
within word. I did my word study game with one of the groups. The group I chose to make my
game for was the letter name spellers. The sort taken from Words Their Way is Sort 41: Short
The students had cut out their words for morning work so that when they got to my
station for word study they were reading to go with their own individual set to sort. To begin the
open sort, I had my students look at all of their words and ask them if they had an idea about how
to sort these words and they came up with by the short-vowel sound and by the digraph. Once
the students had sorted their words for the short-vowel sound, I had them read aloud their words
and made sure that they had all sorted them correctly. The students sorted and read their short-
vowel sort three times and then we moved on to the digraph sort. I had the students do the same
After every student had completed the sort, I explained to them that we would now be
playing a game for the features we had just sorted our words into for the digraph sort. I did a
digraph board game where students would pick a word from the pile and move their playing
piece to the digraph on the board that corresponded with their word. For example, if a student
picked the word chat, they would have to move to the –ch space on the board game. I wrote the
instructions on the game board as 1. Pick a word 2. Say the word 3. Move to space with digraph
of your word. I wanted to keep the instructions super simple and not too wordy. The sort had 4
features, -ch, -th, -sh, and –wh. I knew these were the appropriate spelling features to use based
The students really enjoyed this lesson. I think that they really liked it because it was
something different that they had never done before with word study. They love playing games
whether its fraction flashcard around the world or multiplication bingo. They normally do the
same thing for word study for everyday of the week so this was a nice switch up for them. I think
the students really grasped the concept of what a digraph is and the different sounds that different
digraphs make from having to say the word during their sorts as well as during the board game I
created.
If I were to do this lesson again differently, I would introduce the words a few days prior
to doing the activity. This time, the students got their words on the same day we played the game
and I think if they had been exposed to the words a few days before hand it would help them be
Using multiple assessments is best when planning for word study in your classroom.
Based on your school district where you teach, there may be different assessments administered
at different times throughout the year like PALS, Ganske, and Words Their Way to make sure
that a student is getting the proper instruction for their individual level and needs. Independent
writing can also be an assessment tool for figuring out a students’ word knowledge throughout
the year, as a students’ level or needs may change. I will group my students into small groups in
order to meet the students’ instructional needs. I will split my students up into groups with
specific word study lessons for each developmental spelling level. I think this works better than
whole-group instruction because it is guaranteed that not all of your students will be on the same
level.
I would do word study every day in my classroom and have the students do something
that progresses throughout the week to prepare them for their spelling test. For example, on the
first day cutting words and sorting and reading three times, on the second day sorting and
reading three times and then highlighting the features on the words, on the third day gluing the
words into their notebooks based on the categories of the sort, on the fourth day having them
choose six words and draw pictures and write sentences for each word and then on the fifth day
having the spelling test. Something my CT does that I really like is that on her spelling tests, she
has the 3 or 4 or however many categories in columns on the spelling test and when the students
spell their words they also have to sort them which I think is really neat.
When doing word study, I will make sure that the sorts have no more than four
categories. I will also avoid stating rules and focus more on stating patterns. Different sorts I
could do in my classroom, based on the level of the students, could be picture sorts, word sorts,
and blind sorts. In addition, students can do pattern sorts like sorting my meanings. I plan to have
my students try and come up with the categories on their own to really investigate their words
instead of me just giving them the answers. Materials I might need for word study would be