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Many people think spelling consists of memorizing all the words in a dictionary and that spelling comes naturally to some and not to others. These are misconceptions. Good spellers aren't born, they are taught! Nearly 90 percent of English words can be spelled if a student knows basic patterns, principles and rules of spelling.

Letter of completion

After completing this module and successfully answering the post-test questions, you'll be able to download a Letter of Completion.

If a child can spell a word, he or she can usually read the word. In fact, there is a strong relationship between spelling and word reading, because many of the same abilities - phonemic awareness, knowledge of letter patterns, an understanding of morphology and word meanings - underlie both reading and spelling. Good spellers make for better readers and writers.

Spelling and reading

Dr. Louisa Moats, an expert in literacy instruction, says that spelling is a visible record of a child's language processing, and gives us a window into what a child understands about word structure and speech sounds, and how we use letters to represent those sounds. Looking at a child's spelling is a wonderful diagnostic tool.

Putting spelling in perspective

There are about 400,000 words in a dictionary. In about 50% of the words, sound and letter associations map simply and perfectly. These words don't have to be memorized. Another 37% are easily learned through instruction of slightly more complex letter-sound correspondences. Only 13% of English language words are truly exceptional, in that they must be memorized by sight.

Spelling instruction should include:

Alphabetic principle: Knowledge of which individual letters match up to sounds, in a left to right sequence (In the word cup each sound is represented by a single letter).

Pattern information: Which groups of letters function as a pattern to represent sounds. Examples of patterns would include: CVC (Consonant/Vowel/Consonant) pattern to form short vowels (e.g. like the word cat) or CVCe/CVVC patterns to form long vowels (e.g. like the words same or meat).

Spelling variations based on word origins (e.g., 'ch' sounds like /ch/ in Anglo-Saxon words likecheck, /sh/ in French words like niche, and /k/ in Greek words like chaos).

Meaning (morphological or morphemic) information: Which groups of letters represent meaning (The prefix re- as in redo, means to do again). Instruction should include Greek combining forms and Latin roots.

Adapted from: Bear, D.R., M.A. Invernizzi, S. Templeton, F. Johnston (1996) Words Their Way: Word Study for Phonics, Vocabulary and Spelling Instruction.

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Many people think spelling consists of memorizing all the words in a dictionary and that spelling comes naturally to some and not to others. These are misconceptions. Good spellers aren't born, they are taught! Nearly 90 percent of English words can be spelled if a student knows basic patterns, principles and rules of spelling.

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Learn more about the English spelling system, how spelling supports reading, why children with dyslexia and dysgraphia struggle, which words should be taught, and word study instruction that works. Refresh your spelling and word study instruction! Try the Spelling module in our free, self-paced online course, Reading 101: A Guide to Teaching Reading and Writing.

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by Sharon Vaughn and Sylvia Linan-Thompson

This chapter provides an overview of phonics and word study: what it is, how to assess it, the sequence of skills, and how to design instructional activities. The chapter also includes instructional classroom activities to guide teachers and parents and an annotated bibliography.

What Is Phonics and Word Study Instruction?

To learn to read and spell using phonics, children have to learn the relationship between letters (graphemes) and sounds (phonemes), and then remember the exact letter patterns and sequences that represent various speech sounds (Moats, 2000). Other terms for phonics include letter-sound correspondences, letter-sound relationships, and sound-symbol associations. There are several forms of phonics instruction, including synthetic, analytic, embedded, spelling-based, and analogy-based phonics. The National Reading Panel (2000) reports that the various forms of phonics instruction vary in 13 important ways, depending on the size of the unit, the pace of instruction, and the precise elements of the learning activities. Because word study is based on the stages of spelling, this chapter describes an explicit approach to phonics instruction that includes a range of skills, from alphabetic knowledge to reading in decodable books.

Given the differences and similarities available across instructional approaches, how will you know if the program you are using is effective? To read successfully-to read independently and construct meaning from text-beginning readers need to be able to identify words automatically and have an effective strategy for decoding unknown words (Bos & Vaughn, 2002; NRP, 2000; Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998). To reach this point, students have to learn the relationships between 44 speech sounds and more than 100 spellings used to represent them (Blevins, 1998; Bos & Vaughn, 2002). They then have to apply this knowledge to reading both known and unknown words, in isolation as well as in context, and learn to read irregular words.

An effective phonics program follows a defined sequence and includes direct teaching of a set of letter-sound relationships. Each instructional set includes sound-spelling relationships of both consonants and vowels. Sequencing helps students to learn the relationship between letters and sounds, and to use that knowledge to blend the sounds in order to read words, and to segregate the sounds in order to write words, even before they have learned all the letter-sound correspondences. Effective programs also include books and stories that contain a lot of words for children to decode using letter-sound relationships, and provide children with opportunities to spell words and write their own stories using letter-sound relationships (Blevins, 1998; Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievment [CIERA], 2001; NRP, 2000; Texas Education Agency [TEA], 2000).

Phonics instruction provides key knowledge and skills needed for beginning reading. However, phonics should not be the entire reading program, but should be integrated with other elements such as language activities, story time, and small group tutoring, to create a balanced reading program. While two years of phonics is sufficient for most students, other students may require more instruction. Use assessment information to adapt phonics programs to meet the needs of individual students (NRP, 2000). Most important, starting early is key. As Stahl (2001) notes, "Early and systematic instruction in phonics seems to lead to better achievement in reading than later and less systematic instruction" (p. 333). Adams (2001) points out that to learn to read, "all students must know the letters of the alphabet, understand their linguistic significance (phonemic awareness), and learn the logic and conventions governing their use (phonics); and . . . ensuring students' grasp of these basics must be a serious goal of any responsible program of beginning reading instruction" (pp. 67-68).

Why Should I Teach Phonics and Word Study?

The goals of phonics and word study instruction are to teach children that there are systematic relationships between letters and sounds, that written words are composed of letter patterns representing the sounds of spoken words, that recognizing words quickly and accurately is a way of obtaining meaning from them, and that they can blend sounds to read words and segment words into sounds to spell (Adams, 1990; Chard & Osborn, 1999; NRP, 2000). Gough and Tumner (1986) identify two basic processes necessary for learning to read: learning to convert letters into recognizable words, and comprehending the meaning of print. The first process can be taught through phonics and can lead to students comprehending the meaning of text.

The combination of deficient decoding skills and difficult material results in unrewarding early reading experiences that lead to less involvement with reading activities (Cunningham & Stanovich, 1998). On the other hand, systematic and explicit phonics instruction improves children's word recognition, spelling, and reading comprehension, and is most effective when it begins in kindergarten or 1st grade (CIERA, 2001; NRP, 2000).

What Elements Should I Include in My Phonics and Word Study Instruction?

The crucial elements of phonics and word study are: phonological and phonemic awareness, print awareness, alphabetic knowledge, alphabetic principle, decoding, reading practice with decodable text, irregular or high-frequency words, and reading fluency. How much time you spend on each of these elements will depend on the age and level of your students. As children participate in phonics and word study activities, their understanding of the conventions that govern language will increase. The elements do not have to be taught sequentially; for example, kindergarteners benefit from learning prerequisite skills for strong word recognition, the communicative function of print, alphabetic knowledge, phonemic awareness, and the alphabetic principle (Chard, Simmons, & Kame'enui, 1998). As students master the skills, they can use them to decode and spell regular words and practice reading decodable text. Most students who have had effective phonics instruction can read quickly and easily, and have an effective decoding strategy for reading unknown words.

Print Awareness

Print awareness is the ability to understand that

Written language is related to oral language and carries messages,

Speech can be written down and read,

What is written can be spoken,

The length of a spoken word is usually related to the length of the written word,

Print is read from left to right,

The structures of written language are different from those of spoken language, and

There is a difference between words and nonwords.

Students with print awareness can usually read some signs and logos (Blevins, 1998; Reutzel & Cooter, 1999; TEA, 2000). This awareness of the forms and functions of printed language is a reliable predictor of future reading achievement.
Children develop print awareness when they have opportunities to hear books and participate in read-aloud activities. To help them develop this awareness, you can reinforce the forms and functions of print found on classroom signs, labels, posters, calendars, etc.; explain print conventions such as print directionality, word boundaries, capital letters, and end punctuation; and emphasize book awareness and handling. Listening to and reading predictable, patterned stories and books helps students practice what they are learning (Reutzel & Cooter, 1999; TEA, 2000). These kinds of books help model the concepts of print and conventions, as well as oral reading fluency and expression. Students should read the same predictable and patterned stories repeatedly, and the stories should include the use of context and picture clues and repeating language patterns (Bos & Vaughn, 2002).

Alphabetic Knowledge

Alphabetic knowledge, also known as alphabet recognition, involves knowing the shapes, names, and sounds of letters and progresses from letter names to shapes to sounds. Children should recognize and name letters quickly and accurately (Adams, 1990). Knowledge of letter names is strongly related to the ability to remember the shapes of written words, treat words as sequences of letters, and develop the alphabetic principle (the association of letters with their corresponding sounds). Students who cannot name certain letters are likely to have trouble mapping sounds to their corresponding letters; those who already know something about written letters tend to be more interested and able to learn more about the letters (Chard & Osborn, 1999).

Most children can identify an average of 14 letters when they enter kindergarten (Hiebert & Sawyer, 1984); others do not know any. These children need planned instruction that allows them to see, play with, and compare letters. Specifically, activities should use a sequence of letter introduction that can be adjusted to each student's needs-some might learn several letters each week, whereas others may only learn one. Teachers should include games, songs, and other activities that help children identify letters, learn uppercase and lowercase forms, and point out differences and similarities among the letters. Teachers should also plan writing activities that encourage children to practice writing the letters they are learning and to experiment with and manipulate letters to make words and messages (Blevins, 1998; TEA, 2000).

The Alphabetic Principle

The alphabetic principle refers to the systematic relationship between sounds and letters. Children who understand that the sequence of letters in written words represents the sequence of sounds in spoken words and who know letter-sound correspondences can use this knowledge to decode both familiar and unfamiliar regular words (Bos & Vaughn, 2002; Ehri, 1991; TEA, 2000). Children who understand the alphabetic principle can translate the letters and patterns of written words into speech sounds automatically.

Effective alphabetic principle instruction should be planned and sequenced. To achieve this goal, adopt the following practices:

Teach letter-sound correspondences explicitly and in isolation initially, then provide multiple opportunities daily to practice using this new knowledge to read and write;

Provide practice opportunities with both new and previously taught sound-letter relationships;

Give your students opportunities to apply their knowledge of letter-sound relationships to reading phonetically spelled words that are familiar in meaning (TEA, 2000).

Once you start phonics and word study instruction, some students will begin to make connections between letters and sounds on their own, but many will need explicit instruction to learn all the necessary letter-sound correspondences.
Decoding and Reading Practice with Decodable Text

Decoding is the process of reading letters or letter patterns in a word to determine the meaning of the word; for students, it is a strategy for reading unknown words. Once children develop this skill, they can apply it to reading words automatically and effortlessly. This allows them to focus on getting meaning from what they read (NRP, 2000; TEA, 2000). Students should begin by working with word families, spelling patterns, and onsets and rimes. As they become more sophisticated readers, they will need more advanced decoding strategies that focus on structural analysis: the ability to understand parts of words in order to understand the words as a whole. These parts of words include:

Inflectional endings. Meaningful word parts (morphemes) that indicate tense, number, person, or gender when added to base words (-ed, -es).

Prefixes. Word parts at the beginning of base words (pre-, in-, un-).

Suffixes. Word parts at the end of base words (-ful, -ly).

More advanced students can use structural analysis to identify word parts and multisyllabic words. In addition, structural analysis teaches students about letter combinations and derivatives (words with the same root or base words)-knowledge they can use to segment multisyllabic words into decodable parts to determine their meaning (Henry, 1997). Teaching students about affixes in particular helps them learn that some word parts are common across words.
When teaching structural analysis, teachers should teach meanings along with recognition, and model how to look for word parts. Structural analysis will increase the number of words students can easily decode. Consider the following:

The most common affixes in the primary grades are re-, un-, con-, -ness, -ful, and -ion;

The prefixes un-, re-, in-, im-, ir-, il-, and dis- are used in 58 percent of all prefixed words; and

Three inflectional endings, -s/-es, -ed, and -ing, are found in 65 percent of words that have inflectional endings and suffixes (White, Sowell, & Yanagihara, 1989).

Effective programs allow students to use their knowledge of sound-letter correspondences to practice decoding words both in isolation and in context. The use of decodable text provides teachers with the opportunity to model how to blend and segment sounds, sound out unknown words, and use onset rimes or word chunks to decode words. Students should practice these skills early on, as well as recognize less predictable words by sight as whole words and practice reading words and phrases independently. Students should then learn about letter sounds and simple spelling patterns, and to fluently and independently read words, sentences, and connected text (Bos & Vaughn, 2002).
Decoding lessons should include discussions about the text, to promote comprehension and reinforce the idea that the purpose of reading is to get meaning (TEA, 2000). Decodable books allow students to practice new skills, but teachers should gradually introduce books and stories that are less controlled so that they can extend those skills further.

Irregular Words

Not all words can be read through decoding. For example, in irregular words, some or all of the letters do not represent their most commonly used sound (for example, the vowel sound in from is not the usual sound for a short o). Students should encounter some of these words in texts for beginning readers, and will need to identify them by sight or automatically. To help students learn these words, teachers should introduce them in a reasonable order, and cumulatively review the ones that have been taught.

Sound-letter correspondences are important components in beginning reading instruction; rather than teach them in isolation, teachers should coordinate them to reinforce and extend student learning. Daily, integrated lessons that include explicit introductions to letter-sound relationships and opportunities to blend sounds, build and practice spelling words, and read words and decodable texts will enhance the beginning reading experience (Blevins, 1998).

How Can I Teach Phonics and Word Study?

By emphasizing all of the processes that contribute to growth in reading, teachers will have the best chance of making every child a reader. (National Reading Panel, 2000, p. 92)

Once your students meet the prerequisite conditions for word recognition, print awareness, alphabetic knowledge, and phonemic awareness, you can begin teaching them about the four subprocesses essential to teaching phonics and word study: letter-sound knowledge or alphabetic understanding; regular word reading; irregular word reading; and reading in decodable text.

Letter-Sound Knowledge

Letter-sound knowledge-also known as alphabetic understanding-helps students understand that the letters or clusters of letters that make up words represent separate spoken sounds, and that to read a word they must first identify the most common sound of each letter, then blend the sounds together. Figure 3.1 provides the most frequent spellings of the 44 English sounds, as well as keywords to guide pronunciation. It is important to teach the most common sound for each letter first.

Figure 3.1. Guide to Pronunciation of English Sounds

Though teachers often teach one letter a week, introducing letter sounds in alphabetical order limits the number of words the students can form, thus limiting their ability to practice using the alphabetic principle to read and write. A better strategy is to teach letter-sound associations that can be combined to make words that children can read and understand. The combination of a vowel and a few consonants-for example, /m/, /s/, /a/, /t/-allows children to form several words. Teachers should begin by teaching sounds that are easy to articulate. Continuous sounds, such as /m/ and /s/, are easy to say and hear because the sounds can be held without distortion, whereas stop sounds, such as /p/ and /b/, are easily distorted. It is not practical to teach all the letters with continuous sounds before any with stop sounds, because some stop sounds appear often in books for beginning readers. If a student is having trouble, teachers should focus on letter-sound relationships that are easier to pronounce.

During initial instruction, teachers should separate confusing letter-sound associations, such as letters that are visually or aurally similar, and determine that students have mastered one before teaching the next. Visually similar letters can differ in the vertical direction of their extensions (b/p, d/q), their left-right orientation (b/d, p/q), and their top-bottom orientation (w/m, u/n) (Blevins, 1998). Aurally similar letters include /b/, /p/, and /d/. As with visually similar letters, aurally similar ones should be separated to help students learn each as a distinct sound.

The following is a common sequence for introducing letter-sound correspondences:

1. Initial consonants (m, n, t, s, p)

2. Short vowel and consonant combinations (-at, -in, -ot)

3. Blends (bl, dr, st)

4. Digraphs (th, sh, ph)

5. Long vowels (eat, oat)

6. Final e (-ake, -ute, -ime)

7. Variant vowels and dipthongs (-oi, -ou)

8. Silent letters and inflectional endings (kn, wr, gn, -es, -s) (Blevins, 1998)

The number of letter-sound correspondences teachers introduce each week will vary based on the students, but two per week should be adequate for most. Teachers should remember to select letter-sound relationships that will allow the students to form words.
Here is a basic lesson for introducing letter-sound correspondences once students have learned letter names and forms:

1. Hold up a letter card and tell students the sound. Say, "This letter is A. The sound for A is /a/."

2. Ask students to tell you the name and then the sound. Be sure they know the difference between the two.

3. Ask students to write the letter as they say the sound.

If students at the beginning of first grade know none or only a few letter names, teachers should teach both the letter names and sounds simultaneously.
Regular Word Reading

Once children know three or four letter-sound associations, teachers should begin regular word reading and building activities. For example, students who have learned the letter-sound correspondences for i, t, p, n, and s can begin applying them to reading words such as it, in, pit, pin, sit, sip, and tip. Teaching them the short sound for a can more than double the number of words they can read and write.

Students need opportunities to practice regular word reading. Once they learn enough letter-sound correspondences to form words, teachers should integrate regular word reading into the instruction. Here is a basic regular word reading lesson that teaches students to blend sounds:

1. Sound out words without stopping between sounds. Use words with letters that begin with continuous sounds, like sit, to make this step easier.

2. After students sound out the word, ask them to first read each sound without stopping ("ssssiiit"), and then to say the whole word fast.

3. Teach students to sound words silently first before sounding them aloud.

The following are general guidelines for planning and teaching regular word reading:

During initial instruction, begin with short vowel-consonant and consonant-short vowel-consonant words (it to sit and pit, in to pin and tin) before moving on to patterns that include blends and digraphs (CCVC [stop], CVCC [mast], CVCE [bike], and CCVCC [truck]). Progress from simple to more complex sound spellings.

Teach consonant sounds (/b/, /m/, /s/) before blends (br, cl, sn) or digraphs (sh, ch).

Teach short vowel sounds, then long vowel sounds, then variant vowels (ea, oa) and dipthongs (oi, oy).

Select words that end with stop sounds.

Select words that are familiar to students and that they are likely to encounter in their reading. (Blevins, 1998; Chard & Osborn, 1999)

Students who are taught to apply their lettersound knowledge and given opportunities to do so will be able to read and write sentences even before learning all the letter-sound correspondences.
Since about a quarter of the most frequently used words in children's writing and texts are irregular (Moats, 2000), they should learn to read irregular as well as regular words. Figure 3.2 includes a list of irregular words; because students can't apply their knowledge of letter-sound relationships to these words, they will have to learn them as whole words.

Figure 3.2. Thirty Irregular Words for Beginning Readers

Here are some guidelines for teaching irregular words:

Select and teach words that appear frequently in stories and informational texts.

The number of words taught in each lesson will depend on the student.

Teach new irregular words before they appear in a story. Discuss the words and any special features, and point out parts of the words that are regular.

Review previously taught words on a daily basis.

Provide students with opportunities to use the words in their reading and writing activities. (Blevins, 1998; Chard & Osborn, 1999)

Reading in Decodable Text

Learning letter-sound relationships in isolation is necessary, but not enough. Students must know how to apply their knowledge to reading text. They should begin by reading decodable text comprised largely of words containing previously taught letter-sound relationships and gradually move to less controlled text as their ability and confidence grow. Because most decodable texts contain irregular words, be sure to teach these in advance if students do not know them. Once the class has read a book as a group, teachers should provide opportunities for the students to reread the text. Many publishers have decodable book series, and 1st grade basal programs often include decodable texts. Figure 3.3 provides a list of decodable book series for teachers. (For specific letter-sound relationship lessons, see the instructional activities section of this chapter.)

Progress Monitoring

Monitoring student progress helps teachers plan instruction and alerts them if students are falling behind. Teachers can use the information gleaned from monitoring to group students for instruction and modify the pace of instruction based on the skill level of students in each group. Student progress in every area can be monitored informally. For example, to assess student knowledge of letter-sound relationships, teachers might maintain a list of letter-sound associations that the students have already mastered; about once every two weeks, they can ask the students to identify the sounds of letters on the list, or to give the letter name of a given sound. Teachers can also give students a letter dictation-provide a letter name or sound and have the students write the corresponding letter.

Teachers should monitor regular and irregular words separately, but can use the same process for each type of word. To monitor word reading in isolation, teachers should ask students to read a set of familiar words and see if the students can read them automatically. In most instances, it will take the students fewer than three seconds to read the word. Teachers can also keep a record of the words students miss repeatedly while reading connected text.

Instructional Activities

Note: Each lesson title in the following activites indicates whether the activity is an introduction to a new skill or element or a follow-up practice lesson.

Basic Lesson in Letter-Sound Knowledge: Name That Letter/Say That Sound

Objective. Students will identify letter names and letter sounds.

Materials. Uppercase and lowercase letters.

Sequence. Begin by introducing one vowel and three or four consonants, adding new letters as students master them.

1. Tell students they will be learning the names and sounds of letters so they can begin to form words.

2. Model the task. Show students the first letter and say, "This is A." Then ask, "What letter is this?"

3. Repeat with each letter.

4. Show each letter to students and ask them as a group to name it.

5. After the group names each letter, ask the students to name letters individually, going from student to student as quickly as possible.

6. Repeat steps 2-5 using letter sounds.

Scaffolds. Use one vowel and two consonants; use only lowercase or uppercase letters.

Challenge. Show students a letter. Tell them to listen carefully to directions since they will sometimes be asked to name the letter, and other times to name the sound.

Follow-Up Lesson in Letter-Sound Knowledge: Which Letter Am I?

Objective. Given a letter sound, students will write the letter that makes that sound.

Materials. White boards, markers, erasers.

Sequence. Begin by introducing one vowel and three or four consonants, adding new letters as students master them.

1. After reviewing the letters they've learned, tell students that you will say a letter sound or name, and they will write the corresponding letter as they say the sound.

2. Model the task for the students. Say a letter sound, writing the letter as you do so.

3. Give students a sound and monitor them as they write the corresponding letter.

4. If students write the incorrect letter, show them the correct one. Ask them to say the sound and write the letter slowly as they do so.

5. Say the sound or name of the next letter.

6. Once all students have performed the task correctly, continue giving them letter names or sounds.

Variation. Ask students to write the letter as many times as they can in 10 seconds while saying the sound.

Scaffold. Give students either letter names or sounds.

Follow-Up Lesson in Letter-Sound Knowledge: Slap Cards

Objective. Students will identify letter names or sounds.

Materials. Uppercase and lowercase letters on index cards.

Sequence. Begin by introducing one vowel and three or four consonants, adding new letters as students master them.

1. Tell students whether they will be practicing naming letters or saying letter sounds.

2. Review letter cards.

3. After students have named each letter or identified each sound as a group, ask them to do the same individually.

4. Ask each student to place a card on a pile in the center of a table and say the name of the letter on the card. When a student places a vowel on the pile, all the students slap the pile of cards. The student whose hand is on the bottom takes the pile.

5. Pass out an equal number of cards to each student. Choose a student to start the game.

6. Play until one of the students is out of cards or time is up.

Variations. Use regular or irregular words.

Note: This activity was adapted from the University of Texas Center for Reading and Language Arts (2001a).

Basic Lesson in Regular Word Reading: Read the Word

Objective. Given a regular word, students will read it.

Materials. Word cards using words from the following list:

VC: in, at, am, it, up, ox

CVC: mat, hop, cut, sit, pin, can, ten, get, not, cup, cut, tap, red, him, cob, run, gum, ham, mad, hid, dip, box, bug, big

CCVC: stop, flap, snap, trip

CVCC: mast, jump, bunk, fall, hand, will, bend, rock, told, dash, back, duck

CVC silent E: bike, take, joke, made, time, more, cape, kite, five, name

CCVCC: truck, sport, blast, small

Sequence.

1. Tell students they will be reading new words.

2. Tell students that when shown a word card, they will first sound out each letter-sound and then read the word fast.

3. Show students a word card. Model the task by saying each sound continuously as you point to each letter ("iiiinnnn").

4. After sounding out the word, read the word fast ("in").

5. Show a word and ask the students to say each sound. Determine that all students have said each sound correctly. If a student makes an error, review the correct letter-sound correspondence and repeat.

6. Once students have sounded out the word, ask them to read it fast. If a student reads the word incorrectly, ask him or her to sound it out first and then read the word fast.

7. Continue with the remaining word cards.

Scaffolds.

Review the individual letter-sound correspondences that appear in the words shown.

Students point to each sound as they pronounce it, and sweep their fingers under the word when reading it fast.

Students use letter tiles, pulling down each tile as they say the sound and sweeping a finger under the tiles when they say the word fast.

Follow-Up Lesson in Regular Word Reading: And the Word Is . . .

Objective. Students will read words containing rime patterns.

Materials. One set of cards containing previously studied onsets, and oneset containing previously studied rimes.
Sequence.

Rimes:

1. VC: -an, -ap, -at, -aw, -in, -ip, -ir, -op, -or, -ug, -it, -an, -et, -ot, -up, -ut

2. VCE: -ake, -ale, -ame, -ate, -ice, -ide, -ine, -ore, -oke, -ade, -ike, -ime

3. VVC: -ail, -ain, -eat, -eek, -een, -oot, -eed, -eep, -ait, -eet, -eem, -oot, -oop

4. VCC: -ack, -ank, -ash, -ell, -est, -ick, -ill, -ing, -ink, -ock, -unk, -ump, -uck

All:

1. Review the onset and rime cards.

2. Place the two sets of cards face down in the middle of the table.

3. Explain to the students that they will pick the top card from each pile, put the two together, and read the word.

4. Model the activity.

5. Ask each student to take a turn. If all students do the activity correctly, have them take turns picking cards and reading the words. After reading a word, each student should say whether it is real or made-up.

Scaffolds.

Limit the number of rimes used. Use rimes with the same vowels, such as -at or -an.

Limit the number of onsets used.

Ask all students to read each word formed.

Follow-Up Lesson in Regular Word Reading: Tic-Tac-Read

Objective. Students will read previously taught regular words.

Materials. A laminated tic-tac-toe board for each pair of students, word cards with regular words, and ten plastic counters, half in one color and the other half in another color.
Sequence.

1. Give each pair of students a game board, a matching set of cards, and counters.

2. Explain how to play the game.

3. In each pair, one student picks a word card from the stack and reads it. The other student decides if the word was read correctly. If it was, the first student places his or her counter on the board. If it was not, the second student reads the word correctly and places his or her counter on the board.

4. Students continue playing until one student in the pair has three counters in a row or all the spaces are filled.

Variation. Fill the squares with irregular words.

Challenge. Impose a time limit for reading the word.

Note: This activity was adapted from the University of Texas Center for Reading and Language Arts (2001a).

Basic Lesson for Irregular Word Reading: What's the Word?

Objective. Given irregular words, students will read them.

Materials. Three to five word cards, a pocket chart, a notebook that has each page marked with one letter of the alphabet, and pencils.

Sequence. Begin with the most common irregular words.

1. Tell students they will be learning words that do not follow the letter-sound correspondences they already know, so they'll have to learn these words as a whole.

2. Show students the first word card and read the word. Ask them to repeat the word in unison.

3. Spell the word as you point to each letter, then ask the students to spell the word in unison.

4. Ask the students to read the word again and write it in their notebooks.

5. Monitor the students to determine that they spelled the words correctly.

6. Place the word card in the pocket chart.

7. Follow steps two to six with the other words.

8. Review the words taught. Point to each word card in the pocket chart and ask the students to read it in unison. Then ask individual students to read the word.

Variation. Use words from a text that students will be reading.

Follow-Up Lesson in Irregular Word Reading: Irregular Word Road Race

Objective. Students will read irregular words that have been previously taught.

Materials. For each student: a game board (see Figure 3.4), word cards matched to the game board, and a chip or game piece.
Sequence.

1. Explain the game to students. Tell them to place a chip in the start box, read the word in the first box, and then read each word card aloud until finding the card with the word that matches the word in the first box. Next, they will move the chip into the box containing the word. Tell them to repeat the process with the word in the next box on the board, and to continue to the end of the board. (Note that cards are not discarded but are placed back in the pile.)

2. Model for students.

3. Give each student a game board, a set of cards, and a chip. Remind students to read each card in the set aloud.

4. Monitor students to determine mastery of the skill.

Variations. Fill the squares with regular words or specific onset-rime patterns. For kindergarten students and struggling 1st graders, fill each square with a letter, and ask students to provide either the name or sound.

Scaffolds. Pair students with more able partners and ask them to take turns reading the word cards; limit the number of words.

Challenge. Impose a time limit for reading the word.

Note: This activity was adapted from the University of Texas Center for Reading and Language Arts (2001a).

Basic Lesson in Structural Analysis: Let's Add Word Parts

Objective. Students will understand that affixes change the meanings of words.

Materials. Chart paper, a marker, and a list of root words students can read and give the meaning.

Sequence. Most common prefixes and suffixes, less common prefixes and suffixes.

1. Tell students that adding parts to a word will change its meaning. Tell them that prefixes appear at the beginning of a word, and they will learn the meaning of the prefix, then add it to root words.

2. Write a prefix on the chart paper. Read the prefix and tell students its meaning.

3. Ask students to read the prefix and say what it means.

4. Write a root word on the chart paper. Ask students to read the word and say what it means. If students do not know the meaning, provide it.

5. Write the root word with the prefix. Ask students to read the word.

6. Model how to determine the meaning of the new word. For example, say, "The new word is unhappy. un- means 'not' and happy means 'with joy,' so unhappy means 'not happy' or 'without joy.'"

7. Provide additional root words and ask students to read and define the prefix, read the root word, read the word with prefix added, and define the new word.

8. Repeat steps 2-7 using the second prefix.

Variation. Use suffixes.

Scaffold. Limit the number of prefixes introduced.

Note: This activity was adapted from the University of Texas Center for Reading and Language Arts (2002b).

Follow-Up Lesson in Structural Analysis: Make a New Word

Objective. Students will add previously taught prefixes or suffixes to a root word, and will give the meaning of the new word.

Materials. Three to four cards with root words written on them per student and 1 × 1.5-inch sticky notes with a prefix or suffix written on each.

Sequence. Most common prefixes and suffixes, less common prefixes and suffixes.

1. Tell students they will review the meaning of prefixes and suffixes they have learned and practice reading words with prefixes and suffixes.

2. Review the prefixes and suffixes written on the sticky notes. Ask students to read them in unison and provide the meaning for each.

3. Ask students to read the root words in unison, then give each of them three to five root word cards.

4. Tell students you will pick an affix from the pile, and each of them will add that affix to his or her root word card before reading the new word and saying what it means.

5. If students have trouble providing the meaning of a word, ask them the meaning of the affix, then the meaning of the root word. If the students still cannot provide the meaning, model the task. For example, say, "'un- means 'not,' and happy means 'with joy,' so unhappy means 'not happy' or 'without joy.'"

6. Repeat with the other affixes.

Scaffolds. Limit the number of affixes used; use only prefixes or suffixes.

Note: This activity was adapted from the University of Texas Center for Reading and Language Arts (2002b).

Bear, D. R., Templeton, S., Ivernizzi, M., & Johnston, F. (1996). Words their way: Word study for phonics, vocabulary, and spelling. Des Moines, IA: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
This book provides an approach to word study instruction based on developmental stages of spelling. The text includes a discussion of the basis for the approach, instructions for assessing students prior to beginning instruction, and activities for students in each of the stages of development.

Blevins, W. (1998). Phonics from A to Z: A practical guide. New York: Scholastic Professional Books.
This guide provides a wealth of information for teachers in a practical, easy-to-read format. The book begins with a brief description of phonics, followed by activities, lists, and teaching guidelines for alphabet recognition, phonemic awareness, letter-sound correspondences, and regular and irregular word reading.

http://reading.uoregon.edu/au/index.php.
This Web site includes a definition of alphabetic principle, research findings on phonics, a discussion of the importance of phonics, and instructions on how to sequence phonics skills in grades K-3.

http://reading.uoregon.edu/instruction/.
This Web site provides information on critical phonics skills and features of phonics instruction.

http://www.texasreading.org/utcrla/materials/primary_phonics.asp.
This Web site allows readers to download a professional development guide on phonics and decoding instruction that includes strategies and instructional materials.

http://www.nifl.gov/partnershipforreading/publications/reading_first1phonics.html.
This Web site provides an introduction to phonics instruction, including science-based findings and a discussion of different instructional approaches.

http://www.ed.gov/offices/oese/sasa/rb/slide009.html.
This Web site provides a discussion of phonics instruction, including research findings, different instructional approaches, and cautions about the process.

http://www.nrrf.org/aboutphonics.htm.
This Web site introduces science-based phonics instruction and contains links to several papers, as well as a list of phonics product companies.

http://www.ldonline.org/ld_indepth/reading/ldrp_chard_guidelines.html.
This Web site includes an article on effective phonics and word recognition instruction for students with reading disabilities.

http://doe.state.in.us/publications/phonics.html#anchor3978700.
This Web site allows readers to download a "Phonics Tool Kit" booklet and includes video clips that explain the kit. The booklet provides reading strategies (including phonics) and contains practical tips for teachers.

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by Sharon Vaughn and Sylvia Linan-Thompson This chapter provides an overview of phonics and word study: what it is, how to assess it, the sequence of skills, and how to design instructional activities. The chapter also includes instructional classroom activities to guide teachers and parents and an annotated bibliography.

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Word Study: A New Approach to Teaching Spelling | LD Topics | LD OnLine

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Word Study is an alternative to traditional spelling instruction. It is based on learning word patterns rather than memorizing unconnected words. This article describes the word study approach.

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Word study = fun

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Reading Worksheets, Spelling, Grammar, Comprehension, Lesson Plans

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Many students find word study to be one of the most enjoyable components of balanced literacy instruction. Teachers find it to be one of the most powerful. That's because reading ability dramatically improves as students use meaningful games and activities to discover:

1. Letters and the sounds they make

2. How to pick out root words, and how suffixes and prefixes can change the meaning

3. Spelling involves finding patterns

4. How to get clues to word meaning and pronunciation by examining the parts of a word.

But word study isn't all fun and games. It actually involves problem solving in the form of developing hypotheses, searching for patterns, predicting outcomes, and experimenting to find out if they're right. Using word study activities, students compare new words to words they already know and look for similarities.

Why is Word Study Important?

In order to become fully literate, students must have the ability to accurately recognize words. They also have to adequately use written words to convey meaning. Because word study is based on phonics spelling and vocabulary, it's a way for students to manipulate and fully examine words.

At once they do, students realize that words are powerful things. When they learn how words work they're on their way to becoming fully literate individuals. Learning phonics, sight words, decoding, spelling patterns, and word meanings, means understanding the basics of written words. From there they can communicate and construct meaning. After all, that's what language is all about.

Fortunately, educators have come to realize that rote drill and practice isn't the most efficient way to master a reading or writing skill. Students need the opportunity to think critically and manipulate words and their concepts. That way they can generalize words based on spelling or other commonalities. Grasping spelling, word recognition, and vocabulary goes beyond memorizing a few rules. The best way to become proficient in words and their features is to have plenty of opportunities to examine them in different contexts.

The Purpose of Word Study

As a component of balanced literacy, word study achieves two goals; first to help students become fluent readers with a strong vocabulary, and secondly, to give students the opportunity to fully explore and manipulate words.

Word study isn't about memorizing spelling words but about understanding spelling patterns.

It isn't about manipulating a random group of words but can compare words that are phonetically similar.

It isn't just another fun activity but is a purposeful look at word analysis.

Word Study Activities

When planning word study lessons, teachers can choose from a variety of activities to improve spelling, word recognition and vocabulary. Students tend to enjoy working with words and are eager to get word "games." Here a just a few of them...
Word Study Activity 1: Word Searches
In word searches students take a group of word categories and "search" for examples of words in those categories by combing through magazines, newspapers, books, or textbooks. They write down the words they find.
Word Study Activity 2: Pattern Sorting
Pattern sorting is an activity that teaches students to categorize words. The categories can be based on the way particular sounds are expressed in a word. Pattern sorting is great for looking at vowel patterns, contractions, and silent letters.
Word Study Activity 3: Proofreading
Proofreading is one of those "must have" skills in order to be optimally successful in school. Word study lessons involving proofreading help students learn to develop an eye for how a written word should look. They learn to know if a word "looks right" when spelled out.

Using word study lessons to round out a balanced literacy program promises a much greater chance of retaining word meanings and making sense of spelling rules.

Thank goodness, literacy has moved beyond writing a list of words five times each to learn to spell. Or decoding words by simply "sounding them out." Now word study makes exploring the various aspects of the English language much more meaningful and enjoyable.

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Word Study | Word Study Makes Language Learning Fun

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Many students find word study to be one of the most enjoyable components of balanced literacy instruction. Teachers will find word study to be a powerful tool in their arsenal. Word study can be fun and instructive at the same time.

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As a student, teacher, or parent, how many of you dreaded those weekly spelling tests on Friday? You're not the only one! Whether you were helping your students, children, or yourself prepare, the goal and top priority was memorization. Am I right?

One of the truths we know about education is that it is constantly evolving. We learn more from research each year about how the brain works and the best instructional practices to use to ensure student growth and interest. One of the areas that have been recently evolving in this way is spelling.

In the past, spelling has been taught by simply assigning a list of words to the students at the beginning of each week to be memorized for the spelling test on Friday. Although this works for some children, researched has showed us that many more children were unable to transfer this type of habit memorization to their own reading and writing (Morris, 1995).

Often students memorized the list of words for the test and then promptly forget the correct spelling. Sound familiar? I bet you can relate to this. Therefore, research shows that memorizing words and rules, without a sense of why they should be learned, is definitely not effective (Morris, 1995). The few children who have been successful by memorizing words were frequently limited to learning a set number of words each week (Morris, 1995).

"Families and students would then fall into past patterns of preparing for the spelling tests by memorizing the words, which is not what I wanted. In the past when I used traditional spelling tests, students did not always retain the information and apply it into their writing. I want to avoid this pitfall if possible" (Brand, 2004).

How can we teachers integrate spelling instruction into reading and writing instruction to make spelling content seem more meaningful, and avoid this "pitfall"?

When students learn a word pattern, they learn to build many words using that pattern. This is part of what is called word study. For example, once students learn the - ay pattern, they can recognize and spell say, tray, hay, mayday, etc. This way of learning words through pattern recognition supports the action of students transferring what they know about words to new words that they are eager to read and write. (Beckham-Hungler & Williams, 2003).

Why Word Study?

Many schools all over the country have switched over from traditional spelling instruction to word study for this reason.

In traditional spelling instruction, students learn to spell words that are considered appropriate for their grade level. One of the biggest challenges that classroom teachers face is trying to plan instruction with the awareness that the students are on all different levels. How can we teach a classroom of students the exact same words and expect them all to be successful, knowing that they are all on different instructional levels? We can't! Word study follows in a developmental progression from simple patterns to more complex patterns and parts of words. It is taught by using an inquiry approach to discover patterns and make generalizations as to how words work. Therefore, teachers choose words and patterns that approach the zone of proximal development of the students' individually. In word study, not all students are working on the same words or patterns because they all have different ZPD's. How great is that?

The instruction of word study is much denser than in traditional spelling instruction, and is customized to the student's needs. Word study lessons focus on the way English words work, rather than just providing the students a random list of words that have no relationship. Word study takes the emphasis away from memorization of words, and focuses the students' attention to the consistencies and patterns in our spelling system (Bear, 2008). Students learn word knowledge and spelling strategies that they can apply to a wide range of reading and writing activities. Research has shown that this instructional method to be very effective, as students will be able to learn so many more words by focusing on patterns that can be applied to a wide variety of words, rather than memorizing a short list of work each week (Beckham-Hungler & Williams, 2003). Now, don't you wish you were taught this in school? I think we all agree we would be better spellers, and have a better attitude towards spelling!

How does this typically look in a classroom?

Word study usually occurs during reading and writing workshops simply because the goal for word study is that the students will grow as better readers and writers. Instruction focuses on "how words work", the way it looks and sounds. Depending on the grade level and needs of the students, a spelling feature is usually focused upon for two to three weeks. The teacher will choose a few words each day that go along with the feature or pattern to help focus students' attention to the feature or pattern (Brand, 2004).

Fountas and Pinnell recommend a word study framework that has been proven to be the most effective (Fountas & Pinnell, 1996). It is almost impossible to provide whole-group instruction of word study that will be effective for each student, as each student has different needs. Therefore, homogeneous small group instruction is essential in order for word study to be successful in a classroom (Bear, 2008). Fountas and Pinnell recommend a group rotation. While one group is receiving a mini-lesson from the teacher based on their needs, group two is engaged in literacy activities, and group three words on word work games. The groups rotate every ten to fifteen minutes, until each group has gone to every station. (Fountas & Pinnell, 2000).

Teachers use a variety of hands-on activities, often called word work, to help students internalize letter-sound relationships, patterns, and the meaning and origins of words. Activities are used throughout the week to help children understand the letter-sound relationships being presented in that week's words. These activities should be well thought-out and used to help students learn and remember spelling patterns and features (Wright 2000). That way, they become more meaningful and relevant to students and their writing endeavors. Younger students make words using magnetic letters or pencil and paper. Older children do word sorts, which help them form hypotheses about words and make connections between words (Beckham-Hungler & Williams, 2003).

Most importantly, word study teaches students spelling strategies to support their spelling attempts in writing activities, and help them decode unfamiliar words while reading (Williams, Phillips-Birdsong, Hufnagel & Hungler, 2009). It is important to know that if we want our students to use these strategies, we must teach them how, and most importantly, show them how by modeling during read alouds and small groups. Using the classroom Word Wall as a teaching tool and resource for students when writing is also a very effective approach.

Students can be, and usually are checked for learning and understanding in three ways: a quiz to assess if students are understanding the patterns, rules, meanings, and word origins that have been taught, and through the teacher listening to the students read, and looking at student writing. (Williams, Phillips-Birdsong, Hufnagel & Hungler, 2009). These types of evaluations provide the teacher with authentic confirmations that the students have learned to use words correctly, and the teacher can then base the next step of instruction from these results.

Check out this example of what word study looks like in a classroom!

What about Spelling Lists?

With word study, that dull and weekly list from a workbook no longer exists! Instead, teachers create their own lists each week that he/she believes will be most beneficial to the students. Lists should be created from student-misspelled words that revolve around a central concept to be learned (Wright, 2000). Whether students are having trouble with a pattern, rule, or origin, teachers explicitly teach this concept during the small amount of time allotted for spelling instruction each week. These features or patterns should be reviewed and reinforced through word study activities, and in the students' reading and writing (Bear, 2008).

To make word study successful, you must first assess and determine what your students know about letter-sound combinations, features, and meanings of words. Students' spelling errors and mistakes can be used as a way to determine the most appropriate words to study. These assessments will provide you with information that will allow you to make spelling lists, lessons, and activities for students each week. According to Fountas and Pinnell, the words chosen should be highly useful to your students, as they should be words that they will encounter frequently in their reading and writing (Fountas & Pinnell, 2000). The target of word study should be what students "use but confuse" in their writing (Bear, 2008).

How is this integrated into reading and writing instruction?

Spelling is a critical aspect of the curriculum that is an integral part of the process of reading and writing. Therefore, it needs to be taught thoughtfully and consciously. Since spelling words, lessons, and activities are going to be created from the errors and mistakes from student writing, we can integrate word study into both reading and writing instruction.

"The children participated in a wide range of meaningful reading and writing activities during the language arts block, including a systematic spelling program based on words they had misspelled in their own writing" (Brand, 2004).

Word study in an integrated language arts program that uses the words actually read and written by students. Teachers can link word study to literature by providing a flexible sequence, such as instruction in grammar, literary analysis, writing, and hands-on repeated practice (Fisher & Bates, 2011). According to Bear, instruction should be designed around words from texts that students are encountering, provide opportunities to manipulate the same words in own context, and then return to texts to find other words that demonstrate the same spelling connections (Bear, 2008). Since word study explicitly demonstrates how spelling patterns and word structures reflect meaning and use, giving students the chance to learn and practice these strategies in their reading and writing is very effective.

"To be good spellers, children must also learn and be able to apply a wide range of strategies for spelling unknown words as they write and decode unknown words when they read" (Beckham-Hungler & Williams, 2003).

How does this all make spelling more meaningful to students?

Word study undoubtedly supports student's spelling achievement, which then leads to higher overall achievement in reading and writing, as students will come to an understanding and demonstrate the relationships between these literate processes. Word study helps students expand their vocabulary, develop sensitivity to word choice in reading and writing, and build explicit awareness of how English orthography functions in the integrated language arts program (Wright, 2000).

For a word study program to be successful, the teacher has to invest a sufficient amount of time in planning instruction for each group. As teachers will be evaluating the student's writing for errors and mistakes, students will in return recieve instruction and practice based on their own mistakes. This will allow them to see a relationship and connections between spelling strategies and their own writing. With the spelling strategies and patterns that students have now mastered, those can be taken and implemented into their own reading and writing, which creates a connection between spelling instruction and their own work. These strategies and patterns now have meaning to the students with awareness in how they have helped improve their own reading and writing. Therefore, in the long run, these spelling patterns and rules are going to stick in a student's mind much longer than a random list of words.

Research shows that writing has been proven to be the best transitional tool to support the growth of spelling interventions (Williams, Phillips-Birdsong, Hufnagel & Hungler, 2009.) Teaching relevant words and strategies to students and showing them how to use them will encourage children to use these skills in their own writing. Provide meaningful and sustained reading and writing experiences support spelling development (Bear, 2008). With successful and effective integration of word study into the classroom, children will draw on their orthographic knowledge to accomplish all three aspects of literacy, making spelling fun, and a lot less dreadful for us all!

References:

Bear, D., Invernizzi, M., Templeton, S., & Johnston, F. (2008). Words their way: Word study for phonics, vocabulary, and spelling instruction (4 th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Beckham-Hungler, D., & Williams, C. (2003). Teaching words that students misspell: spelling instruction and young children's writing. National Council of Teachers of English, 80(4), 299-308.

Brand, M. (2004). Word savy: Integrating vocabulary, spelling, and wordy study, grade 3-6. Portland, ME: Stenhouse.

Fisher, P., & Bates, A. (2011). 10 Do's and Don'ts of Word Study. Illinois Reading Council Journal, 39(3), 3-13.

Fountas, I.C., & Pinnell, G.S. (2000). Guiding readers and writers (grades 3-6): Teaching comprehension, genre, and content literacy. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Fountas, I.C., & Pinnell, G.S. (1996). Guided reading: Good first teaching for all children. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Morris, D., Blanton, L., Blanton, W., & Perney, J. (1995). Spelling instruction and achievement in six classrooms. The Elementary School Journal, 96(2), 145-162.

Williams, C., Phillips-Birdsong, C., Hufnagel, K., & Hungler, D. (2009). Word study instruction in the K-2 classroom. Reading Rockets. Retrieved from http://www.readingrockets.org/article/word-study-instruction-k-2-classroom

Wright, K. (2000). Weekly spelling meetings: Spelling instruction through classroom-based inquiry. Spelling Out Our Concerns About Spelling, 77(3), 218-223.

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Word Study: A New Approach to Teaching Spelling

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As a student, teacher, or parent, how many of you dreaded those weekly spelling tests on Friday? You're not the only one! Whether you were helping your students, children, or yourself prepare, the goal and top priority was memorization. Am I right? One of the truths we know about education is that it is constantly evolving.

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Quick resource Kinder strategies

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by ·

As I was working on my presentation for Vegas this summer, I got to thinking and talking with my literacy coach. She had a great couple of points that I wanted to share and chat about...even before Vegas 🙂

What does spelling look like in your room?

I can tell you right now that I am not going to be able to cover everything that we do in our room in one blog post. I'm not even quite sure how I'm going to fit it all into a 75 minute presentation. I do want to give the reasons why and tell you a little bit of how I think it directly impacts reading and writing in our classroom.

Kathy Ganske is sort of the end all be all of Word Sorts. When I was working on my action research, I was actually able to sit down with her and talk to her about why this approach is more effective than giving every student in your class the same list of words.

Our literacy coach shares this chart with parents at the beginning of the year to compare and contrast what traditional spelling looks like vs. what word study looks like.

How do you know what sort which student is going to do?

We use the assessments from Word Journeys to put students in their groups.

Once groups are formed (I try not to have more than 2 groups...3 at the absolute most!), we start our sorts on Monday and they take a test on Friday.

This is an example of a sort.

They keep their sorts in these envelopes in their desks so they don't lose all of the pieces. I slap a label on it and laminate it.

Throughout the week, students meet with the teacher in a small group, work together as partners, play games, and practice their words on whiteboards.

Once they graduate from just writing beginning sounds, they start writing actual words and using them in sentences. Words that students are spelling should be words that they are reading and words that they are writing.

I know that this post doesn't probably even chip the tip of the iceberg, but I do hope it's gotten you thinking about your spelling instruction in your room and considering word sorts.

Students do take a sort home and keep one at school. If you are coming to Vegas, I'd love to go more in depth with you and share how I structure my week with word sorts.

I'd love to hear your thoughts about word sorts...do you use them?

Do you think they have a direct impact on reading and writing?

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Word Study vs. Traditional Spelling - Kickin' It In Kindergarten

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As I was working on my presentation for Vegas this summer, I got to thinking and talking with my literacy coach. She had a great couple of points that I wanted to share and chat about...even before Vegas 🙂 What does spelling look like in your room?

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Choose Your Words (and Techniques) Carefully in Spelling Instruction

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Choose Your Words (and Techniques) Carefully in Spelling Instruction | Reading Rockets

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Reading Rockets

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"Word study" is an alternative to traditional spelling instruction. It is based on learning word patterns rather than memorizing unconnected words. This article describes the word study approach.