Words Their Way is phonics, spelling, and vocabulary instruction through daily word study. This program will provide skill instruction that will cover spelling patterns and focus on examining and manipulating words, not memorizing them. Students will be thinking more critically about words and work on transferring their skills to reading and writing. Words Their Way will focus on teaching students how to spell, decode new words, and to improve word recognition speed in general. To accomplish this goal, I will teach the students how to examine words to learn the regularities that exist in the spelling system. I will also teach them some irregularities of spelling (we call “oddball words”). The simple process of sorting words into categories is the heart of our word study program. When students sort words, they are engaged in the active process of searching, comparing, contrasting, and analyzing. Word sorts help students organize what they know about words and to form generalizations that they can then apply to new words they encounter in their reading.
Every five days, a new list of words will be sent home. Students will have a short sorting activity to work on to reinforce the spelling words and the spelling patterns they represent. These activities will be modeled in class, so your child can teach you how to do them. A spelling test will be given on Day 5, which will include the words from the sort.
Words Their Way Parent Tip
• Each spelling list has headers that show what the sorting pattern is for the week.
• The word lists are not sorted on the sheet--they are scrambled
. • The sort is written at the top of the word list.
• The sorting patterns are written in bold along with the first words for each pattern
. • Students have to HEAR what the words have in common or SEE what they have in common (or both)
. • Words are not meant to be memorized or written in rote fashion.
The objective is for students to learn the spelling patterns.
Every five days, a new list of words will be sent home. Students will have a short sorting activity to work on to reinforce the spelling words and the spelling patterns they represent. These activities will be modeled in class, so your child can teach you how to do them. A spelling test will be given on Day 5, which will include the words from the sort.
Words Their Way Parent Tip
• Each spelling list has headers that show what the sorting pattern is for the week.
• The word lists are not sorted on the sheet--they are scrambled
. • The sort is written at the top of the word list.
• The sorting patterns are written in bold along with the first words for each pattern
. • Students have to HEAR what the words have in common or SEE what they have in common (or both)
. • Words are not meant to be memorized or written in rote fashion.
The objective is for students to learn the spelling patterns.