Words Their Way My Way

Like any program out there, most teachers that I know take it and make it work for their specific classroom needs.  That is what I have done with Words Their Way.

I have gotten several questions about word study, so I thought that I would share a little more in depth of what it looks like in my classroom.

I have three groups of kids who are on different reading and spelling levels.  The Red Group, Green Group, and Blue Group.  Each group has their own reading selection for the week and spelling list.

I get my lists from the Words Their Way books.  All of my groups are in the Letter Name book:

One of my groups will be going into the Within Word Pattern book next week:

(These books are relatively inexpensive:  under $20 each.  The books have many, many word lists with features that build on one another.)

Okay, back to my week with Words Their Way.

On Monday each group will get their list of words, cut them out, put their initials on the back of each word, and put them in the baggie in the back of their word study notebook.  During group time on Monday we color the header words red, green, or blue depending on the group.  We go over the features for the week, sort, and talk about our sorts.  The kiddos also write the sorts in their notebooks.

For the rest of the week we will sort and write our words daily.  We also will look for words that follow our feature patterns in what we are reading. 

Each group has their own homework packet where they practice spelling their words and sorting some of their words at home.

The assessments are a little different than what one might traditionally think of as a spelling test. 
     1.  Each child sorts their words on their desk.  I walk around and check off that they were able to correctly complete their sort. 

     2.  The actual written part of the test is different too.  Not only do they have to spell the word correctly, they also have to put it under the correct feature header. 

I hope that this helps bring a greater understanding of how Words Their Way looks in my classroom.

I hope to be able to post some pictures of the children sorting and the assessments in action soon.

Happy Thursday!

Word Study and an Award

Last Friday, my principal asked if I would like to attend a conference on word study, knowing how much I like Words Their Way.  Not knowing much about the conference, I said sure.  So yesterday at 5:00, I walked into the Executive Auditorium at the Higher Ed center and I was schooled on word study. 

By Shane Templeton. 

One of THE authors of Words Their Way.

Jaw drop. 

Holy Cow.

He was an excellent speaker.  Here are some of the highlights of his talk:

1.  How kids spell words tells us what they know about words and what they know about reading.

2.  Look at what they are using, but confusing.

3.  Three layers of vocabulary:
    -Immersion in rich oral language, wide spread reading, and writing for a purpose.
    -Explicitly teaching and talking about word structure
    -Deep intense study of specific words:  general academic vocabulary as well as content specific.

4.  Activate a background knowledge of vocabulary.


I know that this is what we do, but it is just nice to be reaffirmed in our teaching actions.

Along the lines of word study, I wanted to share how it works in my classroom.

Each child gets their own word study notebook.  It is just a simple composition notebook.  On the back inside cover, I tape in an envelope:

I know that it is hard to see, but all I had were white envelopes.  They are like the ones that you put a report card in to send home.  In this envelope is where the kids keep a baggie with their words that they are sorting for the week.

The children sort and write their words every day.  Here are a few examples:

On Friday for the assessment, the students not only have to spell the words correctly, they also have to write them under the correct feature heading.

One of the reasons that I love word study, is that it is differentiated for individual learners.  Our reading series has a spelling component, but it did not meet the spelling needs of most of the students in my class.  I had used Words Their Way when I taught third grade, but have been too worried about learning the first grade curriculum for the last two years.  This is the first year that I have used it with my firsties.  I was super nervous about it at first, but my guys have caught onto the idea of sorts and features very quickly!

Okay, enough rambling on about word study.

The last part of the post title says an award.  I am so thankful to Amy over at The Resource(ful) Room for awarding me with her favorite follower award!

I don't know about you, but when I see that someone has left me a sweet, encouraging comment, it gives me confidence to continue to do what I know is best for my kiddos in my classroom.

There are a lot of kind friends out there in bloggy world that have given me all kinds of encouragement, and it is really hard to narrow it down to two, but here they are.

First, I would like to thank Barbara over at Grade ONEderful.

 She always takes the time to leave a comment, no matter how crazy my ramblings!

My next favorite follower is Jessica over at Apples and Papers.

She is a first grade teacher, and it appears that we are kindred spirits in the organization movement!  Her support has meant a LOT!

Thank you for making it to the end of this VERY long post!  You guys are the best!

Happy Tuesday!!