A great site for your child to practice his or her words-http://www.spellingcity.com/
Each Monday your child will come home with their new words study word list, picture list, or letter list. Please read the title of the sort at the top of the sort page to know what the feature is that week. Please have your child cut their sort each Monday.
Please keep these sorts at home. Each Friday your child will be assessed on their weekly sorts.
Please keep these sorts at home. Each Friday your child will be assessed on their weekly sorts.
HOW DOES WORD STUDY WORK?
The word study h.w. page needs to be initialed and returned the following day. For example, if the first assignment is on the calendar on Oct.8th the assignment (initialed by parent) is due on Oct. 9th. Please remember to send in their writing sort sheet as well!
Word Study at John B. Dey Elementary
Word Study is a developmental approach to building English language skills. Based on three decades of research, a normal progression for almost all learners of written English has been identified. There is a dual purpose for word study instruction: first, to help our students develop a general knowledge of English spelling by focusing on the patterns of our language; and secondly, to increase specific knowledge of words (the spelling and meaning of individual words).
Stages of Word Study
- Emergent (usually pre-K to middle of Grade 1)
This stage encompasses the writing efforts of children who are not yet reading and who have not had formal reading instruction. These children make random marks or draw pictures to represent “words.”
- Letter Name (K-2; beginning reading)
The name of this stage reflects the children’s approach to spelling at this level. They use the names of the letters for the speech sounds they want to represent. EX: using the letter yfor w or wh, because you hear /w/ when saying the letter name for y; the letter n might represent the letters “en” or “in” because you hear those when saying the letter name for “n,” etc.
Features: A – initial and final consonants
B – initial consonant blends and digraphs
C – short vowels (word families)
D – affricates (g, j, dr, tr, ch, and the letter name h)
E – final consonant blends and digraphs
- Within Word (grades 1-4; transitional reading)
Students in this stage can read and spell many words correctly because of their knowledge of letter sounds and short-vowel patterns. These students are looking at patterns or chunks of letters together.
Features: F – long vowels with VCe
G – r-controlled vowels
H – other common long vowels
I – complex consonants
J – abstract vowels
4. Syllable Juncture (grades 3-8; intermediate reading)Students at this stage are beginning to work with words of more than one syllable. They focus on the spelling patterns where syllables meet. Students at the end of this stage begin looking at affixes (prefixes and suffixes).
Features: K – doubling final consonant and e-drop with ed and ing
L – other syllable juncture doubling
M – long vowel patterns in the stressed syllable
N – r-controlled patterns in the stressed syllable
O – unstressed syllable vowel patterns
- Derivational Relations (grades 5-12; advanced reading)
At this stage, students study how words share common derivations and related base words and roots. They discover that the meaning and spelling of parts of words remain constant across related words (ex: favor and favorite), and expands on words of Greek and Latin origin.
Features: P – silent and sounded consonants
Q – consonant changes (alterations)
R – vowel changes (alterations)
S – Latin-derived suffixes
T – assimilated prefixes; Greek and Latin roots
References: Words Their Way(Word Study for Phonics, Vocabulary, and Spelling Instruction), 4th ed. Bear, Donald, Marcia Invernizzi, Shane Templeton, Francine Johnston. 2008. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.Word Journeys . Ganske, Kathy. 2000. New York: Guilford Publications, Inc.
Parents: Here is a site that shares a great way to practice word study at home with your child.
