Word Study in the K-5 Classroom

Presented by

Elisabeth York & Sheena Wisnasky

Which is correct?

Stationary or stationery Drunkeness or drunkenness Knowledgeable or knowledgable Occurrence or occurence or occurrance

If these are difficult for you to figure out, imagine how your students feel. This is why word study is important!

Perspectives on Spelling Instruction

Memorization- learning how to spell words letter by letter with rote practice

“I know brain because I studied it all week.”

Generalizations – learning spelling patterns that exist and can be applied to many words

“I can spell train because I know how to spell rain and trap.”

Which is the better way to teach spelling?

Children should receive direct instruction in word study on generalizations in spelling.

However, rote memorization is sometimes needed to learn how to spell high frequency words like little, brother, were and what, that follow no specific spelling generalizations.

Stages of Spelling Development

Stage 1 – Emergent Spellers Stage 2 – Letter Name-Alphabetic Spellers Stage 3 – Within Word Pattern Spellers Stage 4 – Syllables and Affixes Spellers Stage 5 – Derivational Relations

Spellers

Bear, D. R. et. al. (2004) Words Their Way:

Word Study for Phonics, Vocabulary and Spelling Instruction.

Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc.

Emergent Spellers

Develop concepts of print Early - pre-phonetic random markings Middle - letters not related to sound Late - some letters related to soundExamples:

Dog

Early

Happy Rabbit

Middle

Like

Late

Letter Name-Alphabetic Spelling

Students begin to spell using the sound of the letter names:Example: ynt for went

Early - students use mainly consonants

Middle - they begin using long vowels because the letters say their name and are using but confusing short vowels

Late - students begin recognizing blends and digraphsExamples:bd = bed mak = make nat = net brak = break

Early Middle Late

Within Word Pattern Spellers

Early – spellers begin to use r-controlled vowels

Middle – begin to pick up some long vowel patterns

Late – begin learning some homophones and develop more knowledge of less frequently occurring long vowel patterns

Examples:

spase = space clowd = cloud vacashun = vacation

Early Middle Late

Syllables and Affixes Spellers

Early – most inflections are mastered: -ed,

-ing, -s Middle – students begin doubling consonants

and double and e-drop Late – long vowel patterns in accented

syllablesExamples:hoping = hopping soccir = soccer invutasion = invitation

Early Middle Late

Derivational Relations Spellers

Students begin to examine common bases and roots in words. Latin and Greek derivations become more familiar.

Examples:

knowledgable = knowledgeable

imature = immature

sycology = psychology

buffay = buffet

Where to Begin........

Spelling inventories! These are used to see

what spelling stage students are currently at based on their zone of proximal development.

Spelling Inventory

Teachers can choose from several inventories or can create their own.

Inventories progress throughout the spelling levels. Primary, Elementary and Intermediate inventories

are available in Words Their Way by Bear et al. We will examine some individual student inventories

to see how they can be used for assessing children’s spelling and planning word study instruction.

Angela’s Spelling

Angela’s Spellings1. fan2. pet3. dec dig4. robe rob5. hobe hope6. wet wait7. gom gum8. sled9. sek stick10. shin shine

11. drem dream12. bled blade13. kach coach14. fite fright15. chooingchewing16. crol crawl17. weshs wishes18. thrn thorn19. shatde shouted20. sbl spoil

Angela – Middle Letter Name AlphabeticPrimary Spelling Inventory - Individual Score Sheet (Francine Johnston 8/01)

Name of child__ Angela_________________Teacher___Wisnasky____________Grade ___1___Date ___5-18-05__Total Pts__30__

Initial

Consonant Final Consonant

Short Vowel

Digraph

Blend Long V Pattern

Other Vowels

Inflected Endings

Correct Spelling

Emergent Letter Name Alphabetic Within Word Pattern Late Early Middle Late Early Middle Late

1 fan f n a 1 4 2 pet p t e 1 4 3 dig d g i 1 4 rob r b o 3 5 hope h p o-e 2 6 wait w t ai 2 7 gum g m u 2 8 sled e sl 1 3 9 stick i st 0 10 shine sh i-e 1 11 dream dr ea 1 12 blade bl a-e 1 13 coach -ch oa 0 14 fright fr igh 0 15 chewing ch ew -ing 2 16 crawl cr aw 1 17 wishes -sh -es 1 18 thorn th or 1 19 shouted sh ou -ed 1 20 spoil sp oi 0 21 growl gr ow 22 third th ir 23 camped -mp -ed 24 tries tr -ies 25 clapping cl -pping 26. riding -ding Totals

7 / 7 5 / 7 4 / 7 5 / 6 4 / 7 1 / 7 0 / 6 1 / 3 3/20 Total Pts 30/69

Jessica’s Spelling

Jessica’s Spellings1. fan2. pet3. dig4. rob5. hope6. wat wait7. gom gum8. sled9. stek stick10. shin shine

11. drem dream12. blad blade13. cowch coach14. frit fright15. chowing chewing16. crall crawl17. weshisis wishes18. thorn19. sowted shouted20. spoweyual spoil

Jessica – Middle Within Word PatternPrimary Spelling Inventory - Individual Score Sheet (Francine Johnston 8/01)

Name of child__Jessica_______________________Teacher___Wisnasky____________Grade ___1___Date ___5-18-05__Total Pts______

Initial Consonant

Final Consonant

Short Vowel

Digraph

Blend Long V Pattern

Other Vowels

Inflected Endings

Correct Spelling

Emergent Letter Name Alphabetic Within Word Pattern Late Early Middle Late Early Middle Late

1 fan f n a 1 4 2 pet p t e 1 4 3 dig d g i 1 4 4 rob r b o 1 4 5 hope h p o-e 1 4 6 wait w t ai 2 7 gum g m u 2 8 sled e sl 1 3 9 stick i st 1 10 shine sh i-e 1 11 dream dr ea 1 12 blade bl a-e 1 13 coach -ch oa 1 14 fright fr igh 1 15 chewing ch ew -ing 2 16 crawl cr aw 1 17 wishes -sh -es 1 18 thorn th or 1 3 19 shouted sh ou -ed 1 20 spoil sp oi 1 21 growl gr ow 22 third th ir 23 camped -mp -ed 24 tries tr -ies 25 clapping cl -pping 26. riding -ding Totals

7 / 7 7 / 7 5 / 7 5 / 6 7 / 7 1 / 7 1 / 6 2 / 3 7/20 Total Pts 42/69

Christine’s Spelling

Christine’s Spellings1. fan2. pet3. big4. rob5. hope6. waite wait7. gum8. sled9. stick10. shine

11. dream12. blade13. coach14. frite fright15. chowing chewing16. cral crawl17. wishis wishes18. thorn19. shouted20. spoyl spoil

Christine – Late Within Word Pattern SpellerPrimary Spelling Inventory - Individual Score Sheet (Francine Johnston 8/01)

Name of child__ Christine_________________Teacher___Wisnasky____________Grade ___1___Date ___5-18-05__Total Pts__58__

Initial

Consonant Final Consonant

Short Vowel

Digraph

Blend Long V Pattern

Other Vowels

Inflected Endings

Correct Spelling

Emergent Letter Name Alphabetic Within Word Pattern Late Early Middle Late Early Middle Late

1 fan f n a 1 4 2 pet p t e 1 4 3 dig d g i 1 4 4 rob r b o 1 4 5 hope h p o-e 1 4 6 wait w t ai 3 7 gum g m u 1 4 8 sled e sl 1 3 9 stick i st 1 3 10 shine sh i-e 1 3 11 dream dr ea 1 3 12 blade bl a-e 1 3 13 coach -ch oa 1 3 14 fright fr igh 1 15 chewing ch ew -ing 2 16 crawl cr aw 1 17 wishes -sh -es 1 18 thorn th or 1 3 19 shouted sh ou -ed 1 4 20 spoil sp oi 1 21 growl gr ow 22 third th ir 23 camped -mp -ed 24 tries tr -ies 25 clapping cl -pping 26. riding -ding Totals

7 / 7 7 / 7 7 / 7 6 / 6 7 / 7 6 / 7 2 / 5 2 / 3 14 / 20 Total Pts 55 / 69

Class CompositePrimary Spelling Inventory - Class Composite

Teacher____Wisnasky_________________ School_____________________________ Grade ___1___ Date _5-18-05_

Name of the Child

Possible Points

Initial Cons

7

Final Cons

7

Short Vowel

7

Digraph 6

Blend

7

Long V Pattern

7

Other Vowel

5

Inflected Endings

3

Correct

20

Total Points

69

1 Connor 7 7 7 6 7 7 5 3 20 69 2 Christine 7 7 7 6 7 6 3 2 14 59 3 Min 7 7 7 6 7 5 2 3 15 59 4 Nathan 7 7 7 6 7 2 3 1 11 50 5 Emillie 7 7 7 5 7 2 1 1 8 45 6 Roxy 7 7 7 1 7 4 1 2 9 45 7 Khristian 7 7 6 4 5 3 0 2 8 42 8 Jessica 7 7 5 5 7 1 1 2 7 42 9 Cristian 7 7 4 6 7 1 1 3 2 41 10 Daisy 7 7 5 4 6 1 1 1 3 35 11 Khlarissa 7 7 5 3 5 1 0 1 5 34 12 Katie 7 7 6 3 2 1 0 1 6 33 13 Mackenzie 7 7 4 1 4 2 0 2 5 32 14 Alexis 6 6 5 4 2 2 0 1 5 31 15 Angela 7 5 4 5 4 1 0 3 3 29 16 Alex 7 6 6 0 2 1 1 0 4 27 17 Genesis 7 6 5 0 2 0 0 2 2 24 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

Highlight the students who miss more than 1 on a particular feature (or 2 for blends) - they will benefit from more instruction in that area

Word Study GroupsPrimary Spelling Inventory - Class Composite

Teacher____Wisnasky_________________ School_____________________________ Grade ___1___ Date _5-18-05_

Name of the Child

Possible Points

Initial Cons

7

Final Cons

7

Short Vowel

7

Digraph 6

Blend

7

Long V Pattern

7

Other Vowel

5

Inflected Endings

3

Correct

20

Total Points

69

1 Connor 7 7 7 6 7 7 5 3 20 69 2 Christine 7 7 7 6 7 6 3 2 14 59 3 Min 7 7 7 6 7 5 2 3 15 59 4 Nathan 7 7 7 6 7 2 3 1 11 50 5 Emillie 7 7 7 5 7 2 1 1 8 45 6 Roxy 7 7 7 1 7 4 1 2 9 45 7 Khristian 7 7 6 4 5 3 0 2 8 42 8 Jessica 7 7 5 5 7 1 1 2 7 42 9 Cristian 7 7 4 6 7 1 1 3 2 41 10 Daisy 7 7 5 4 6 1 1 1 3 35 11 Khlarissa 7 7 5 3 5 1 0 1 5 34 12 Katie 7 7 6 3 2 1 0 1 6 33 13 Mackenzie 7 7 4 1 4 2 0 2 5 32 14 Alexis 6 6 5 4 2 2 0 1 5 31 15 Angela 7 5 4 5 4 1 0 3 3 29 16 Alex 7 6 6 0 2 1 1 0 4 27 17 Genesis 7 6 5 0 2 0 0 2 2 24 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

Highlight the students who miss more than 1 on a particular feature (or 2 for blends) - they will benefit from more instruction in that area

More Information

This is just a brief overview of word study. Resources for more information by Bear, Invernizzi,

Templeton and Johnston:– Words Their Way

– Words Their Way: Letter and Picture Sorts for Emergent Spellers

– Words Their Way: Word Sorts for Letter Name Alphabetic Spellers

– Words Their Way: Word Sorts for Within Word Pattern Spellers

– Words Their Way: Word Sorts for Syllables and Affixes Spellers

– Words Their Way: Word Sorts for Derivational Relations Spellers