WHAT IS WORDS THEIR WAY ? PRESENTED BY: NICOLE POLACCO & ANDREW VAIL

In 2012, with the help of our staff developer from Columbia, all of the primary teachers starting using Words Their Way (WTW). Prior to that time, we used a variety of programs. This year’s work: Consistent resources for each teacher and professional development for all teachers Continue our study of best practices Set routines Develop differentiation schedules Make materials for student use Address concerns that pop up WTW IN WOODSTOCK

W HAT IS WORDS THEIR WAY? WTW is word play designed to help kids think about words in multiple ways. Rather than simply studying one specific word, we study “kinds of words.” We play with words and word-parts to understand how they work.

KINDERGARTEN SECOND take him jug pile give In the kindergarten example above, students might sort pictures based on the first sound. Second graders might sort long and short vowel words. The word ‘give’ is an oddball because it requires more thinking and talking. The i makes a short sound, but it follows a long vowel spelling pattern.

HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT MY CHILD SHOULD BE WORKING ON? Let us show you! At our presentation, we gave a small “spelling inventory” and asked parents to include some errors which we looked at using the next slide as a guide.

initial sound final sound short vowel digraphs blend long other vowels endings mad mda hen hne stem m e st chime ch i-e bright brigh catches c ach es /3 /4 /2 /0 /1 We use a chart like this to look for patterns in student spelling. This gives us insight into how each child thinks about words.

TOOLS THAT HELP US PLACE LEARNERS Spelling inventory Student writing from writing workshop Periodic spot-checks (in some cases, a spelling test)

THE BASICS Kindergarten – beginning sounds, rhyming, syllables, word families First – short vowel words, blends, diagraphs, vowels with r Second – compound words, VCe words, vowel pairs, other vowel pairs Third – unusual past tense, more vowel pairs, endings, syllables

In the fall, we made spreadsheets for the classroom teachers. Initial assessments help them build groups of learners with similar abilities. ConsonantsShort LongOtherFeatureTotal InitialFinalVowelsDiagraphsBlendsVowels PointsRank Order Unaccented Short LongOtherInflectedSyllableFinalHarderBases orTotal ConsonantsVowelsDiagraphsBlendsVowels EndingsJuncturesSyllablesSuffixesRootsRank Order In some classes, it is very easy to build differentiated groups. At other times, it’s a challenge.

WHAT KIND OF WORK HAPPENS IN SCHOOL? k123 routine Two 10-day cycles per month 5 day cycle 6 day cycle groups3323 word wall plan 5 words in a 10-day cycle 4 words weekly 4 per week individual and class word walls word wall 7 per 2 weeks test assessment informal test Friday on sorts and word wall words -testing for patterns weekly spelling tests on ten of the words and 4 sight words, two bonus words from prior word wall words* testing on day 6, test on 10 sort words word wall assessed informally homework lists go home but no homework homework packet from sorts homework tic-tac-toe word wall words

COMMON WTW LANGUAGE Affix- A suffix or prefix attached to a base work, stem, or root to alter meaning. Alphabetic- A writing system containing characters or symbols representing individual speech sounds. Base word- A Word to which prefixes and/or suffixes are added. For example, the base word of unwholesome is whole. Blind sort- A picture or word sort done with a partner in which students who are responsible for sorting cannot see the word. They must instead attend to the sounds and sometimes visualize the spelling pattern to determine the category. Choral reading- Oral reading done in unison with another person or persons. Oddballs- Words that do not fit the targeted feature in a sort. Pattern sort- A word sort in which students categorize words according to similar spelling patterns.

COMMON WTW LANGUAGE (CONTINUED) Picture Sort- A categorization task in which pictures are sorted into categories of similarity and difference. Pictures may be sorted by sound or by meaning. Pictures cannot be sorted by pattern. Sight Words- Words recognized and pronounced immediately “at first sight.” A sight word is simply any known word, regardless of its frequency or phonetic regularity. Sound Sort- Sorts that ask students to categorize pictures or words by sound as opposed to visual patterns. Word Families- Phonograms or words that share the same rime. (ex: fast, past, last, blast, all share the ‘ast’ rime.) Word Sort- A basic word study routine in which students group words into categories. Word sorting involves comparing and contrasting within and across categories.

SOME ADDITIONAL TERMS Closed syllable- A closed syllable ends with or is “closed” by a consonant sound. Example: net, lip, run, pot, fan Open syllable- An open syllable ends with a long-vowel sound. Example: me, go, by Digraph- two letters that represent one sound. For example, sh, ch, th, and wh. Long Vowels- Every vowel (a, e, i, o, u) has two sounds, commonly referred to as “long” and “short.” The long-vowel sound “says its letter name.” Long-vowel sounds can be heard at the beginning of these words: ape, emu, island, open and unicorn. Short Vowels- The vocal cords are more relaxed when producing the short-vowel sound, as opposed to the long-vowel sound. The five short vowels can be heard at the beginning of these words: apple, egg, igloo, octopus and umbrella.

COMMON WTW ACTIVITIES Read, Make, Write- Students read the spelling word from column one. In column two, students make the word using letter tiles or other manipulatives provided by the teacher. In the third column, the student writes the word. Make it, Break It- Students work with a partner to make spelling words using letter tiles. The first student will make the word and break it apart three times. Then write the word. If I know, Then I know – Students start with a known words and make new words using the known pattern. “If I know the word hopping, then I can make the word stopping.” Speed Sorts: Sort your words and time yourself (use a stopwatch or the second hand on a clock.) Resort and time again to see if you can beat your best time. Write the sort, date and your times in your WTW Notebook. Word-O: Take a word from your sorting list and make a new word by changing one letter. Ex. tub → cub take → cake why → who spit → spot Blind Sort: (see Common WTW Language above)