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Words Their Way
Word Study for Phonics, Spelling
and Vocabulary Instruction
A study by Clarke (1988) found that first graders
who were encouraged to use invented spellings
wrote more and could spell as well at the end of
the year as first graders who had been told how
to spell the words before writing.
Many teachers wonder when they should make the
shift from allowing children to write in invented
spelling to demanding correctness. The answer
is “from the start.” Teachers must hold students
accountable for what they have been taught.
p. 81 Words Their Way
Because the sequence for phonics and spelling instruction is
cumulative and progresses linearly and there will always be some
features that have not yet been taught, children will always invent a
spelling for what they do not yet know.
Why word study?
Literacy is like a braid of interwoven threads.
• Reading
• Oral Language
• Writing
Words Their Way demonstrates how
exploration of orthographic knowledge can
lead to the lengthening and strengthening
of the literacy braid.
Word study, as described in Words
Their Way, occurs in hands-on
activities that mimic basic cognitive
learning processes; Comparing and
contrasting categories of word
features and discovering
similarities and differences within
and between spelling features.
• During word study, words and pictures are
sorted in routines that require students to
examine, discriminate, and make critical
judgments about speech sounds, word
structures, spelling patterns, and meanings.
The activities build on what students can do
on their own.
• Concrete pictures and words are used to
illustrate principles of similarity and
difference.
• The power of the Words Their Way model
for word study lies in the diagnostic
information contained in the students’
spelling inventions that reveal their current
understanding of how written English words
work.
• By using students’ invented spellings as a
guide, teachers can differentiate efficient,
effective instruction in phonics, spelling and
vocabulary.
Why word study is important?
• Becoming fully literate is absolutely dependent on
fast, accurate recognition of words in texts, and
fast, accurate production of words in writing so
that readers can focus their attention on making
meaning.
• Students need hands-on opportunities to
manipulate word features in a way that allows
them to generalize beyond isolated, individual
examples to entire groups of words that are
spelled the same way (Juel & Minden-Cupp,
2000).
• Students must engage in meaningful reading and
writing, and have multiple opportunities to
examine those same words out of context.
Word Study can be accomplished
in as little as 15 minutes a day!
• 1. Through active exploration, word study
teaches students to examine words to discover
the regularities, patterns and conventions of
English orthography needed to read and spell.
• 2. Word study increases specific knowledge of
words – the spelling and meaning of individual
words.
• The better our knowledge of the system, the
better we are decoding an unfamiliar word,
spelling correctly, or guessing the meaning of a
word.
• Word Study has evolved from 3 decades of
developmental aspects of word knowledge with
children and adults
• The research has documented the convergence of
certain reoccurring orthographic principles.
• These principles have been described in
relationship to the types of errors noted,
specifically:
• 1. Errors dealing with the alphabetic match of
letters and sound (BAD for bed).
• 2. Errors dealing with letter patterns (SNAIK for
snake,) and
• 3. errors dealing with words related in meaning
(INVUTATION for invitation).
• Individuals move from using but confusing
elements of sound,
• To using but confusing elements of pattern,
• To using but confusing elements of
meaning.
• Word Study stems from what researchers
have learned about the orthographic
structure of written words. There are
3 layers of English orthography:
alphabet, pattern and meaning.
3 Layers of English Orthography
• 1. Alphabet :
Our spelling system is alphabetic because it
represents the relationship between letters
and sounds.
• Letter sound relationships occur from left
to right.
• Either single letters or groups of letters
produce single sounds – example:
Cat /c/, /a/, /t/
Chin /ch/, /i/, /n/
• 2. Pattern:
• The pattern layer overlies the alphabetic layer.
• Patterns help talk efficiently about the alphabetic
layer as well. Words of more than one syllable
also follow spelling patterns.
• Overall, knowledge about patterns within words,
will be of considerable value to students in both
their reading and writing.
• Two of the most common patterns are:
-VCCV robber
-VCV radar, pilot, limit
• 3. Meaning (layer of information):
• This is when students learn that groups of letters
can represent meaning directly, that they will
become much more less puzzled when
encountering unusual spellings.
• Ex: photo in photograph, photographer, and
photographic
• By building connections between meaning parts
and their derivations, we enlarge our
vocabulary.
****Alphabet, pattern, and meaning represent three
broad principles of written English and form the
layered record of orthographic history.
The Role of Word Sorting
•
Word sorting offers the best of both constructivist learning and teacherdirected instruction.
• Picture and word sorting differ from other phonics programs in some important
ways.
They are interesting and fun because they are manipulative.
The process of sorting requires students to pay attention to words and to make
logical decisions about their sound, pattern, and /or meaning as they place
each in its group.
• Sorting is analytic, whereas many phonics programs take a synthetic
approach. (In both approaches, students are taught letter-sound
correspondences however in a synthetic approach they are expected to
sound out unknown words phoneme by phoneme, sometimes every word in a
sentence which can make reading tedious and detract from meaning and
engagement.
• Analytic phonics supports the synthetic skill necessary to decode new words
when reading and encode words when writing.
• Sorting does not rely on rote memorization, or on the recitation of rules prior to
an understanding of the underlying principles.
• Memorization does have a place and is necessary to master the English
spelling system. As in: an animal is spelled bear & the adjective is spelled
bare.
Role of Word Sorting (cont.)
• Sorts are more efficient because they offer more
concentrated practice than most phonics programs by
doubling or tripling the number of examples children
study, and they study them for a shorter amount of time.
• Finally, because of the simplicity of sorting routines,
teachers find it easier to differentiate instruction among
differentiate instruction among different groups of learners
because……………
• Sorting is infinitely adaptable and the process involved in
categorizing word features lends itself to cooperative
learning.
• One central goal of WTW / Word Study is to teach
students how to spell and decode new words and to
improve their word recognition speed and understanding
in general.
• Hands-on experience comparing and
contrasting words by sound so that they
can categorize similar words and associate
them consistently with letters and letter
combinations. The heart of the alphabetic
principle.
• Hands-on experience comparing and
contrasting words by consistent spelling
patterns.
• Hands-on experience categorizing words
by meaning, use , and parts of speech.
Types of Word Sorts
Sound Sorts
1. Picture sorts- can be used to develop
phonological awareness and also phonics when
used with letters/words.
2. Word sorts- not all word sorts involve a sound
contrast, but most do.
3. Blind sorts- A key word or picture for each sound
is established; the teacher or partner shuffles
the word cards, and then calls the words aloud
without showing them. The student indicates the
correct category by pointing to or naming the
key word that has the same sound. (can also be
used as a blind writing sort)
Types of Sorts (cont.)
• Pattern Sorts –
When students use the printed form of the
word they can sort by the visual patterns
formed by groups of letters or letter
sequences.
• Sometimes a new feature is best introduced
with a pattern sort to reveal a related sound
difference.
• Word sorts are the mainstay of pattern sorts
and use key words containing the pattern
under study to label each feature category.
Types of Sorts (cont.)
Meaning sorts
• Spelling – Meaning sorts
(a) homophone and homograph sorts, and
(b) roots, stems, and affix sorts.
• Concept sorts – using pictures or words is a good
way to link vocabulary instruction to students’
conceptual understanding and are appropriate for
all ages, stages of word knowledge and should be
used regularly in all content areas. ( Good for building
background knowledge before a story or new unit of study. Use for
advanced organizers for anticipating new reading and then revisited
and refined after reading, organize ideas before writing and even for
teaching grammar by sorting parts of speech)
Approaches to Sorting
• Teacher-directed closed sorts
• Student-centered open sorts
Variations of Sorts
• Guess My Category
• Writing sorts (p.57- “Writing words as a study technique for
spelling is well established. Undoubtedly the motoric act
reinforces the memory for associating letters and patterns
with sounds and meanings. However the practice of
assigning students to write words five or more times is of
questionable value because it can become simply mindless
copying. Where there is no thinking, there is no learning.
Writing words into categories demands that students attend
to the sound and/ or the pattern of letters and to think about
how those characteristics correspond with the established
categories cued by the key word, picture, or pattern at the
top of the column. Writing sorts encourage the use of
analogy as students use the key word as a clue for the
spelling of words that have the same sound, pattern, or
meaning.”)
Sorting Variations (cont.
• Word Hunts- Students do not automatically
make the connection between spelling words
and reading words. Word hunts (finding
additional words that are examples of the sound,
pattern, or meaning unit they are studying) help
students make that connection between spelling
words and reading words. These words should
be added to writing sorts. It is important that
students not confuse skimming for word patterns
with reading for meaning, therefore students
should use familiar text, already-read text or text
that they are currently reading for word hunts.
Sorting Variations (cont.)
• Brainstorming – for additional examples for sorts
and may be used to introduce a sort.
• Repeated individual and buddy sorts- one of the
best ways to build fast, accurate recognition of
these spelling units. Fluency shows mastery.
• Speed Sorts – motivating and develop fluency and
automaticity (Samuels,1988) Students should
record times. Also, beat-the-teacher sorts.
• Draw & Label / Cut & paste sorts- variation to a
drawing sorts.
**Modeling the categorization procedure you want
your students to use is important, so think
about how you will do this. P. 63 Preparing your Sorts
Words Their Way / Word Study is
Developmental.
• WTW is not a one size fits all program of
instruction that begins in the same place for
all students within a grade level.
• By interpreting what students do when they
spell, educators can target a specific
student’s “zone of proximal development”
(Vygotsky, 1962) and plan word study
instruction that this student is conceptually
ready to master.
The Development of Orthographic
Knowledge
• This occurs in stages which are marked by
broad, qualitative shifts in the types of
spelling errors students commit as well as
behavioral changes in their reading and
writing.
• WTW is based on the student’s levels of
orthographic knowledge and activities
presented in the book are arranged by the
stages of spelling.
• For each stage of learning, students’
orthographic knowledge is defined by three
functional levels that are useful guides for
knowing when to teach what (Invernizzi,
1994):
-1. What students do correctly- an
independent or easy level.
-2. What students use but confuse- an
instructional level where instruction is most
helpful.
-3. What is absent in students’ spelling – a
frustration level where spelling concepts are
too difficult.
It is important to know the continuum of orthographic knowledge.
Synchrony of Literacy Development
• The scope and sequence of WTW is based on
the developmental foundation of specific kinds of
errors at particular stages of orthographic
knowledge reflect a progressive differentiation of
word elements which determine how words are
read and written.
• This harmony in timing of development has been
described and the synchrony of reading, writing
and spelling development (Bear, 1991).
Stages of Reading / Spelling
Development
•
•
•
•
•
Emergent
Beginning Reader / Letter Name – Alphabetic
Transitional Reader / Within Word Pattern
Intermediate Reader / Syllables and Affixes
Advanced Reader / Derivational Relations
• By conducting regular spelling assessments,
about 3 times a year, you can track students’
progress and development. The spelling
assessment will also inform us about the
students’ reading development.
Stage 1: Emergent Spelling Stage
• Emergent Spelling is a period of
prereading and pretend writing.
• Pretend to read by rehearsing and reciting
well-known poems and jingles to heart.
• Pretend to write. Writing is based on
language and can be talked about.
• Gradually acquire directionality.
Stage 2: Letter Name - Alphabetic
Stage
• Letter Name – Alphabetic Stage is the beginning
of conventional reading and writing.
• They use the sound/letter match to write..
• Initially in this stage, the students spell
beginnings sounds and ending sounds. By the
middle of the stage, students begin to use a
vowel in each syllable, and begin to spell short
vowel patterns conventionally.
• Finger-pointing.
• Some sight words.
Middle and Late Letter NameAlphabetic Spelling
• Differentiation between consonants and
vowels
• Clear letter sound relationships
• Frequently occurring short vowel words.
Stage 3: Within Word Pattern
Spelling
• Students build on their knowledge of the sound
level of English orthography and explore the
pattern level.
• Students are in the transitional reading/literacy
stage. Transitional readers read most singlesyllable words accurately and with increasing
fluency. They can read some multi-syllable words
when there is enough contextual support.
• Students in the within word pattern stage use but
confuse vowel patterns. They no longer spell
boat sound by sound to produce BOT, but BOTE,
BOWT, BOOT, or even boat as they experiment
with possible patterns for the long –o sound.
Within Word Stage (cont.)
• The study of prefixes and suffixes is explored in the next
stage, syllables and affixes. Increasingly, however, the
reading and language arts content standards of many
states are requiring that students are developmentally in
the Within Word Pattern phase.
• These words should be explored first as vocabulary
words students encounter in their reading, and are not
treated as spelling words until students know how to
spell the base word on which they are built.
• The sequence of word study in the Within Word Pattern
stage begins by taking a step back with a review of short
vowels as they are compared with long vowels then
shifts to common and then less common and rinfluenced long vowel patterns.
What about high frequency words?
• A number of spelling programs feature high-frequency or
high-utility words and focus on a small core of words
students need the most such as said, because, there, etc.
• In many cases, this reduces spelling to a matter of brute
memorization and offers students no opportunity to form
generalizations that can extend to the reading and spelling
of thousands of unstudied words.
• Many of these high-frequency words do not folow common
spelling patterns, but can be included in within word pattern
sorts as oddballs. Ex. Said is usually examined with other
words that have the ai pattern, such as paid, faint, and
wait. It becomes memorable because it stands alone in
contrast to the many words that follow both the sound and
spelling pattern feature.
• Most of the top 200 most frequently occurring words
according to Dolch and Fry are covered by the end of the
Within Word Pattern Stage.
Guidelines for Creating Word Sorts
• Sorts that contrast sounds and patterns
are the key to effective word study in this
stage. Possible contrasts are suggested in
Table 6-2 (pages 180-181) and lists of
words in Appendix E.
Intermediate Readers /
Syllables & Affixes Stage
• Beginning in 2nd and 3rd grades for some
students and in 4th for most students, cognitive
and language growth allows children to make
new and richer connections among the words
they already know and the words they will learn.
• Teachers can establish a firm foundation in
spelling and vocabulary development as they
facilitate students’ move into understanding the
role of structure and meaning in the spelling
system.
Syllables & Affixes Stage
• One of the most important responsibilities for word study
instruction at this stage is to engage students in
examining how important word elements- prefixes,
suffixes, and base words – combine; this structural
analysis is a powerful tool for vocabulary development,
spelling, and figuring out unfamiliar words during
reading. (See p.205)
• P.214-215 Exploring New Vocabulary
• P. 220 Guidelines- It is fine to select a few words that
students might not know the meaning of, or words that
they only know tenuously, but do not overburden sorts
with these words. (Looking a few words up in a
dictionary as a part of the initial demonstration lesson is
a good way to encourage regular dictionary use for an
authentic reason.
Features - Syllables & Affixes Stage
• 1. How consonant and vowel patterns are
represented in polysyllabic words
• 2. What occurs when syllables join
together (syllable juncture)
• 3. How stress or lack of stress determines
the clarity of the sounds in syllables
• 4. How simple affixes (prefixes and
suffixes) change the usage, meaning, and
spelling of words
Syllables & Affixes
Sequence and Pacing
• Table 7-3 (p.217)
• P. 219 Word Study Lesson Plan and Extensions
for Word Study Notebooks.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
1. Find words that have base words and underline the base word.
2. Break words into syllables and underline the accented syllables.
3. make appropriate words on your lists plural or add –ing or –ed.
4. Circle any prefix and /or suffix, when possible, to words on your list.
5. Add a prefix and /or suffix, when possible, to words on your list.
6. Select five words and use them in sentences.
7. Sort your words by parts of speech or subject areas and record your sort.
8. Go for speed. Sort your words three times and record your times.
9. Select five words to look up in the dictionary. Record the multiple
meanings you find for each word.
Activities / Syllables & Affixes Stage
• Many of the suggested games and
activities provided in the text (p.220-229)
are related to vocabulary.
Advanced Readers/
Derivational Relations Stage
• The term, derivational relations, emphasizes
how spelling and vocabulary knowledge at this
satge grow primarily through processes of
derivation- from a single base word or word root,
a number of related words are derived through
the addition of prefixes and suffixes which
students began to explore in the Syllables &
Affixes Stage.
• There is reciprocity between growth in
vocabulary and spelling knowledge and the
amount of reading and writing in which students
are engaged (e.g.,Carlisel, 2000; Cunningham & Stanovich,
2003; Mahony, Singson, & Mann, 2000; Smith, 1998).
Words that are related in meaning
are often related in spelling as well.
• Ex. – COMPISITION for composition
Word related in meaning would provide
spelling clue.
- compose
Characteristics / Derivational Relations Stage
• Specific spelling errors characteristic of this stage fall into
3 main categories.
• 1. In polysyllabic words, there are often unstressed
syllables in which the vowel is reduced to the schwa
sound, as in the second syllable of opposition.
Remembering the root from which this word is derived
(oppose) will often help the speller choose the correct
vowel.
• 2. Suffixes like the -tion in opposition also pose
challenges for spellers because they are easily confused
with –ian (clinician) and –sion (tension), which sound the
same.
• 3. Other errors occur in the feature known as an
absorbed or assimilated prefix. The prefix in opposition
originally comes form ob, but because the root word starts
with the letter p (pos), the spelling changed to reflect an
easier pronunciation (obposition or opposition?)
Spelling – Meaning Connection
• The spelling – meaning connection is another way of
referring to the significant role that morphology plays in
the spelling system.
• A number of sound changes may occur in a group of
related words whose spelling remains the same, and so
we guide students first ot notice particular changes that
represent an increasing order of difficulty and
abstractness. Templeton (1979, 1983,1989, 1992) and
Templeton and Scarborough-Franks (1985) originally
identified this order of difficulty and abstractness, recent
work by Leong (2000) further substantiates this
sequence.
• Sequence of Word Study / Derivational Relations Stage
Table 8-1 (p.234-235)
Consonant Alternation, Vowel Alternation, Adding –ion to
Words, Greek and Latin Elements, Advanced Suffix
Study, Absorbed Prefixes, Content Area Vocabulary, and
Word Origins
Activities / Derivational Relations
• Pages 246-261
Getting Started: The Assessment of
Orthographic Development
Chapter 3
• There are 3 steps in the assessment processes:
• Step 1: Collect a spelling sample that includes
several invented spellings
• Step 2: Analyze the spelling sample to determine
the stage of orthographic development.
Look for what the student is using but confusing.
• Step 3: After completing a spelling-by-stage
assessment you will need to plan and organize
their instruction and then monitor the student’s
growth.
Spelling Inventories
• The spelling inventories are not to be used
as part of students’ grades.
• Should be given 3 times a year (or more):
September, January, and May
• As the students advance, more advanced
spelling inventories should be administered.
• Spelling inventories are located in the
appendix of the WTW textbook and are also
available on the accompanying CD. (Alternate
inventories are also included.)
Spelling Inventories (cont.)
• The words in the spelling inventories are arranged from
easiest to hardest.
• The inventories should be as easy as a spelling test to
administer and take no more than 15 minutes. Can be
given to whole groups.
• Should be given in a relaxed atmosphere.
• Explain to students why they are taking the inventory.
• If you are having trouble reading the student’s
handwriting, ask them to help you instead of guessing.
• See specific inventories to determine how many words
to call/ students should be asked to spell. (This may
vary by age group and inventory.)
• Note scoring directions.
Analyzing Students’ Assessment Papers
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Use the checklist, error & feature guides (that show the most common
errors).
Feature guides assist teachers to determine students’ orthographic stage by
using some of the features in orthographic development.
Note how many words the student spelled correctly out of the possible
number of words.( A raw score of the number of words spelled correctly will
give you a rough estimate of the student’s spelling stage. )
In planning for instruction, analyze the features he uses but confuses (his
instructional level): this is generally in the first feature category where the
student misses 2 or more.
Reversals should be noted, but not counted as incorrect features. (Static
reversals / ex. b/d) They should not get the extra point for the word being
spelled correctly.
Kinetic reversals – when the letters are present but out of order, as with
beginning spellers, ( Ex. FNA for fan) should be noted but not counted
incorrect as features. They should not get credit for having the word spelled
correctly. (Students should get credit for what they have used.) Such errors
offer interesting insights into their developing word knowledge.
See scoring the Feature Guides – pages 34-38
Spelling Inventories are valuable artifacts to add to students’ portfolios
and can be used in parent conferences to discuss individual needs and
progress.
Using Classroom Profiles to Group
for Instruction
• Use feature guide scores to complete a
Classroom Composite which helps you to create
instructional groupings.
• On the classroom composite, students and
scores should be listed from the highest total
score to the lowest. (P.33-37)
• Spelling –by-Stage Classroom Organization
Chart can further assist in building
developmental spelling groups. (Grouping –
p.38-43)
• Groups should be fluid / flexible so that students
can move-on when necessary.
Weekly and Review Spelling Tests
• Weekly tests at most grade levels are recommended.
• Students should be accountable for learning to spell the
words they have sorted and worked with in various
activities all week and will ideally be very successful on
these weekly tests.
• If students miss more than a few words, it may mean that
they need to spend more time on a particular
feature/contrast or that they are not ready to study the
feature and should work on easier features first.
• Periodically, review tests should be given – without asking
students to study in advance – to test for retention.
• Weekly spelling test grades should NOT be their only
spelling grades. Students should be held accountable for
features already mastered in their daily writing.
• Be creative with spelling tests. ( if there are 25 words in
the weekly sort – use a random drawing for 10 and then
use a couple of words found in their word hunts that follow
the patterns for the sort but were not included in the given
word list for the weekly sort)
ReferencesBear, D., Invernizzi, M., Templeton, S., &
Johnston, F. (2008). Words Their Way:
Word Study for Phonics, Vocabulary, and
Spelling Instruction. 4th Edition. Pearson.
Powerpoint compiled byJackie Richardson
Sunset Park Elementary
[email protected]