Word Study? What Words?

This week I am continuing to focus on Word Study since as a district we are growing and changing in that direction. Each classroom I visit this week has amazed me with their effort in this area. All the students are learning the process of inquiry. They are experiencing the joy of exploring with words.

Many teachers are still clarifying the terms of high-frequency words versus pattern words. Then we throw in terms such as content vocabulary words and the mix continues. Our high frequency words are those simple words that are most often used in student's reading and writing. They need to be accessible to children through the word wall and/or their personal word journals and these words need to be learned so well that the child doesn't have to think before recognizing them. We call this "automaticity." They just come quickly and with out a lot of thought. Our pattern words are those that we use for word sorts to explore patterns in words and discover how some words follow certain patterns.

Content vocabulary and/or vocabulary are the words that are specific to certain conent areas. For example; mutiply, divide for Math. Continent, country for Social Studies. These words children need to know the meaning of and may or may not be able to spell.

Word Study

September has been the season of word study questions and answers. As our district moves away from a traditional spelling program to a "Word Study" approach we all have many questions and concerns. But the main idea is for our students to apply their spelling knowledge in their everyday writing.

We will have to start small. Identifying our student's developmental levels is the most important aspect of the approach. Understanding where our students are starting from is our guide to instruction.

Engaging students in word study will be vital. Having students be accountable for high frequency words in their writing will be essential. How do we achieve that? I will be listing a variety of ways for students to study those words. Check out my next blog.