This post is for Kaitlin and Jenny to post their thoughts on the article written by Williams, Phillips-Birdsong, Hufnagel, Hungler, and Lundstrom concerning word study instruction. Meg and Marti, let's comment on their responses so we can have a discussion about the article!
Thanks!
I thought I knew what word study was, but this article helped to clarify it for me. Word study is not just vocabulary or word recognition instruction as I had previously thought. Rather, it is a way of teaching spelling which doesn't focus exclusively on memorization. Instead, it teaches kids about alphabet, spelling, and meaning patterns that help students use this knowledge to correct words in their own writing and transfer this knowledge to new words.
ReplyDeleteThree main conclusions these authors came to about word study:
1. Systematic word study helps students learn target words and apply what they learned to new words.
2. Using word study in a whole group setting is not the most effective way to use this method.
3. Some students may need explicit and direct instruction of how to apply what they learn in word study lessons/activities to their own writing.
4. Word study must be linked to interactive writing helps students become better spellers and writers.
I really like the aspect of linking the word study to writing. This is a key piece! It helps bridge the gap between learning new words and helping students own them.
DeleteI agree with not using word work in whole group. Students are at different levels and need to learn different areas of vocabulary and spelling.
Yes, word study should be linked to writing? Any tips to make this more concrete for kids?
DeleteI really like the idea of word study. Students need to be able to learn how patterns are reflective of meaning of words. English is so much more complex than just sounding the words out. Students need to have strategies and knowledge for words. I think that interactive writing is a great idea. I haven't tried it, since I mostly work with older kids, but I hope to try it one day.
Any center can be linked to writing. You can always have kids reflect or journal their process after they finish. This could be an earlybird activity.
DeleteAlso, students could refer to their personal word walls and what they learned in their word study groups to any type of writing. Whatever writing you are already planning to do, word study can apply to it. Also, using word study as a part of daily or weekly interactive writing.
DeleteI love word study. My students (albiet older than we are studying in this class) all journal every day. They use some of the words we study throughout the week. We talk about word parts, affixes, parts of speech, slang, how the words are used in the text, in speech, and in different kinds of writing. Interactive writing would be a fun way to continue to talk about words with younger children, although I think younger children could also keep journals.
DeleteSorry, that should say FOUR main conclusions ;)
ReplyDeleteI love word work study! I had this as one of my daily centers during guided reading. The student's would be taught explicit instruction the week before. They'd learn a certain skill or phonics lesson, then I'd set up a word work center where they could use this skill. My centers would focus around rhyming, syllables, spelling patterns, and other aspects. Word work allows students to explore the language on their own after they've been taught the skill.
ReplyDeleteI also used a word wall in my class. I'd choose vocabulary for the week and we'd do activities that focused around that word. Once the students mastered the word, usually on Thursdays, which gave them 4 days to practice using the word, we'd put the word up. I only put words up that we had studied and practiced. They also had to master it!
I love using word walls, too! Even in the upper grades, they are a valuable word study tool. The struggle I find with word walls is that they need to always be changing to accommodate new words, as well as to remove words students have mastered. I'm not good about changing the words out.
DeleteHow do you do your word walls? I like using them too, and always want to learn how to improve.
DeleteI like your center work, Kaitlin, did you use hands-on activities or were they mostly writing? I think word study would be great in small groups or pairs as students learn at different levels.
I didn't think about older kids needing to change out the words so often. Kindergarten do not learn the amount of words older kids would, therefore we can keep the words up all year. How about a mobile word wall done in a manila folder! They can have a hard copy of all their words at their desk along with the current words on the actual wall.
DeleteI did mostly hands-on for the word work center. I had a writing center that did only writing. I adapted my centers based on Pavelka Daily 5. It's for younger grades, but the set up is awesome and keeps the kids engaged. Also could be adapted for older kids I think! It's just a good way to organize everything!
DeleteMegan, I do word walls for story (novels, at my level) vocabulary. I use it more for word learning than spelling. With older kids, I let them write the word cards. Sometimes, I also have them write a definition or information about the word, person, or place on a card and also include that on the word wall. For older kids who changing classes constantly, I think it's a good idea to have them contribute to it. Because if they never add something to it, they may never look at it! :)
DeleteKaitlin, I like how you said that words don't go up on the wall unless they have been mastered. You can use that wall to show all of your little rockstars how many words they have truly learned over the course of the year!
DeleteYes I am in belief word wall must be mastered. If they weren't mastered yet, they were on the board being learned.
DeleteAnother way to keep words handy for children to use, instead of a word wall, is to put them on index cards in a box. I painted the box I used gold and added fake plastic coins to the outside. I called it our "word bank" and said it was the only bank they could ever steal from. We used the words all the time. Great for sorting activities as well. Plus, they don't take up so much room in the classroom that way. Just a thought.
DeleteAnother reason I used a box instead of a wall is because children tend to tune out what's up on the wall after a very short time. Ideally, they refer to the word wall and use it when they're reading and writing. But it becomes background so quickly to many children, and then it's useless. Plus, we have to re-do the word walls fairly often to keep them fresh. I also work with students who are easily overwhelmed, visually, so I try to keep important information either to a minimum or rotating frequently if it's up.
DeleteIn contrast to a word wall with words they can use, I made a "dead word wall" (around Halloween time). These were words in a cemetary they could not use, ever. Like the words "nice" and "fun" and "good." Alternatives to these words were in our word bank box.
I liked all of the tips presented in this article, but I especially liked Tip #3: Carve out time to prepare for word study instruction. Using a word study approach takes time and planning. Specific lessons must be prepared for homogeneous small-group instruction, word work activities must be gathered, word wall words must be updated, and the list continues. For this instructional methodology to work in a classroom setting, teachers must spend significant time studying the concepts they are teaching and well as in planning activities and lessons. Maybe setting aside plan-time a week to focus on word study or team planning with a colleague could be solutions.
ReplyDeleteyes they definitely take time to plan, but once you get a system you can use the "idea" and change the skill. My rule of thumb for any center is the time to make it has to be less than the time it takes the child to complete. Therefore I'd scratch a ton of ideas if they could complete super quick. Not worth the work for independent centers if I was going to have to find extra work while I did a small group!
DeleteKaitlin, I like your rule!!! I want to be able to say that I have a life outside of teaching when I start working, but I know I will have to get used to the time it takes to plan and make supplies. Giving yourself a bit of a time limit sounds like a good idea!!
DeleteKaitlin, in your word study experience, how did you group your kiddos? Were these groups different than their guided reading groups? Or, did you find the word study groups were very similar to the guided reading groups?
ReplyDeleteI grouped my kids heterogeneous groups. I'd put high middle and low kids together. My centers were always ones that could be made for a low or a high kid. Depending on their skill they could do something slightly different. They'd do the same type center but it could be adapted or differentiated. I always made sure my centers were like that. For example if we were doing dictionaries centers, low kids might only draw a picture from the picture dictionary. But higher kids would write the words and even higher kids would make up their own words to go in their journal.
ReplyDeleteThen my guided reading groups would be based on skill, therefore they'd be called out of the centers to come see me.
DeleteGreat ideas to differentiate centers without coming up with a million ideas. Were your center groups the same as your word study groups? I liked the idea of having heterogeneous groups for centers and then pulling kids out for guided reading. If your word study groups were heterogeneous, how did you do word study instruction?
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