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Blog: (WTW Spelling stage)

Week 3

Words Their Way: Chapter 1 Notes

Date: 1/25/2016

Author: Lezza Merrill

 

 

The Braid of Literacy:

  • Orthography: the correct sequences of letters in words- strengthens the bonding

 

Children’s Spelling: A window into developing word knowledge

  • Children, at a young age, learn to write and draw, “Inventing” words of their own.

    • “These inventions revealed a systematic logic to the way some preschoolers selected letters to represent sounds.

  • Word study: studying how children learn words, and use phonics to understand the words

    • “By using students’ spellings as a guide, teachers can efficiently differentiate effective instruction in phonics, spelling and vocabulary.

 

Why is Word Study Important?

                “Students need hands-on opportunities to manipulate word features in ways that allow them to generalize beyond isolated, individual examples to entire groups of words that are spelled the same way.”

                “The best way to develop fast and accurate perception of word features is to engage in meaningful reading and writing and to have multiple opportunities to examine those same words and word features out of context.”

 

What is the Purpose of Word Study?

                TWOFOLD:

                                One: develop the general knowledge of English spelling.

                                Two: increases specific knowledge of words, spelling and meaning of individual words.

Blends: two consonants occurring together that each retain their individual written sounds

 

What is the Basis for Developmental Word Study?

                Alphabet: Alphabetic spelling system; represents the relationship between letters and sounds. Alphabetic layer is the first layer of information at work.

                Pattern: pattern layer; layer for guiding the grouping of letters

                Meaning: meaning layer, letters can represent meaning directly, less puzzled then actually encountering unusual, morphemes; smallest unit of meaning in the English language.

The Development of Orthographic Knowledge:

                Instructional Level: word study instruction must match the need of the students

                Zone of Proximal Development: studying words THEIR way, children are able to build on what they already know, to learn what they need to know next

Stages of Spelling Development:

  1. What students do correctly- an independent or easy level

  2. What students use but confuse- an instructional level at which instruction is most helpful

  3. What is absent in students spelling- a frustration level in which spelling concepts are too difficult

The Synchrony of Literacy Development:

                Emergent Spelling

                Letter-Name Alphabetic Spelling

                                Early Letter Name Alphabetic Spelling

                                Middle to Late Name Alphabetic Spelling

                                Late Letter Name Alphabetic Spelling

                Within Word Pattern Spelling

                Syllables and Affixes Spelling

                Derivational Relations Spelling

 

Integrated Phonics, Spelling and Reading Instruction

Words Their Way

 

Week 3

Words Their Way: Chapter 2 Reflection

Date: 1/27/2016

Author: Lezza Merrill

 

1. Informally observe your students' orthographic knowledge

2. Select and administer a qualitative spelling inventory

3. Score and Analyze the spelling inventory and identify specific features students need to study

4. Determine students' developmental stage of word knowledge or isntructional level

5. Group students for differentiated instruction

6. Use supplemental assessments for a wide array of instructional needs

7. Set goals and monitor students' growth in orthographic knowledge over time

8. Interpret the orthographic knowledge of your English learners

 

Informal observations to assess orthographic knowledge

  • Observe Students' Writing: 

    • Teachers can observe writing assignments for a variety of differnt purposes. By oberving the writing the teacher will be able to understand what each child knows about words. 

    • Through observing the students' writing the teacher can see what the students already have in orthographic knowledge.

    • It is always important to pay attention to the content of the writing assignments, but not aloways spelling. If the teacher is always looking for perfect spelling, then the students will struggle more and have anxiety of their assignments.  

  • Observe Students' Reading: 

    • Semiphonetic Stage: using picture rather than knowledge about sounds. Draw attention to the first letter sounds will develop their consonant knowledge. 

Qualitative spelling inventories

  • Development of Inventories

  • Using Inventories:    

     1. Spelling inventories based on grade level and student achievement levels.  

     2. Analyze using a feature guide 

     3. Organize groups based on a classroom composite form, and or spelling by stage chart

     4. Monitor group progress by using inventory up to 3 times a year. 

    • ​Selecting an Inventory

      • ​Primary Spelling Inventory: 26 CVC, Inflectional Ending words. For K-3rd Grade

      • Elementary Spelling Inventory: 25 Increasingly difficult words (Bed to opposition)

    • Preparing student for the spelling inventory

    • Administer the inventory

  • Score and Analyze the spelling inventory

    • ​Establish a power score

    • Score the Feature Guides

    • Common Confusions in scoring

    • Identify features for instruction

    • Determine a developmental stage

Group students for instruction

  • Grouing to meet students' diverse needs

  • Classroom composite chart

  • Spelling by stage classroom  organization chart

  • Factors to consider when organizing groups

Other assessments

  • Qualitative Spelling Checklist

  • Emergent Class Record

  • Kindergarten Spelling inventory

  • McGuffey Spelling Inventory

  • Viise's Word Feature Inventory

Set goals and monitor student growth over time

  • Use a variety of Assessments to Monitor Growth

    • Weekly Spelling Test and Unit Tests

    • Spelling Inventories

    • Spell Checks

    • Qualitative Spelling Checklist

  • Develop Expectations for Student Progress

  • Goal-Setting and Progress Monitoring Charts

  • Changing Groups in Response to Progress

  • Sharing Progress with Parents and Other Teachers

Assessing the spelling development of English learners

  • Predictable Spelling Confusions

  • The Influences of Students Primary Languages

Week 6

Words Their Way: Chapter 4 Presentation Reflection

Date: 2/17/2016

Author: Lezza Merrill

 

Literacy Development: Emergent Stage

 

DESCRIPTION/GIST

 

A period of literacy development in which children begin to imitate and experiment with the forms and functions of print:

·         Directionality

·         features of print

·         predictability

·         correlation with oral language

Emergent Reading

·         pretend reading

·         reading from memory

·         directionality- reading from left to right and top to bottom

·         concept of word in text

·         pre alphabetic phase

Emergent Writing

·         Largely pretend

·         Occurs spontaneously wherever writing is encouraged, modeled, and incorporated into play

·         Children begin to write by approximating the broader contours of the writing system; they start with the linear arrangement of print: mock linear

 

CHAPTER OVERVIEW

Literacy Development of the Student

The Discourse Level

  • text is organized into phrases and sentences

  • specific situation or context in which language is used and shared

  • speakers produce and listeners hear elements of prosody such as expression and tone

  • Oral language-direct form of communication that includes gestures and facial expressions

  • written language-indirect communication that contains messages that make meaning clear

  • children need to be able to match the prosody or oral language with written language

The Word Level

  • print-words are groups of letters separated by spaces

  • speech-there are no specific units that separate words in speech

  • exposure, explanation, practice and alphabet knowledge help students match words in speech to written words

Sounds in Words

  • students must segment speech sounds or phonemes within words and match them to letters in print

  • phonemes cannot easily be separated in speech

  • letters and individual speech sounds must be understood to master reading and speling in English

 

Orthographic Development

·         Early: Conveys message by scribbling, drawing shapes

·         Middle: Writing letter like forms, and/ or random strings of letters/numbers

·         Late: Using letters to represent speech sounds in a systematic way

Word Study Instruction

  • Sort pictures and objects according to concepts (e.g., farm animals, zoo animals, and pets)

  • Sort pictures and objects according to initial sounds

  • Develop phonemic awareness (hearing and manipulating sounds in spoken words)

  • Learn names and sounds for letters of the alphabet

  • Encourage memory reading of familiar texts (e.g., environmental text, nursery rhymes, dictated stories, pattern books, etc.)

  • Encourage finger pointing while reading

  • Encourage invented spelling

How to Assess and Monitor

·         Vocabulary: Instructional activities that extend interactive read aloud such as retellings and concept sorts

·         Phonological awareness: finding a variety of assessments that cover different aspects of phonological awareness (syllable, rhyme, and alliteration)

·         Alphabet Knowledge: Have children point and recite the letters of the alphabet, and present upper and lowercase letters in random order for letter recognition

·         Letter-sound knowledge: Observe how quickly and accurately children sort letters to sounds, monitor daily writing efforts that using invented spelling, and spelling inventory

·         Concepts about Print: Can be informally assessed all the time as you read and write with children, checklists of questions while sharing a book with a child

·         Concepts of word in text: Having children to point to individual words in a familiar piece of text, after pointing have children name words that you point to in context or randomly

 

English Language Learners

·         Less depth in their knowledge of English vocabulary and syntax than do their peers from English- speaking households

·         Emergent Readers

o Formal and informal opportunities to experience books and conversation

o Allow students to “read” books using their home language

·         Emergent Writers

o will exhibit the same kinds of emergent writing, but are likely to bring their background experiences with print to the developmental writing process

·         The key for English language learners literacy development is that they use language with teachers and peers, and see oral language they understand captured in print

Review of Activities

·         Interactive read aloud to develop vocabulary

·         PEER-retellings through dialogic reading

o Children learn how to talk about and retell a story

·         Turn and Talk

·         Paste the Pasta and Other Concept Sorts

o Sorting objects by size, shape and color

·         Concept Books and Concept Sorts

o Teaching a specific concept with a book

·         All My Friends Photograph Sort

·         Transportation Unit

o    Using themes

 

 

BENEFITS OF WORD STUDY

 

·         Read Alouds-expose children to new vocabulary and literary language

·         Modeling Writing helps children learn how to write for themselves

·         Comprehensive programs give students time to talk with you and receive feedbacks

·         Whole Group Activities

o   read to-read alouds for thematic units and vocabulary; introduce concept sorts

o   read with-shared reading of big books, rhymes, songs, dictations; memorize whole texts

o   word study- sing and recite alphabet; share alphabet and language play books; name of the day

o   write with-modeled and interactive writing; morning message

·         Small Group/Circle Time

o   concept sorts; retelling and dramtization

o   reread familiar texts; parts- “sentence strips”

o   introduce differentiated sorts

o   language experience dictations

·         Seat/Center Activities

o   practice concept sorts; retell

o   partner or individual work with sentences and words

o   practice sorts; letter and sound hunts; games and puzzles

o   picture captions; draw and label; journal writing

 

RESOURCES

·         Reading rockets

·         https://www2.nefec.org/erf/links/

·         Read alouds

·         The endless amount of apps with technology

·         http://www.earlyliteracylearning.org/index.php

·         Alphabet songs on youtube

·         http://www.inclusive.net/resources/units/unit2/unit2_12.shtml

·         http://www.storylineonline.net

Week 7

Words Their Way: Chapter 5 Presentation Reflection

Date: 2/22/2016

Author: Lezza Merrill

Week 9

Words Their Way: Chapter 6 Presentation Reflection

Date: 3/16/2016

Author: Lezza Merrill

 

  • Literacy Development of the Student

    • Reading in the Within Word Pattern Stage

      • Single Syllable Words: Mastered

      • Two and Three Syllable Words: Proficient

      • Recognize Patterns and Chunks

        • Chest (Ch-est)

      • Enables Storing and Vocabulary Growth

        • Up to 100 words per minute, Fluency Built

        • Go from dysfluent, word by word, to transitional fluent

    • Writing in the Within Word Pattern Stage

      • Automaticity of spelling words

        • Ideas

        • Expression

        • Complexity

    • Vocabulary Learning

      • Read Alouds

      • Word Sorts and Vocabulary

        • Homophones

        • Homonyms

      • Concept Sorts

      • Dictionaries

      • Simple Prefixes and Suffixes

        • Syllables and Affixes

  • Orthographic Development

    • The Pattern Principle

      • Pattern Layers

        • Isolation of phonemes to determine the sounds they need to represent.

        • Sequence and Pacing Of Word Study

      • Early: Students know blends and digraphs and spell most short vowels correctly.

        • Silent e: most common pattern found first

        • Trouble with CVCe words

      • Middle:Students are spelling the vowels with the CVCe

      • Late Placement

      • Pacing

    • The Study of High Frequency Words

  • How to Assess and Monitor

    • Weekly Spelling Tests

    • Limit Assessments and HOW words are spelled may depend on their histories and origins

          • HOW sounds are spelled may depend on the positioning within a word

          • HOW sounds are spelled may depend on sounds next to them

          • HOW words are spelled may depend on the meaning of the word

      • The Complexities of English Vowels

        • More vowel sounds than there are letters to represent

          • Vowel Teams

          • Vowel Markers (Silent e, y, vowel teams) (Came, Play, Saw)

        • Vowel sounds spelt multiple ways

          • Table 6.2

        • R-Controlled, Diphthongs, Ambiguous Vowels

        • Some sounds do not translate

      • The Influence of Consonants on Vowels

        • The R-Influenced Vowels

          • Fir,Fur

          • Herd, Bird, Curd

 

          • Pain VS. Pair

 

      • Triple Blends, Silent Initial Consonants and Other Complex Consonants

        • Complex Consonant Patterns

          • Tack/Take

          • Lick/Like

          • Rack/Rake

          • Smock/Smoke

          • Notch/Roach

      • Homophone, Homographs, and Other Features

        • “The weigh Peat cot the bare was knot fare.”

        • “The way Pete caught the bear was not fair.”

 

        • “We rowed around the lake.”

        • “We rode around the lake.”

    • Word Study Instruction

The Word Study Lesson Plan in the Within Word Pattern Stage

      • Picture Sorts to Contrast Long and Short Vowels

      • Teacher Directed Two Step Sort for Long Vowels

      • Open Sorts

    • Goal Setting

  • English Language Learners

    • Teaching Vowels to English Learners

    • Strategies for Teaching and Assessing English

    • The Influence of Dialects

  • Word Study: Routines and Management:

    • Word Study Notebooks in the Within Word Pattern Stage

    • Word Hunts

    • Homework

    • Resources and Games

  • Review of Activities:

    • Word-O or Word Operations

    • Train Station Game

    • Turkey Feathers

    • The  Racetrack Game

    • The Spelling Game

    • I’m Out

    • Vowel Spin

    • Sheep in a Jeep Game

    • Jeopardy Game

    • Vowel Poker Card Game

    • Declare Your Category

    • Word Study Pursuit

    • Word Study Uno

    • Homophone Win, Lose, or Draw

    • Homophone Rummy

    • Hink Pinks

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

Week 10

Words Their Way: Chapter 7 Presentation Reflection

Date: 3/25/2016

Author: Lezza Merrill

 

Chapter 7

Syllables and Affixes

Literacy Development

Reading:

                Structural Analysis: students learn to look at words in a new way, not as single syllable units. CVC, CVVC, but as more syllabic and morphemic units. More sophisticated decoding strategy then phonic instructions.

                Consolidated alphabetic phase: use larger chunks to decode, spell and store words. (Morphemic chunks)  

Writing

Vocabulary:

                Word Consciousness: language that students acquire and keep

                Morphemic Analysis:

                     Base Words: Root Words

                         Prefixes, Suffixes and Base Words

                     Dictionaries and Word Sorts

                     Content Vocabulary: Domain Specific Words

 

OthroGraphic

     Ambiguous Vowels: sound the same, mean differently, spelt differently

     Syllable Juncture: conventions of where syllables are supposed to be separated.

Base Words and Inflectional Endings

   Inflectional Endings

              s, ed, ing

              S- s, z, es 

              ED- ed -t- d

Compound Words

      Develop several types of understandings. Two parts of a word, that are separate parts, two smaller words,

 

Open and Closed Syllables and Syllable Patterns 

      Open Syllables: end with a long vowel

      Closed Sylables: short vowel, usually closed by two consonants

 

Accent and or Stresses

    Stressed/ Accents: where the word needs to be more sstressed, or vowels that need to be more stressed 

 

Derivational Affixes

     Derivational Affixes: affect the base words, their meanings and grammatical functions in a sentence

     Free Morphemes: Base words that can stand on their own

     Roots, or Bound Morphemes , originate from greek or latin 

 

Word Study Instruction

     Early: know how to spell the vowel patterns in most single syllable words

     Middle: usually add inflectional endings correctly

     Late: transitioning to derivational stage, spelling meaning connection

 

                          

 

 

Week 11

Words Their Way: Chapter 8 Presentation Reflection

Date: 3/30/2016

Author: Lezza Merrill

 

Derivational Relations Stage

 

Derivational Relations: a type of word knowledge that more advanced readers and writers experience

Spelling and Vocabulary grow

                Single and or root word, number of related words are derived

Extensive Experience, reading and writing

  • Upper Elementary

  • Middle

  • High

  • Early Adulthood

Component Spellers who can still make mistakes

  • Greek and Latin word elements, morphemes

  • 60-80% generated from roots prefixes and suffixes

  • Chunking stage

Writing

  • Expanded Vocab.

    • Voice or standing in Writing

    • Stronger word choice

Vocab.

  • Domain Specific growth

    • Significant growth and conceptual growth

  • Generative instruction: an approach to word study that emphasizes the approach that apply to many words, as opposed to an approach that focuses

WORD Specific: GIVE

Generative Specific: Teach

Concepts Sorts

Dictionaries

                How to use the dictionary

Word origins

                Etymology

                                Key to remembering spelling

 

Orthographic:

                Errors at the syllable junctions and with vowels in unaccented and unstressed syllables.

                Upper level spelling inventory

                Confuse: unaccented vowels, suffixes and prefixes,

                Greek and Latin elements, Greek sounds.

The spelling meaning connections:

                Morphology has a significant role

 

Adding –ion to words

 

                -Cian, -tion, -sion, -ssion

Greek and Latin Elements

                Word Roots: Latin and Greek

                                Democracy, Monarchy

Greek: flexible

                Beginning, middle and end

                                Most frequent and transparent

Early vs. late features.

 

Spelling Changes

                Exclaim/Exclamation

                Deceive/Deception

Advanced suffix

                -able, -ible

                Stand-alone –able

                Not stand alone - ible

Assimilated Prefixes

                Immobile

 

Word Study Instruction:

Intermediate and Advanced Level

                Spelling

                Vocabulary

Consonant Alternation:

                Consonants change when suffixes are added.

Vowel Alternation and Reduction

                Occurs when the spelling of the vowel stays the same but the word is altered.

                Schwa: smallest vowel sounds in the words

Sequence and pacing

                What to teach is restricted by the difficulty of the words

                Placement of the students, student grade level

Early:

                Mastered syllable juncture conventions

Middle:

                Prefixes and Suffixes

                Base and roots

Late:

                Able to spell most academic words correctly

                Confuse assimilated prefixes

The gum and pictures act as a gateway to the relationship between the two people.

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