WORD STUDY

INSTRUCTION
J. Finnern
May 2015

STAGES OF WORD KNOWLEDGE

Complete the information about your stage
Use information by Kathy Ganske from Word

Journeys (provided) or any other source

Make sure everyone in your group
understands your stage
Be ready to share information about your
stage with colleagues who have worked with
different stages

LETTER NAME/ALPHABETIC
STAGE
Initial & final consonants
Short vowels
Initial consonant blends &

digraphs
Affricate
Final consonant blends & digraphs

WITHIN WORD STAGE

Long vowels (Vce)
R-Controlled vowels
Other common long vowels
Complex consonants
Abstract vowels

SYLLABLE JUNCTURE STAGE

Doubling and e-drop: ed & ing
Other syllable juncture
Long vowel patterns: Stressed

syllables
R-Controlled vowels: Stressed
syllables
Unstressed syllable vowel patterns

DERIVATIONAL CONSISTENCY
STAGE
Silent & sounded consonants
Consonant changes
Vowel changes
Latin-derived suffixes
Assimilated prefixes

INSTRUCTIONAL NEEDS
Word

Dylan

Denise

bed

bad

bed

ship

sep

ship

drive

jriv

drive

bump

bop

bump

when

wn

wen

train

chran

trane

float

flot

flote

WHAT DO YOUR STUDENTS

NEED?
List each student that is coming to summer

school under the feature where their instruction

should begin. Include their grade level in the
fall. Circle the summer school students.
If you are able, list students from your class next
year. Include their grade level in the fall.
If a student is listed under one feature, it is
assumed that he/she needs all features after
that unless indicated otherwise.

REOCCURRING IDEAS FOR

TRANSFER
Inductive or deductive teaching and

learning
Generalizations vs memorizing
Hear & see
Reading & writing (decoding & decoding)
Build conceptual vocabulary as needed
Include non-examples

INDUCTIVE/DEDUCTIVE WORD
STUDY
Group Task

Follow the directions on your individual

instruction
Be ready to talk about your task and
discussion

Open Sort
Closed Sort

DETERMINING WORD LISTS

Consider learning progression
Consider you students
Develop or locate lists

INTRODUCING A WORD LIST:

WORD/PICTURE WALK
Identify each word or picture:

conceptual vocabulary
Place headers: pictures or words
Model comparing a tile to the headers
and placing tile in a column
Read down column where tile is placed
Students take over as possible

INTRODUCING A WORD LIST:

WORD/PICTURE WALK
Review work by reading through each column
Identify and discuss the reasons for the

categories: see and hear

Add a header with the feature
Transfer by analysis
Because we know how to read____, we can read

_____. OR .how would we read______?

Because we know how to spell____, we can spell
_____. OR .how would we spell ______?

INSTRUCTION: EVERY WEEK*

Individual Sort
Sort Alphabetize Write (SAW)
Word Hunt/Think Hunt
Blind Sort/Written Blind Sort
Push and Say (LN and some WW)
c a kts r i
* A few exceptions

INSTRUCTION: OPTIONS
Word Operations

hard g soft g
goal germ
gob gel
gate gist
gal gym
gum gem

INSTRUCTION: OPTIONS
Rhyming

i_e _i_
glide mix
lime dim
primeshift
shine crisp
slice drip
five chin
while swim
bitedish

INSTRUCTION: OPTIONS
Write & Draw

i_e _i_
glide mix
lime dim
primeshift
shine crisp
slice drip
five chin
while swim
bitedish

INSTRUCTION: OPTIONS
One Word Clues

i_e _i_
glide mix
lime dim
primeshift
shine crisp
slice drip
five chin
while swim
bitedish

INSTRUCTION: OPTIONS
Speed Sort
Making Words
Discovery Log
Change a letter

INSTRUCTION: OPTIONS
Making & Sorting Words
Select lessons intentionally
Make sure to do the sorting
Focus on transfer to spelling

and reading
Lets try it

IS WHAT YOU ARE DOING HELPING

STUDENTS TO
Understand the reason for the sort?
Think about what the see and hear?
Understand the generalization and be able to

transfer it to other words that they spell?

Understand the generalization and be able to
transfer it to other words that they read?
Understand the conceptual meaning of the
word(s)
Focus on understanding, not memorization
(very few exceptions)

MANAGEMENT
Grouping
Teacher led or independent
Word study notebook
No cutting during instructional time

Opening
20 min

Rotating Stations
(45-60 Min)
Teache
r

Teacher

Based from a Word Leveled

Stud Text
Read Aloud
y
text
Rereads
Conceptual
Vocabulary
Model comp
strategy
Guided
practice for
comp
strategy
Interactive
writing
Fluency work

Fluency
Guided
practice
of comp
strategy
in
leveled
text
Concept.
vocab

Closing
Indep

10-20 Min

Read to
Self

Work on
Writing

Read to
Someone

Literacy
games or
software
that they
already
know

Other

What
have we
learned
today?

Interactiv
e charts

Shared
Reading/R
ead Aloud

Other

K-1st Focusing on retellings

Week 1: Main characters, problem, solution in sequence in fiction text
Week 2: Problem & solution in informational text
Week 3: Idea and related details in informational text

2nd -3rd Focusing on Making Inferences (fiction & informational text each
week)
Week 1: Connections that help me learn more about the text or about

life
Week 2: Using connections & text clues to determine causes and

effects (could be 2 weeks)

Week 3: Using connections & text clues to make predictions

K-3rd All Weeks

Questioning when I dont understand:
I know I dont understand when
When I dont understand I can try