Kaley Aylor

Word Study

November 5, 2018

This lesson plan was organized around the level of the group my teacher

gave me. The lesson was made with the help of my cooperating teacher. She gave me

a word set that she had predetermined for her group of learners and told me to find

a game that would introduce them to the meaning behind the words, and reinforce

the spelling and context of the words.

‘Cup Tower’ was an introductory activity planned for students that has seen

the text set for the first time. Students loved the lesson and it went very smooth.

They asked questions when they didn’t know the meaning of a word and they were

given feedback which in return helped them when it was their turn again and they

had to give the meaning a second time. The small group allowed each student to

participate an appropriate number of times and the small group with a teacher

allowed them to ask questions and get a quick response. Overall, the students asked

if we could do the activity again, and they were able to use the word they pulled in

the correct context, and allowed practice for their spelling test.

The next time I use this tactic as a way to practice vocabulary words, I will

not take the time to print out and tape each word to the cups. It took time and

materials when a black sharpie would have gotten the job done. The next time I use

this activity, I will use smaller groups to participate. While having five students

didn’t make the activity go poorly, it did cause a little more time to go by in between
the students and that down time is something I would like to see diminished. Next

time, I would use partners or groups of three and it would be an option as an activity

to use as practice.

When this takes place in my own classroom, I would not like to have a

specific assessment. Being able to come up with multiple different ways that

students can use in order to practice their word study words. Coming up with new

ways for students to see their progress should be a priority of teachers. Students

will be responsible for using five different strategies that will help them remember

meaning, context, and spelling. One day of the week should be dedicated to a form of

an assessment, whether that is a spelling test, or a way to fill words in a blank using

the correct definition in the context. Currently, my students use both of these

methods and I would continue this method if I was in a fourth grade classroom. The

students will be introduced to a new set of words in which they will do the process

over again.

The idea of having four to five different groups in the class is a good amount

of groups. When there are too many levels of groups they tend to be chaotic in the

class when vast majority of the students are not working one on one with the

teacher. However, when there are not enough groups, the students that need more

help aren’t getting much attention because of how many students are in one group.

My schedule will be a very rough draft of how my classroom would be run,

and the students will be given may opportunities to have the freedom of choice

when picking an activity. As of now, my schedule resembles that of my cooperative

teacher because that is the only classroom I have seen using these types of
organization and instruction. The class schedule I would enforce would go as

follows:

Monday- Activity of choice

Tuesday-Assessment

Wednesday-Introduction to new word study words

Thursday-Activity of choice

Friday-Activity of choice

If I end up having a fourth grade classroom, they will be provided with a list of

activities that will aid them in their word study progress. They will be given an

option to choose any activity to complete on those days. Examples of activities

include, but are not limited to: rainbow write, write with the opposite hand, air

draw, chart it, etc..

This specific activity needs enough SOLO cups to write every word of the

word study set, one word per cup. The teacher will also need to provide a bin to

place all the cups in, so they can have something to pull a cup from a bin in order for

them to discuss the word chosen. Each student will have a turn and will spell the

word, give a definition, and use it in a sentence in order for them to keep the cup

and build a tower. The largest tower by the end of the activity will be the “winner”.