Danielle Knopp

Word Study Minilesson

Objectives:

 Students will know that a diphthong is the combination of sounds when 2 vowels are next to
each other in the same syllable
 Students will be able to sort their diphthong words into the correct categories

Materials:

 Diphthong Sort
o See attached

Procedure:

1. Explain to students what a diphthong is (sound of 2 vowels next to each other in the same
syllable) and give an example such as “juice”
2. Give each student a word sort of the following diphthongs
a. Read the words together and point out the headings and their sounds
3. Have the students cut out the words and complete the sort on their own and then review
4. Play Memory using the words
a. Have each card placed face-down in an array
b. Matching words are the same type of diphthong
c. Play this game until they move on to their next IE rotation
Reflection:

I knew the appropriate spelling features to use when planning this minilesson because my
cooperating teacher explicitly asked if I could introduce these students to diphthongs. Since she
also selected the students she wanted me to work with and they are at lower reading levels, I
thought it would be best to use these features with a sort that is similar to what they are familiar
with doing every week.

Before sitting down with me, the students saw the word sort they were about to complete and
did not respond with much excitement at first. However, when they found out that they were
learning a new “type of word”, the diphthong, they started to show more interest. I did not expect
them to be very enthusiastic when completing the sort portion of the minilesson, and they were
not because they do sorts almost every day. But when they started playing Memory, they became
much more enthusiastic and even slightly competitive amongst their peers.

If I were to do this lesson again, I would review the different sounds that each kind of
diphthong makes a bit more in-depth before proceeding with a game. I found that during this
minilesson, the students had to be reminded of the different categories and would often guess
what the sound was instead of having confidence in their answers. Overall though, I think that
incorporating games into their literacy diet made them view Word Study through a different lens,
and after the activity was over, they asked what game they would play next time they had this
station.

In my own classroom, I think that I will try to have Word Study activities done in groups
similar to how my CT arranged hers; according to reading levels. Various means of assessments
will be necessary such as formative tasks that have the students sort their words often and try to
decode new words. This time will most likely be used during a literacy block and I will try to set
aside at least 20 minutes per day on Word Study tasks. I do not believe that many additional
materials will be necessary, but many of the activities I plan on doing will involve some sort of
game that I will be able to create using my own resources.
Attachments:

Diphthong Sort