Transcript What is WTW? (Words Their Way)

WHAT
IS
WORDS THEIR WAY?
P R E S E N T E D BY:
NICOLE POLACCO
&
ANDR E W VAIL
WTW IN WOODSTOCK
In 2012, with the help of our staff developer from Columbia, all of the
primary teachers starting using Words Their Way (WTW).
Prior to that time, we used a variety of programs.
This year’s work:
Consistent resources for each teacher and
professional development for all teachers
•
•
•
•
•
Continue our study of best practices
Set routines
Develop differentiation schedules
Make materials for student use
Address concerns that pop up
WHAT
IS
WORDS THEIR WAY?
WTW is word play designed to help
kids think about words in multiple
ways. Rather than simply studying
one specific word, we study “kinds
of words.” We play with words
and word-parts to understand how
they work.
KINDERGARTEN
SECOND
take
him
jug
pile
give
In the kindergarten example above, students might sort
pictures based on the first sound. Second graders might
sort long and short vowel words. The word ‘give’ is an
oddball because it requires more thinking and talking. The i
makes a short sound, but it follows a long vowel spelling
pattern.
HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT MY CHILD
SHOULD BE WORKING ON?
Let us show you!
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
At our presentation, we gave a small
“spelling inventory” and asked parents to
include some errors which we looked at
using the next slide as a guide.
m
h
d
n
m
a
e
e
br
/3
/3
endings
other vowels
st
ch
c
long
blend
digraphs
short vowel
final sound
initial sound
mad
hen
stem
chime
bright
catches
a
ch
/4
/2
i-e
igh
es
/2
/2
/0
/1
We use a chart like this to look for
patterns in student spelling. This gives
us insight into how each child thinks
about words.
TOOLS THAT HELP US PLACE LEARNERS
•
Spelling inventory
•
Student writing from writing workshop
•
Periodic spot-checks (in some cases, a spelling test)
THE BASICS
Kindergarten – beginning sounds, rhyming, syllables, word families
First – short vowel words, blends, diagraphs, vowels with r
Second – compound words, VCe words, vowel pairs, other vowel pairs
Third – unusual past tense, more vowel pairs, endings, syllables
In the fall, we made spreadsheets for the classroom teachers.
Initial assessments help them build groups of learners with similar abilities.
Consonants
Initial
Final
7
7
Short
Vowels
7
Diagraphs
7
Blends
7
Long
Vowels
7
Other
Vowels
7
Feature
Points
Unaccented
Total
Rank Order
Short
Consonants
7
7
4
6
6
0
1
31
37
7
6
6
0
5
0
0
24
29
7
6
6
4
7
1
1
32
39
7
7
7
5
7
0
0
33
39
7
7
7
2
6
2
1
32
41
7
7
7
5
7
2
2
37
46
7
7
6
5
6
4
2
37
47
7
7
6
7
5
4
0
36
45
7
7
7
6
6
0
2
35
44
7
7
5
7
7
3
0
36
44
7
7
6
6
6
2
1
35
45
7
7
7
6
6
2
2
37
48
7
7
7
7
7
0
3
38
49
7
7
7
7
7
2
2
39
49
7
7
6
7
7
5
2
41
52
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
6
7
7
7
7
6
7
5
7
7
7
3
4
5
6
43
45
46
48
57
61
66
69
Vowels
Diagraphs
Blends
Long
Other
Inflected
Syllable
Final
Harder
Bases or
Total
Vowels
Vowels
Endings
Junctures
Syllables
Suffixes
Roots
Rank Order
7
5
6
7
5
7
5
5
5
5
5
62
5
6
7
6
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
4
3
3
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
6
4
5
4
5
5
6
6
5
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
4
7
7
6
6
7
7
7
6
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
1
0
2
4
2
2
4
5
4
5
5
4
5
5
5
5
5
0
0
6
4
4
2
5
5
7
7
7
7
6
7
7
7
7
1
1
1
1
1
1
4
4
1
3
3
4
4
4
4
5
4
0
1
1
1
1
2
2
3
3
4
5
5
5
5
4
5
4
0
0
1
1
0
1
1
2
1
3
4
2
3
3
3
3
5
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
2
1
0
0
2
1
4
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
2
2
0
1
2
2
3
21
22
34
32
31
32
41
45
39
48
53
50
48
50
52
53
57
In some classes, it is very easy to
build differentiated groups. At other
times, it’s a challenge.
WHAT KIND OF WORK HAPPENS IN SCHOOL?
k
1
2
3
routine
Two 10-day cycles per
month
5 day cycle
5 day cycle
6 day cycle
groups
3
3
2
3
word wall
plan
5 words in a 10-day
cycle
4 words weekly
4 per week
individual and class
word walls
word wall 7 per 2
weeks
test
assessment
informal
homework
lists go home but no
homework
weekly spelling tests on
testing on day 6,
test Friday on sorts ten of the words and 4
test on 10 sort words
and word wall words sight words, two bonus
word wall assessed
-testing for patterns words from prior word
informally
wall words*
homework packet
from sorts
homework tic-tac-toe
word wall words
COMMON WTW LANGUAGE
Affix- A suffix or prefix attached to a base work, stem, or root to alter meaning.
Alphabetic- A writing system containing characters or symbols representing individual
speech sounds.
Base word- A Word to which prefixes and/or suffixes are added. For example, the
base word of unwholesome is whole.
Blind sort- A picture or word sort done with a partner in which students who are
responsible for sorting cannot see the word. They must instead attend to the
sounds and sometimes visualize the spelling pattern to determine the category.
Choral reading- Oral reading done in unison with another person or persons.
Oddballs- Words that do not fit the targeted feature in a sort.
Pattern sort- A word sort in which students categorize words according to similar
spelling patterns.
COMMON WTW LANGUAGE (CONTINUED)
Picture Sort- A categorization task in which pictures are sorted into categories of
similarity and difference. Pictures may be sorted by sound or by meaning.
Pictures cannot be sorted by pattern.
Sight Words- Words recognized and pronounced immediately “at first sight.” A sight
word is simply any known word, regardless of its frequency or phonetic regularity.
Sound Sort- Sorts that ask students to categorize pictures or words by sound as
opposed to visual patterns.
Word Families- Phonograms or words that share the same rime. (ex: fast, past, last,
blast, all share the ‘ast’ rime.)
Word Sort- A basic word study routine in which students group words into categories.
Word sorting involves comparing and contrasting within and across categories.
SOME ADDITIONAL TERMS
Closed syllable- A closed syllable ends with or is “closed” by a consonant sound.
Example: net, lip, run, pot, fan
Open syllable- An open syllable ends with a long-vowel sound. Example: me, go, by
Digraph- two letters that represent one sound. For example, sh, ch, th, and wh.
Long Vowels- Every vowel (a, e, i, o, u) has two sounds, commonly referred to as
“long” and “short.” The long-vowel sound “says its letter name.” Long-vowel
sounds can be heard at the beginning of these words: ape, emu, island, open and
unicorn.
Short Vowels- The vocal cords are more relaxed when producing the short-vowel
sound, as opposed to the long-vowel sound. The five short vowels can be heard
at the beginning of these words: apple, egg, igloo, octopus and umbrella.
COMMON WTW ACTIVITIES
Read, Make, Write- Students read the spelling word from column one. In column two,
students make the word using letter tiles or other manipulatives provided by the
teacher. In the third column, the student writes the word.
Make it, Break It- Students work with a partner to make spelling words using letter tiles.
The first student will make the word and break it apart three times. Then write the
word.
If I know, Then I know – Students start with a known words and make new words using
the known pattern. “If I know the word hopping, then I can make the word stopping.”
Speed Sorts: Sort your words and time yourself (use a stopwatch or the second hand on
a clock.) Resort and time again to see if you can beat your best time. Write the sort,
date and your times in your WTW Notebook.
Word-O: Take a word from your sorting list and make a new word by changing one letter.
Ex. tub → cub
take → cake
why → who
spit → spot
Blind Sort: (see Common WTW Language above)