Spelling
Words Their Way Spelling Instruction
Your child's spelling words are listed under his/her spelling teacher at the bottom of this page.
This year we will be using Words Their Way in fourth grade. Words Their Way is phonics, spelling, and vocabulary instruction through daily word study. This program will provide skill instruction that will cover spelling patterns and focus on examining and manipulating words, not memorizing them. Students will be thinking more critically about words and work on transferring their skills to reading and writing. Words Their Way will focus on teaching students how to spell, decode new words, and to improve word recognition speed in general. To accomplish this goal, we will teach the students how to examine words to learn the regularities that exist in the spelling system. We will also teach them some irregularities of spelling (we call “oddball words”). The simple process of sorting words into categories is the heart of our word study program. When students sort words, they are engaged in the active process of searching, comparing, contrasting, and analyzing. Word sorts help students organize what they know about words and to form generalizations that they can then apply to new words they encounter in their reading.
At the beginning of the year each student will be given a spelling inventory. Results from this assessment will be used to place your child in the spelling group for which they are developmentally ready.
Every Friday, a new list of spelling words will be sent home. Students will have a short sorting activity to work on to reinforce the spelling words and the spelling patterns they represent. These activities have been modeled in class, so your child can teach you how to do them. A spelling test will be given on Day 5, which will include the words from the sort.
Here is break down of what to expect:
Day 1: Students will receive a list of 20-30 words cards in class to cut apart. (The final test will only consist of the words at the top of the pattern list I send home.) As a class, we will read and do the sort together.
NO HOMEWORK!
Day 2-4 Your child will have one of the following sorts each day:
Glue Sort: Remind your child to sort the words into categories like the ones we did in school. Your child should read each word aloud during this activity. Ask your child to explain to you why the words are sorted in a particular way. What does the sort reveal about spelling in general? Ask your child to sort them a second time as fast as possible. You may want to time them. Glue the words into the sort.
Blind Sort: Lay down a word from each category as a header and then read the rest of the words aloud. Your child must indicate where the word goes without seeing it. Lay it down and let your child move it if he or she is wrong. Repeat if your child makes more than one error. Glue the words into the sort.
Blind Writing Sort: Lay down a word from each category as a header and then read the rest of the words aloud. Your child must indicate where the word goes without seeing it. Lay it down and let your child move it if he or she is wrong. Write the words under the correct heading.
Word Hunt: Hunt through books at home to find words that fit into the sort. Write at least 5 words from your books into the sort. (Write the titles of the books on the bottom of the sort.
Draw and Label Sort: Students should write their words in the sort and draw a neat/colorful picture to go with each word.
Writing Sort: As you call out the words in a random order your child should write them in categories. Call out any word your child misspells a second or even third time.
Open Sort: Your child should write all of his/her words into a sort without help of the headings.
Color Sort: Your child will write each column in a different color.
SAW Sort: (Sort, Alphabetize, Write) Students write each column in alphabetical order.
Day 5: A short review game will be played and then students will take their spelling test
NO HOMEWORK!
Your child's spelling words are listed under his/her spelling teacher at the bottom of this page.
This year we will be using Words Their Way in fourth grade. Words Their Way is phonics, spelling, and vocabulary instruction through daily word study. This program will provide skill instruction that will cover spelling patterns and focus on examining and manipulating words, not memorizing them. Students will be thinking more critically about words and work on transferring their skills to reading and writing. Words Their Way will focus on teaching students how to spell, decode new words, and to improve word recognition speed in general. To accomplish this goal, we will teach the students how to examine words to learn the regularities that exist in the spelling system. We will also teach them some irregularities of spelling (we call “oddball words”). The simple process of sorting words into categories is the heart of our word study program. When students sort words, they are engaged in the active process of searching, comparing, contrasting, and analyzing. Word sorts help students organize what they know about words and to form generalizations that they can then apply to new words they encounter in their reading.
At the beginning of the year each student will be given a spelling inventory. Results from this assessment will be used to place your child in the spelling group for which they are developmentally ready.
Every Friday, a new list of spelling words will be sent home. Students will have a short sorting activity to work on to reinforce the spelling words and the spelling patterns they represent. These activities have been modeled in class, so your child can teach you how to do them. A spelling test will be given on Day 5, which will include the words from the sort.
Here is break down of what to expect:
Day 1: Students will receive a list of 20-30 words cards in class to cut apart. (The final test will only consist of the words at the top of the pattern list I send home.) As a class, we will read and do the sort together.
NO HOMEWORK!
Day 2-4 Your child will have one of the following sorts each day:
Glue Sort: Remind your child to sort the words into categories like the ones we did in school. Your child should read each word aloud during this activity. Ask your child to explain to you why the words are sorted in a particular way. What does the sort reveal about spelling in general? Ask your child to sort them a second time as fast as possible. You may want to time them. Glue the words into the sort.
Blind Sort: Lay down a word from each category as a header and then read the rest of the words aloud. Your child must indicate where the word goes without seeing it. Lay it down and let your child move it if he or she is wrong. Repeat if your child makes more than one error. Glue the words into the sort.
Blind Writing Sort: Lay down a word from each category as a header and then read the rest of the words aloud. Your child must indicate where the word goes without seeing it. Lay it down and let your child move it if he or she is wrong. Write the words under the correct heading.
Word Hunt: Hunt through books at home to find words that fit into the sort. Write at least 5 words from your books into the sort. (Write the titles of the books on the bottom of the sort.
Draw and Label Sort: Students should write their words in the sort and draw a neat/colorful picture to go with each word.
Writing Sort: As you call out the words in a random order your child should write them in categories. Call out any word your child misspells a second or even third time.
Open Sort: Your child should write all of his/her words into a sort without help of the headings.
Color Sort: Your child will write each column in a different color.
SAW Sort: (Sort, Alphabetize, Write) Students write each column in alphabetical order.
Day 5: A short review game will be played and then students will take their spelling test
NO HOMEWORK!
Mrs. Manges--
Review of long vowel patterns CVCC sold hold grind light CVVC steep sneak school soak pool CVCe wave tone slide CV & CVV (open syllable) dry way |
Mrs. Quinn/ Ms. Clark--
UR, URE, UR-E ur turn burn hurt curl church hurl burst churn surf purr curb blurt ure sure lure pure cure ur-e curve nurse purse curse urge oddball were |