hey, i really want to do word study with my students. i have so far come up with the 4th nine weeks spelling words. i have attached to share. it's basically the format from Beth http://blogs.scholastic.com/top_teac...in-action.html
I hope my school gives me the ok. i can see them saying that the grade level needs to agree.
please tell me what you think. are the words okay? too hard? too easy? thanks
I think you did an awesome job! I did the exact same thing you did with Beth Newingham's format and adapted to my 3rd graders and the patterns they needed to study. I have been using her format since maybe January and it has been working well! Here is what I have been using in my class. I have not planned the whole year but I got a good chunk done!
wow, i am impressed, please do share when you are done do you have to use a basa? or no? thanks
I went back and edited my list a little bit. i'm going to start doing this for the 4th semester, so i didn't want to change my spelling completely. i also edited the final test to match.
These are great! I love how you are using different words for testing. Our program uses the same 15 words on the pre-test and post-test. All that shows me is that the kids have memorized how to spell those 15 words, not that they mastered that spelling pattern.
My school uses WTW, but unfortunately not correctly. I have struggled for years with how to make spelling instruction meaningful and this framework does it! Thank you for sharing your work and this link. This gives me time to think of how I can apply this to my own classroom next year!
Thank you, thank you...I LOVE this. I am so thankful for your hard work on this. I was going to work on this, this summer. I guess now I will have to come up with a new project to work on.
I have wrestled with this for a long time and still don't have the answer. How do you help kids learn to apply patterns when there is more than one pattern that spells a sound and no particular rule for when to apply it?
I know there are lots of patterns where you can figure it out - for example use ay at the end of a word and "ai" in the middle. But what about two similar patterns like "ain" vs. "ane"?
And if you give them words they haven't studied that have patterns like this, how can you tell if they are learning to apply a pattern if they choose an acceptable alternative pattern that isn't the correct one?
well, i am going to have various word study games that will have many words with those patterns. i guess it's all about exposure to the words during games, reading, and writing. i'm going to give it a go and let you know how it works.
here is a checkerboard game. i'm on a roll here. the hard part is to come up with the template. the easy, but time consuming, part is changing the words for other lessons.
I've had my kids do words sorts with extra words to build up familiarity, but I love the game boards and suggestions. Gives me a new sense of direction!
This is I think just what I've been looking for I think...it says I need the Compatibability pack for Word to Open...does anyone know another way? Thanks
I totally agree with teach & learn!!! When I teach my students the patterns that are similar like "ane" and "ain", I basically teach them to use both patterns and see which one looks accurate. There is really no way to drill this in them, this is when exposure is so very important. I have my kids do "Word Hunts" in their just right books and go on a hunt for words that fit the patterns they are studying. This way they will become familiar with other words as well. I do the "teacher day" just like Beth Newingham on Monday. This is the day I teach the pattern thouroughly but the students use what they already know to explore other words that could fit our list. I think they will master these spelling patterns over time, not necessarily in that one week.
saw Mrs. Newingham's spelling program and only thought about doing it over the summer Thank you so much for placing it here on proteacher to share I can now spend some time making up some file folder centers for each skill so that they can practice during the week. Thanks again...keep posting
post this when you are done. My school has no spelling curriculum and I am constantly looking for the best way to teach my kids. I love that you have a pre-test, 2 different lists based on how they did on the pre-test and test words that are different.
I have tried Sitton-didn't like it-and am now using WTW. I am not super fond of it either because it is so hard to manage 4 different groups of spellers.
I would greatly appreciate using this list next year. Thank you so much in advance!! You are AWESOME!
What grade do you teach? Have you done all the lessons up through 26? If so, would you mind sharing those? We do not have a spelling program, and word is that it is going to be WTW when the county gets some money...
hello, i teach 3rd in florida. i do not have all lessons done. i have only done theme 6, because i am just now going to attempt this during the 4th nine weeks. i will then go back and revisit and edit if needed. i will be working on all themes for next year. as well as word study games. i will be happy to share everything i make or edit. i have started a colleciton at http://www.minneolamustangs.com/third but might even open up a domain dedicated to sharing things i've made. i have made lots of things for 1st grade . i taught first grade for 3 years and this is my first year in third grade.
I love people who share openly. I have such lowbies that the word list looks so high, but because of your sharing, I am going to give it a go and differentiate. Your the best and I promise to share too. Thank you.
just curious on how the spelling words were determined on both sides? Thanks so much
I see that you took some of the spelling words from the list of Storytown to make your pretest but how did you determine what went on your regular list and your challenge list? Thank you again
storytown already has 5 challenge words in their list, so that was actually the easy part but i would basically choose a word that has the same pattern but with more syllables.
Teahcer226 and Mrs Mar,
What score determines whether or not they get the regular list or the challenge list? Do they need to get 100% on the pretest in order to get the challenge?
Bzachow, I do what Beth Newingham suggests. What I do in my classroom is give them the pretest and the pretest has 10 words. The students who get miss 2 or less will get the "Challenge List". The students who miss 3 or more will get the "Regular List". I just feel like a student who has already become familiar with the spelling pattern and who have used the spelling patterns before should probably get most of the correct. If they miss 3, then that makes me think that they could benefit from more practice with the pattern on a basic level. I would never want them to feel frustrated trying to learn the pattern and be challenged with harder words at the same time. It has worked well so far! The great thing is when my students take the pretest and have to work on the "Regular List", they don't moan and groan or feel disappointed. They learn the spelling pattern during the week and feel good with themselves after they take the post test and pass!
(F.Y.I. The students complete word study activities in class every day and they have word study homework as well with fun activities to do for practice. )
Thank you for this thread! I have been wanting to do Word Study using Treasures....you have motivated me! Guess this will be my summer project (or one of them!)
Thank you so much for sharing all of your hard work. I was wanting to start this next year since I teach a split and think this is a much better way to do the lists. Is there a way to edit the checkers and tic-tac-toe to put other words in for other lists? Or can you post a blank one? Thanks
I am moving to 3rd grade next year (from 4th) and started on lesson 26 with my big kids to see how I would like it for next year. They struggled on the pre-test, but I can already see a difference in applying the strategy and not just memorizing words.
Will you continue to post the rest of the 4th quarter lessons/games/letters on your website? PLEASE!!! You have saved me so much time. Thank you!
Crftman1, I sure will! I plan to finish the rest of the lessons while I am on vacation this summer. I started the word study unit mid year so I did lessons up to June. I plan to make a year long unit and I will post the unit asap!
These are incredible! Thank you so much for sharing!! I just finished my 3rd year using Storytown and love Beth Newingham's site...just haven't found a way to do this yet. We actually started using Saxon Phonics this past year in place of the Storytown phonics/spelling. I wonder if I could apapt it too using this idea....
How does your High Frequency Word part of the test work? Where do your words come from? Do you have them practice and study the words before you start including them on the test? Thanks!
Well I get my High Frequency Words from Beth Newingham's resource for her word study program. She has HFW for each level. The kids spell them on an inventory test, then the words they mispelled, they study for the week. I think she has like 400 words. You might want to check her website out.
The kids just include the 5 HFW with the 10 spelling words they are studying for the week. After I give the "spelling test" for the spelling words, partners partner up and test each other on the HFW portion.
My partner and I have been wanting to revamp our spelling program. We love what you came up with. I have been reading Beth's blog and trying to work something out but never finding the time to do it! Thank you! We were wondering about unit 10? Any chance you caught the missing words? :-) Thank you again for all your hard work and time!
Hi Everyone,
I am in the process of taking on a 4th grade Word Study program using Beth Newingham's concepts and Words Their Way and have seen the great work done on this link. My issue is coming up with challenge words that are challenging. I have the workbooks but am finding this to be a problem. I will be starting with syllables and affixes sort 1. Can someone please give me some guidance?
Thanks
Great stuff here! I have been working on putting together a re-vamped words program based on Beth Newingham for several months in preparation for next school year. Playing BINGO in a center has been one of the things that I have been struggling with. I see your BINGO cards (which look great) and the directions to go with it. Do you change the way they play bingo by each unit? I guess I am having trouble figuring out how you have students play this in a center without a teacher to play the role of caller. Thanks in advance!
Thanks so much for everything ya'll have posted so far! I'm going to be trying out Beth Newingham's approach this year, since I love the theory behind WTW, but can't keep up with so many spelling groups. (We're departmentalized, and I teach 3 different classes... so even if I only had 3 groups per class, that'd still be 9 spelling groups. Eeek!)
Anyways, I'm also having trouble finding challenge spelling words for the different patterns. After all, no one taught ME the patterns when I was in school, I'm just now learning them. Any suggestions on where to go to look for challenge words?
Thanks to all of you for working so hard on creating these!!! I am just starting Beth's Word Study this year along with reading workshop. I am feeling a bit overwhelmed as I toss the basal but very excited to implement this in with my third graders! Thanks again! Any ideas on centers for word study would be great....
Hi... THANK you so much for posting all your hard work!! I had planned to create lists just like the ones you posted! You saved me so much time...THANKS! Does anyone have a form to use for the pretest? I saw the finial test but was interested in a prestest. TIA!
Teacher 226,
You are an amazing teacher! I love the Word Study Unit you have put together. I wanted to incorporate something similar into my classroom this year. Do you have parent letters that you send home with each unit? If so, could you post a copy? Thank you so much! It is truly appreciated.
I just discovered this site. Thank you for all !!! of the hard work that you have done. You and Mrs. Marr. Your things were posted so long ago. I'm curious if you still use this program. Have you tweaked it at all. I am considering using Beth Newingham's approach and I hit the jackpot with all of your lists. Thank you!
Thank you so much for sharing this!! I'm moving to 3rd grade this year and was researching Beth Newingham and Word study options and just got settled in to try to create my own units, when BEHOLD, I found yours!!! Awesome!!
SunDevilsMom, my school just adopted the Treasures series.... I was wondering what grade you taught and was curious how you came up with the words to use for the program?
Hey Teacher 226,
Did you, by any chance, finish planning out the year in Word Study? I would LOVE to access it! Just found out I'm going to be in 3rd next year.
I totally love the idea of 2 or 3 groups working on the same patterns, while we just differentiate the complexity of the words that use the patterns. But, what do you do if the spelling pattern of the simplest words on the pretest are still too challenging for some students? Isn't this how we all started WTW in the first place? If a student (or three) are still struggling with the difference between CVC and CVCe words, and somehow made it to third grade, then you have to do differentiated word study with different games for different groups, right? Ever since I discovered Beth Newingham, I've used WTW and differentiated WOrd Study, but there's never less than 4 groups in my class....
04-22-2011, 08:44 PM
do you have to use a basa? or no? thanks
I can now spend some time making up some file folder centers for each skill so that they can practice during the week. Thanks again...keep posting
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