1. What Is the Purpose of Word Study?

Word Study

Category: Spelling/Writing Grade Level: Kindergarten- Gr. 8

1. What is the purpose of Word layer involves common groupings of Study? letters, and the meaning layer addresses how the spelling of a word is often The purpose of a word study approach is directly related to its meaning. to support students’ spelling The following are common teaching development and help them gain an in- procedures used in a word study depth understanding of English program: orthography. A word study approach also has the potential to improve • Administer a spelling inventory to the students’ reading and writing skills. class to determine each student’s stage of spelling development. 2. With whom can it be used? • Group students according to their stage Word Study is generally used with of spelling development and provide students from Kindergarten to Gr. 8. The appropriate differentiated instruction to approach is also beneficial for children each group. with learning disabilities. • Provide students with a “word sorting” 3. What teaching procedures should activity where they are required to be used with Word Study? compare and contrast words and group them according to a predominate Word study is a child-centered approach spelling pattern. The following is an to spelling instruction that teaches example of a typical word sort: “match, students to recognize and understand reach, switch, coach, hitch, and teach patterns in words, as opposed to relying can help students learn that the tch on memorization. There are several pattern typically follows a short vowel resources available that are designed to and the ch pattern typically follows a support teachers as they implement a long vowel” (Williams et al., 2009). word study approach in their classroom. Words Their Way, Word Matters and • Give students the opportunity to search Word Savvy provide teachers with for words with the same pattern in other instruction techniques, word lists and contexts (in books or in their own examples of word study games and writing). activities. Students participating in a word study program are actively • Use games and activities to reinforce involved in the process of discovering the word pattern being addressed. Word spelling patterns and examining the searches, segmenting activities and letter alphabetic, pattern and meaning layers of and sound hunts are effective ways to English words. The alphabetic layer engage students in “word work.” focuses on the connection between specific letters and sounds. The pattern • Make a “word wall” in the classroom level highlight word sorting as an to keep a list of words and spelling effective teaching strategy, yielding patterns that have been studied. higher spelling scores when compared to other spelling instruction methods • Provide a spelling test to ensure that (Zutell, 1998). A study looking at the students have grasped the spelling impact of a word study approach on pattern being investigated. The test Kindergarten children’s journal writing should focus more on students’ revealed that the approach did influence knowledge of a spelling pattern as students’ writing, and that “all 12 focal opposed to their ability to memorize a students used at least some of the words, list of words. For this reason, teachers concepts and strategies as they wrote may only test students on half of the self-selected messages in their journals” words they have studied or present a (Williams & Hufnagel, 2005). novel word that follows the same pattern to see if their knowledge has been References transferred. 1. Leipzig, D. H. (2000). The 4. In what types of settings should Knowledge Base for Word Study: What Word Study be used? Teachers Need to Know. Scientific Studies of Reading, 11(2), 105-131. Word Study is best used in small group settings. Students are divided into groups 2. Sterbinsky, A. (2007) Words Their according to their stage of spelling Way; Spelling Inventories: Reliability development (determined using a and Validity Analysis. Center for spelling inventory test). Each group of Research in Educational Policy, The students works with a different set of University of Memphis. words. As students word knowledge increases, the spelling patterns being 3. Williams, C. & Hufnagel K. (2005). studied become increasingly complex. The Impact of Word Study Instruction on Kindergarten Children’s Journal 5. To what extent has research shown Writing. Research in the Teaching of Word Study to be useful? English. 39(3), 233-270.

Research on the “Words Their Way: 4. Williams, C., Birdsong-Phillips, C., Words Study for Phonics, Vocabulary, Hufnagel, K., Hungler, D., & and Spelling” instructional guides Lundstrom, P. (2009). reveals that the spelling inventories or Word Study Instruction in the K-2 tests used in this specific word study Classroom. The Reading Teacher, program are reliable and valid predictors 62(7), 570-578. of students’ individual achievement (Sterbinsky, 2007). Classroom based 5. Zutell, J. (1998). Word Sorting: A research conducted in grades K-2 Developmental Spelling Approach to demonstrates that a word study approach Word Study for Delayed Readers. is an effective way to improve students’ Reading & Writing Quarterly. 14(2) spelling (Williams et al., 2009). 219-238. Classroom studies at the Elementary Reviewed by: Courtney Jones