Words Their Way Game Freebie

This fall, I will begin my 3rd year using Words Their Way in my classroom.  It will be the first year that it is district curriculum.

I am glad that I have used it for a couple of years, as I have been able to become more comfortable with it and make changes to my plans as I go.  In general, I think it is a good program.  I have found parents relatively receptive to it although some still struggle with understanding how it works.

This game I made for Monday Made It with Tara.  It is a pretty easy game, and I will continue to develop it for more sorts as the  year continues.  So far I have made the game for sorts 1-15 in Book 3.  The majority of my 3rd graders have been falling into the Syllables and Affixes stage, so I decided this was a good place to start.

I started with some of those little gems that you use in the bottom of vases.  I got these at Michaels.

I used circle labels to mark some as Free Choice, Lose a Turn, and Oddball.  These will be able to used throughout the year for all of the sorts I create.

Next, I began with Unit 1 in the above book, and I put the headers for the Unit 1 sorts onto other gems.  As we start sorts, I will pull out the gems the kids need to complete the sort. Most sorts have about three headers.  That will mean 3 gems plus one free choice and lose a turn gem making a total of about 5 gems for the game.

These gems will be placed in a bag or cup in the middle of the two players. The students will take their sort cards and lay them in a pool face up.  (Each player will have their own pool.)  They will then put their sort headers onto a piece of paper in front of them.  They will follow these directions to then play the game.

Basically, the first player to place all of their cards in the sort correctly wins.  We will typically have about 20-30 minutes of word work each day, so I think that this game will be able to be completed during this time.

I am making three sets of gems for each unit which will allow 6-9 kids to play.  Most of my groups do not have more than 9 students in them.

Well--There is my Monday Made It!  Go check out Tara's website to find more great ideas!

Some thoughts on Words their Way

So, I have now been using Words their Way in my classsroom for the last 10 weeks.  It works well with my Daily 5 approach.  Students spend time at school working with their words and with with me learning about their word patterns.

I have developed the plan that the words are current for 2 weeks.  Students complete activities for me and do activities on their own with the same set of words before I assess their ability to spell them.  (Spelling is still a grade, and it still matters to parents, so while I try to encourage the concept of word study, the kids still think of it as spelling.)

 I have four different word groups.  Two groups are at different points in the Within Word stage, one is in the Syllable Juncture stage, and the last group is in the Derivational Constancy stage.  Most of my direct instruction time is with the groups in the Within Words stage.  My time with the other groups is spent making sure that they know the meanings of the words.

Here is what I have found so far:  The students in the Within Word stage are not having great carryover into their every day spelling.  Even though we have student CVCe since the beginning of the year, they still do not put that rule to use on their own.  When prompted, they might know what to do, but they rarely do it independently.  The other two groups are growing in their knowledge of word structure and vocabulary.  They were already good spellers, and their daily writing shows this. 

I am working to put more into my Within Words groups to help them move along.  Do you have any ideas?  Are you seeing progress with your students?  Certainly, I don't believe that these students are being harmed by WtW, but it is also not having the effect that I had hoped for either.  What do you think?  Do you have something that you are finding to be more effective?  I would love to hear your ideas!

My continuing journey with Words Their Way

Last week, I gave my first spelling test with my students' Words Their Way lists.  It went remarkably well.  Over half of the students received perfect scores on spelling and conventions, and a half dozen more spelled all of their words from their list correctly.  (Just a reminder, I give dictation sentences as my spelling tests.  Students are given five sentences to copy down.  Each sentence contains about two of the students' spelling words.  They receive a spelling grade, and a grade for correct capitalization and punctuation.)

I have four different developmental lists.  I have two groups in the Within Words  stage, one in the Affixes group, and one group in Derviational Relations.

I have a word work taskboard that students use as a basis for word work.  (Thanks to my friend, Christa.  I tweaked hers.) They have also been doing sorts and playing games from the Words Their Way book.  As we begin to move into our more regular schedule for Daily Five (although mine is Dailya Three), they are given a word work task or tasks to complete each week.  They also have another list of word activities that they can choose from if they finish the one that is assigned for the week.  I am anxious to see how they do with the independence required to work on these.  I am hoping that it goes well.

With each of my groups, we meet at least once during the two week time period so that I can check their understanding of the rule associated with their words.  We work with the words for two weeks before we do the dictation assessment.  I send home little/no spelling homework. 

I hope that not only do they do well on next week's spelling tests, but that they begin to learn the rules and have some carryover into their daily writing.  That is my main goal in using this format!

How many of you are using Words Their Way?  What are you doing with it in your classroom?

Words their Way: Beginning Stages

So, I have started my Words their Way journey.

Early in the week, I gave the Elementary Spelling Inventory.  The scoring did not take too long, and I think I figured out groups well.  I ended up with 4 groups:  A middle Within-Words group, a late Within-Words group, a Syllables-Affixes group, and a Derivational Relations group.  I was pleased with that, and I am hoping I can manage it okay.

The toughest part will be launching the Words part of Daily 5 with 3 different groups.  I am thinking that the first working with words activities will be pretty much the same for everyone--just using their words.  Sorts are pretty easy to start with for 3rd graders, so that is where I plan on starting.

I like the information I get from the inventory.  After listening to kids read and watching some simple writing assignments, I had a pretty good idea where students would fall, but I like the more specific details I was able to get from the inventory.  I think it will really help me to pinpoint instruction and practice for my students.

I will have students work with their words in class and at home for about two weeks on average before giving them an assessment.  My assessment will be 5 dictation sentences which the students will copy.  Each sentence will contain 2-3 of the words from their list.  This assessment will receive two scores:  a score for the correct spelling of their listed words, and a score for using capital letters and correct end punctuation in their sentences.  Each group will get a different set of sentences.

The main goal for me of this word work is for students to have carryover of correct spelling into their writing and daily work.  Let's hope it is a step in the right direction!

If you would like to learn more about Words Their Way, click on the picture below.