Word Study in First Grade

Earlier in the year I sent home a newsletter regarding words their way which is my spelling program I use in first grade.  Words Their Way is phonics, spelling, and vocabulary instruction through daily word study.   One focus of word study is to teach students how to spell and decode new words and to improve their word recognition speed in general.  To accomplish this, I teach the students how to examine words to learn the regularities that exist in the spelling system.  The students will also be taught some irregularities of spelling.  The simple process of sorting words into categories is the basic structure of our word study program.  When the 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 apply to new words they encounter in their reading. 

On Monday, the students are given a word study book.  Each word study book has a list of ten words that the students will work on for the week.  Students in my class will NOT be given the same generic spelling list.  The students took the primary spelling inventory earlier in the year.  This inventory allowed me to see your child's specific spelling needs.  Therefore, your child's spelling list will be differentiated based on his/her needs.  During our small group instruction, students will learn about their words.  Then, during our work on words time in the afternoon the students will cut apart their words and place them in a baggie.  They will use these words throughout the whole week.  On Tuesday, they use the words to sort them into categories.  On Wednesday, the students use their words to do a speed sort.  This is where the sand timers come into play.  On Thursday, the students use their words cards to sort and then create a graph on their sort.  On Friday, they sort the words again and this time they glue the word sort onto a word mat.  The following are some pictures of our words sort practice.

These are the books used to assess the students as well as the books used to find the appropriate word sorts for each child.

http://www.amazon.com/Words-Their-Way-Pattern-Spellers/dp/013514843X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1412369835&sr=8-2&keywords=Words+Their+Way

Bats, Word Work, and Retell Rope

Students took the primary spelling inventory at the beginning of the year.  This assessment comes from Words Their Way.  This program groups students based on their personal word work needs.  Students in my class have been working on their words in a variety of ways.  Below are some more pictures of our word work study activities.

Students using wiki sticks to spell their patterned words.

Students using the Promethean board to work on rhyme patterns.

Students using magnetic letters and magnetic burner covers to spell their patterned words.

This past week we began our unit on nonfiction features.  During shared reading we learned about bats and then used the materials we used during shared reading to learn not only about bats but nonfiction features found in most nonfiction books.  Below are some pictures of our work with bats.

To begin our unit on bats we took a poll on whether we thought bats were creepy or cute?  This cute little graph came from the very talented Cara Carroll over at The First Grade Parade.  Check her out.

Then, we displayed our data and interpreted it.  This again came from Cara Carroll over at The First Grade Parade.

 We have also done a lot of work in the past few weeks on retelling stories using key details in text.  I've created a retell rope that I use with my class to help clue them in on the things I expect when I ask them to retell a story.  Click on the pictures to grab your own copy.  I used clipart of Godilocks and the Three Bears to clue the students in to each part of retelling. 

Retell Rope

Retell Rope