M10: Word Study and Vocabulary

a spelling test from 2nd grade

Do you remember taking a weekly spelling test? Even for those who were successful speller, the pattern of receiving the words on Monday, practicing their spellings through the week to memorize them, and being tested on Friday was excruciatingly boring! 

The process does not allow for any big picture view of words and fails to provide for a greater goal. The segmented view of words means that as soon as one spelling list is tested, another list takes its place. Blah. 

Fortunately, many teachers are implementing an alternative to this approach called "Word Study". Instead of being based on the random memorization of words, a word study program is a united approach that addresses word recognition, spelling, phonics, and vocabulary as one package.  

Word study provides students with opportunities to investigate and understand the patterns in words. Knowledge of these patterns means that students needn't learn to spell one word at a time.

Take, for example, the difference between "hard c" (as in cat) and "soft c" (as in cell). After collecting many words containing the letter "c," students discover that "c" is usually hard when followed by consonants (as in clue and crayon) and the vowels "a," "o," and "u" (as in cat, cot, and cut). In contrast, "c" is usually soft when followed by "i", "e," and "y" (as in circus, celery, and cycle). C

Of course, for every rule there are exceptions that threaten the rule. Students learn, though, that spelling patterns exist, and that these patterns help to explain how to spell, read, and write words.

APPLICATIONS
Designed to:

  • build word knowledge that can be applied to both reading and spelling; and
  • also develops students' abilities in phonics, word recognition, and vocabulary.

IMPLEMENTATION

Because this approach is foreign to many people, I have several videos here to show you what implementation looks like in the classroom.

Features of Words: This video shows a Making Words Lesson, where the teacher is guiding the students to notice certain aspects about the words they are studying:

Vocabulary: This video demonstrates how Word Studies can be used for vocabulary development.

Parts of Speech (Verbs): This video demonstrates how students can learn about parts of speech. 

For more ways to implement Word Studies, check out the following website for nine tips!