Word Study

In our Emergent Literacy class we have begun the discussion of Word Study.  Word Study is an integral part of an emergent reading curriculum.  There is no one correct way to implement word work, however there must be a balance of teacher centered and student centered learning in order to meet all aspects of a Balanced Literacy Classroom.

 In my school we are currently using the Words Their Way program.  I have found this program to be extremely beneficial to enhancing my first grade students' reading development.  This article gives a basic overview of the Words Their Way program in case you are not familiar with it.
http://www.coppellisd.com/cms/lib07/TX01000550/Centricity/domain/975/shared/wordstheirway.pdf

Word Study is an aspect of the balanced literacy classroom that I have struggled with effectively implementing over the years.  When I first began teaching first grade in Florida, our spelling words/tests came from the Basal Series that we used.  Some weeks, I found the words to be very difficult and not even developmentally appropriate and other weeks they seemed too easy.  However, following the program laid out for me I used those words in my word study centers.

When teaching third grade I became a Balanced Literacy Observation Classroom teacher and began working very closely with our literacy coach.  Spelling was an area that she pointed out I needed improvement in.  So we began coming up with our own spelling lists.  We pulled the words from various texts that we were using in guided reading.  So different groups of students had different words.  This was definitely a step up from word work my previous years, however it was still not a sequential program that built upon what the students had already been taught.

Fast forward to teaching kindergarten in Mississippi.  This was the first time that I was introduced to a true phonics program.  We used Saxon phonics.   Here is an overview of Saxon phonics.
http://cathyduffyreviews.com/phonics_reading/saxon-phonics-k.htm

I loved Saxon phonics.  As a teacher who had never used a phonics program and who definitely had NEVER worked with kindergarten, I learned a lot from the program.  What I found most fascinating about the program was that the students coded their words.  For example, marking words as consonant, vowel, consonant (cvc) and using the coding symbols that I had only seen educators use before.  It was amazing to watch my kindergarten students really grasp an understanding of the English language.  However, Saxon phonics is very time consuming.  It was difficult to work with my phonics groups in addition to any kind of guided reading groups.  Without having two times in our kindergarten schedule to teach reading, I am not sure how I would have been able to fit in instruction of print concepts and other critical emergent reader skills.

I find the Words Their Way program to be a perfect balance of student centered and teacher centered word study.  I only meet with my Words Their Way groups on Mondays.  I spend 5-10 minutes with them introducing their new word sort and I am still able to meet with two guided reading groups on those days.  The rest of the week, the students are practicing their spelling patterns for homework and in word work center.  I am able to pull spelling patterns from their Words Their Way to use as the word work in my guided reading groups.