The weekly spelling test, an educational tradition, steeped in memorization and misery for students, parents, and teachers alike has become a relic of the past. The list of 20 words assigned across all levels of students was begrudgingly studied, splatted onto the spelling test and quickly forgotten the next week. This "tradition" was unsuccessful due to the lack of a systematic differentiated approach to phonics and spelling. Today spelling and word work instruction reflects the structure and history of language and writing.
Systematic Differentiated Approach
According to Invenizzi (2004) analytic word work could be the cure all for the phonics and spelling spelling instruction. Word work needs to a be based on:
1. Spelling Inventory - an assessment that no longer focuses on the correct spelling of the whole word, but analyzes word features and patterns along a developmental continuum. From initial consonant sounds up to bases and roots.
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| Words Their Way Inventory - Bear, Intermezzi, Templeton, & Johnston |
3. Differentiation - student's word work should then be differentiated to the student's individual level and instructed in small groups in a systematic manner.
4. Students In Action - Students are no longer passive receivers of knowledge, but active in the process of creating learning and generalization. While the teacher may give a short, direct lesson about the spelling pattern or feature, it is the students working with, manipulating, and examining how that feature applies to a variety of words. Allowing students to not just memorize the letter sequence of one word, but see how a spelling rule or pattern applies to many words. The true test is the application of the new feature to unknown words used in the students writing.
5. What does feature analysis, "word work" look and sound like for students?
Notice how the students are speaking about patterns, vowel sounds, stretching and analyzing words. While a general rule may have been taught by the teacher, the true learning takes place between partners or with the student analyzing and applying a rule to a variety of words. Students are no longer memorizing strings of letters. Students are becoming linguists understanding how language works. Yet, these words are still being analyzed without context.
While it is great that students can read and recognize patterns in isolation, the realistic and practical part of reading needs students to be able to use their phonics and decoding knowledge while reading and writing.
Phonics, Fluency, and Writing Connection
Once students are exposed to and analyze digraphs, blends, vowel pairs, patterns and rules of language, how can we ensure that they are applying it with automaticity to their reading?
According to Rasinski, Rupley, and Nichols (2008) the answer lies in reading the focused feature words in the context of a performance! What is more engaging for students than getting the spotlight to show what you know? From songs to reader's theater to poetry, when students are tasked with a performance, fluency becomes a driving factor.
Synthesizing these experiences by allowing students to write their own rhyming sentences or poems can give teachers an additional form of assessment to see if students are not only able to decode the skill they have been working on, but also encode the words.
Word work is cannot be an isolated set of instruction, but a component that is integrated into reading and writing experiences.
How else can teachers create authentic, engaging experiences that tie together word work, reading, and writing?
Resources
Invenizzi, M., & Hayes, L. (2004). Developmental-spelling research: A systematic imperative. Reading Research Quaterly, 39(2), 216-228.
Rasinski, T., Rupley, W. H., & Nichols, W. D. (2008). Two Essential Ingredients: Phonics and Fluency Getting to Know Each Other. The Reading Teacher, (3). 257.
Invenizzi, M., & Hayes, L. (2004). Developmental-spelling research: A systematic imperative. Reading Research Quaterly, 39(2), 216-228.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSqoNVfzq7w
I like how you included the Words their Way spelling inventory. It really makes what you are saying in the rest of your blog clear. It is also very appealing to teachers who may not have thought about or heard about using it before. Your subheadings make the content very clear and concise, as do the color coding of the important words or concepts. I also liked how you included multiple strategies that teachers can implement, such as songs, theater and poetry to increase fluency and that word work should be incorporated into reading and writing. I love “students are becoming linguists understanding how language works.” How powerful! I think reader’s theater is such a powerful way of getting students involved in language and fluency, especially when they are given the opportunity to write their scripts themselves. Exploring word choice, sentence structure, dialogue, and audience all enhance their reading and writing skills while also increasing their fluency.
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