Open and Closed Syllable FREEBIES

I've mentioned before that we use Letterland for spelling and phonics. This is our first official year using it since we were just handed the manual last January.
Anyway, Unit 2 is open and closed syllables. Now, I knew nada about syllable types until like last week. This just is not how I learned to spell! Whole language all the way!
But Letterland uses characters and very intricate stories to explain spelling rules and such. It's pretty interesting actually!
I mean, did you know that Oscar Orange can be happy and say his vowel name if he's protected from the robbing robots by a consonant? yep, bet you didn't! Translation-there's a short vowel sound if the syllable ends with a consonant...
Teaching syllable types to 7 year olds is proving to be a little overwhelming to me, so I have made lots of practice activities and games for us. One I shared on IG yesterday and you can download it here!

I love using scholastic book orders any way I can. I truly don't get many student orders with our population, so I use them in class more! Yesterday students searched the book order for whole titles with 2, 3, and 4 syllables. I took them a little while to get the hang of it, but they did great! The directions say cut and glue the books, but I just had them write the titles. We've been gluing a lot lately! There's also a second page for more practice if needed.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

and here are a few activities I found on TpT we've been using as well! and they're all free!
Open and Closed minilessons (I projected these on the screen)
Open syllable sorts (I made sentence strip words with one set and am using the second set as independent practice)
I'll be sharing a few more things as we progress through the next few units on syllables. I like to "teacher-test and kid-approve" things before posting them!

hip hip hooray! a way to organize words their way {a guest post}

Ok friends. While I was doing my words their way series, I stumbled upon Heidi and her sister’s blog! Heidi teachers 2nd grade in Utah and her sis Emily used to teach 2nd grade, but now spends her day with her littles. They have amazing ideas and blog posts about how to setup, score, and organize WTW {and a lot of other good stuff too!}. These sisters have it all! I just purchased their Common Core morning work book and homework book for our grade level. 180 days all laid out for me!? Doesn’t get better!

Heidi graciously agreed to do a guest post about how she organizes all her Words Their Way goodies. This had to be a guest post because this little lady is not organized! yet…It’s my goal this year.

Hello! Rachel was kind enough to ask me to add my 2 cents to her discussion of the Words Their Way program. My name is Heidi and my sister and I blog over at Second Story Window. I’m starting my 12^th year of teaching and I’ve used the WTW program (in some form or other) every year. I’ve had ups and downs as I’ve tried to implement this in my classroom, but once I saw the difference it made to my little learners I pushed myself to make this workable. It’s getting started that’s really the challenge. Once it’s organized it’s just part of the classroom. I must add though, every year I run this a little differently. It’s just a matter of finding what fits the flow of things. So I’m going to share with you how this worked in my class last year.

Rachel gave a good overview of the spelling inventory,

http://mrslambsclass.blogspot.com/2012/07/spelling-my-way-stages-and-making-groups.html

but then we’re left with, “Now what???” It’s time to make our groups. I’ve done different things over the years, but the simplest thing is to just grab a scratch paper and list the levels down one side (LN-A late, W/W early, W/W mid…). Then I look through my stack of record sheets and see who fits each category. I jot down the number they got correct in that category on top of their name. This is helpful if I have to fudge the numbers a bit. Here’s an example:

You can see the Within Word early group is kind of full. Glancing at the numbers I see that Diana only got 2 right but the other kids were much more solid on that level. So I might move Diana down one. If I have lots of kids within the Syllables and Affixes levels, I might put them all in the same group and start them at the beginning. Since the 1^st grade at my school doesn’t use WTW, the kids may be natural spellers and have no understanding of word patterns. I think it’s as important for my kiddoes to learn the why of spelling as much as the how. So when you’re putting groups together, go with your teacher instincts. This isn’t an exact science. You do what works for you! And if 5 (or 6 or 7) groups are too much to handle, do 3 or even 2. The important thing is that you’re getting at least some differentiation in.

In order to keep track of the groups, I developed a little notebook. Each page covers a week of WTW practice. I cut down a post-it note for each group and then add the kids’ names. It makes it easy to transfer the information each week. Since taking this photo I’ve updated the forms. You can get them here.

http://www.secondstorywindow.net/home/2011/09/words-their-way-record-book.html

Now to deal with the actual sorts. This is the make-it or break-it point when it comes to using WTW. If you can handle this circus, the rest is easy.

I bought some 6-pocket folders from Really Good Stuff similar to these.

http://www.reallygoodstuff.com/product/8+pocket+student+homework+organizers.do

I numbered each folder 1-6 and then used a post-it to label the pockets inside with the group level and number of kids. So each group has its own pocket.

This next step took me a while, but now that it’s done I’ll never have to do it again! I went through the different sort books (for my kids the Letter-Name Alphabetic, Within Word Patter, and Syllables & Affixes) and copied each sort on yellow paper. I did them 2-sided so they’d all fit in one binder.

So now, every 6 weeks or so, I take my folders, binder, and record notebook to the work room. I figure out what each group needs for the week and put the copies in the right pocket. This is when having the master on yellow comes in handy—I never mix it in with the copies! I can copy and organize 6 weeks worth of sorts in less than 30 minutes.

The kids get their new sorts on Fridays. I call each group back to the table. We discuss the sort and they highlight an exemplar for each category. That helps them to remember what features they’re sorting for. Then they take their sorts to their desks, cut them out, write their initials on the back, and store the cards in a little zipper pocket.

Since I started the Daily 5 last year, word sorts are the first thing the students do when they go to the Work with Words station. Monday they sort and write. Tuesday is the favorite: speed sort (I found sand timers from Oriental Trading). Wednesday they sort and graph. And Thursday they sort and glue the words into their notebooks. And on Friday we start with the new sort. They can do each sort in less than 5 minutes.

It sounds like a lot to take on, but truthfully once you find a system that works for you the whole thing just flows. And the benefits…well they far, far outweigh the hassles. I know in the years when I’ve been diligent with this program my kids were much more confident in their understanding of spelling patterns. In the years when I’ve let this slide, I may have some really good natural spellers, but they don’t understand why words follow certain patterns. If we want to shape good little spellers, it just makes sense to teach them how to think about words.

and that’s all for today! It’s a lot to take in, so I will save my stories from our first day back {gasp} for tomorrow. And I’ll have pictures to share too! The kiddos return on Tuesday, so I have a little time! I need to stay away from Pinterest and blog land because every.single.time I get on here, there is something new I want to add!

Spelling MY Way: Sorting and scheduling

I am thrilled with the response to this little WTW series. Though I want to stress, you do not have to USE Words Their Way to meet the needs of your students. You just need to match the level of speller to the correct stage. Just throwing that out there! I know not all schools are lucky enough to have the program, but we can all easily differentiate spelling.
That said; I want to share my schedule and types of sorts I use. I am very set when it comes to what sorts are done when. I think I have finally found a routine that works for me and benefits my students. In just 10 minutes per day or less, I cover spelling instruction. We all have 10 minutes! Somewhere….
There are two types of sorts: open and closed. Same line of thinking as open-ended and close-ended questions. Open sorts are more exploratory. Give them words or objects and let them figure out a way to sort based on common features. Closed sorts are directed. You give the rule, they sort according to that rule. Within closed sorts, WTW names 3 types: alphabetic {long vs. short, etc.} Pattern {oi vs. oy, etc.} and meaning {parts of speech, homophones, etc.} In 2nd grade, the majority of our sorts are alphabetic or pattern based. The further advanced the speller, the more meaning driven word study becomes.

OK, fun with sorting! Like I said, we sort daily. Here is my schedule and a little explanation.

Monday-Copied word cards are on student desks when they enter. I copy them on Friday afternoons. If I was more on top of things, I would have sets already made for the year! Students cut them out and place in word bags.
After everyone arrives, we all get out our cards and lay out the “headers”. Students do an open sort. I walk around and help. Later, during guided reading, I meet with each group and do a group sort with one student’s words. I pass out all the words, lay out the headers, and we take turns saying the word and putting it in the correct column together.
Tuesday-another group sort in small groups with my assistant or myself at the beginning of their guided reading group.
Wednesday-Speed sort as a class. I put the Online Timer on the screen and say START using the large stopwatch feature. As soon as they finish, they record their time on an index card kept in the word bags. We do this 3 times. They are only racing themselves.
Thursday-Speed sort as a class again
Friday-We do No Peeking, or blind sorts. Students find a partner. They exchange word bags {if they are in different groups}. Student 1 calls out the word from the card, student B spells it. If it’s correct they get the card to sort. If not it is put back in the rotation. It’s great practice for the test!
If possible, we sort at the beginning of each guided reading group time.
What are all these sorts that I’m talking about?
Speed Sort
The sorting of words is timed, and repeated until the time it takes to sort the words correctly improves at least twice. Times are recorded in the Word Study Notebook.
Blind Sort or No peeking
This sort is good practice for the actual test. A partner is needed to read each word from the list. Words must be spelled and sorted correctly in the Word Study Notebook without looking at the words.
Written Sort
Word cards are sorted, and the finished sort is written down in the Word Study Notebook.
Buddy Sort
Same as a written sort, but done with a partner who has an answer key.
Here's a little video


Tips
This may all seem impossible. I am the first one to admit it has taken me 9 years to get here. Since I have taught 2nd grade, it just clicked into place! No class changing pressures I guess. But there are some things I do that have made all this possible. You can take it or leave it!
•I do not do guided reading On Mondays. I only meet with spelling groups.
•My reading and spelling groups are often the same. If a student’s spelling level does not correspond with their reading level, they leave the group after we have sorted that day and return to Daily 5.
•I use Ziploc bags for word bags. I have them In the supply center, with index cards, that they have access to if they need a new bag. I have also duct taped the edges of the bags in the past.
•I send home a sorted word list on Monday (freebie template below!). It is sorted into the columns that they are expected to know for the test. I do not assign spelling homework. I leave this up to the parents. Our in-class sorting is enough for me.
My next post will be about organization. Heidi from Second Story Window has graciously agreed to do a guest post! Can’t wait. She's got some awesome ideas!
I also wanted to share all this in one place. I whipped up a little word sort resource pack you can use with any spelling program! It has cards with directions for different games to put in centers, teacher reference page, spelling test templates, anchor charts (that are super dooper cute), and lots of advice, tips, scheduling, etc.

 

Click below for a Word Doc spelling list template. Until later!

Spelling MY Way: Stages and Making groups

So now you’ve scored those spelling inventories! What’s next? Use them to make groups! I wish, wish, wish I could get into my classroom and show you my group making forms, but I will wing it for today!
My middle Lamb graciously agreed to take the test so I could use his score to show you what to do! Ain’t he a doll! {he’ll do anything to earn extra Minecraft time!}
Here’s the Primary inventory list and feature guide
Here’s the Elementary list and features guide
And here’s the Upper Elementary
We use the Primary in 2nd grade.

Thinking hard during the summer! All that mess is distracting!

ok, here is his test. I simply wrote the correct spelling beside the word. He wanted to see what he missed.

Now I transferred this info to the feature guide.

This is what is time consuming. Check off each feature the kiddos gets correct. I use colored ink because I will use this same form 3 times per year. Honestly, I usually only check off the features and total at the bottom of each column. This is how I make my groups.

You can see he got 5 out of 7 in this feature column then dropped off. This is where I would place Jake.

I circled Long vowels AND Other vowels. He has a grasp of long vowel patterns. But not perfect. This is a good review spot.

I would begin him in the Late Within Word Patterns. Each stage has a different book of sorts. I am usually working out of 3 different books for 4 groups. Most students in my class fall into this stage, but at different levels. Some will need blends, while others, like Jake above, do not. I would not have them working in the same group.

Grouping

Students who fall into the same stage are likely grouped together. This year I had 6 students fall into early Within Word and 3 who fell into late Within Word. I made these 2 different groups because those in the latter part of the stage would not need also scored a few features in the Syllables and Affixes correctly and I knew they would move on quickly Whereas those other 6 in the early stages would miss out on all the long vowel instruction.

If you look at my Spelling City page, you see Red, Green, Yellow, Blue, etc. then a number. These are simply the color of the book and the number of the sort! Nothing fancy. This helps me stay on track when I make copies.

{source}

Red book-Letter Name Alphabetic. These are short vowels, initial, and final consonants. These kiddos have a grasp of long vowels, but still confuse short vowels. These are my lower spellers.

Yellow Book-Within Word Patterns. These are the beginnings of digraphs, blends, and common long vowel patterns. features that are “within” a word. They are introduced to homophones and are focusing on sound, meaning, and spelling. About 1/2 my second graders fall into this stage.

Green Book-Syllables and Affixes. For the most part, my highest spellers will start in the early stages. In this stage, students learn about affixes, suffixes, and prefixes.  Many mistakes are made in two syllable words, especially where syllables and affixes meet.  They are learning about doubling the consonant, inflected endings, open and closed syllables, and unaccented final syllables. Tough stuff!

I’ve only had one student get to the blue book. But it’s Derivational Relations. That sounds pretty good doesn’t it! At this point students have moved to more vocabulary instruction. We are looking at word study focusing on derivations, base words, and root words.   Spelling-meaning connections help them to build and expand their vocabulary knowledge.

I love this graphic!
{source}

 

You really wan tot know my group names don’t you?! Well, inspired by Lettering Delights Around the World Bundle {inspiration can come from anywhere} we are named for world landmarks. Big Ben, Leaning Tower of Pisa, Eiffel Tower, and Taj Mahal! In the beginning of the year my breakdown looked like this:

5 Big Ben, 12 Leaning Tower, 3 Eiffel Tower, and 1 Taj Mahal.
and by the end of the year
6 Big Ben, 6 Leaning Tower, 3 Eiffel Tower, and 6 Taj Mahal.

It’s not that students did not make progress. When we take the Mid-Year inventory, they’ve had 4 months of spelling instruction. The group should have moved on around the same speed. But as you can see, many moved on quicker. I moved them up with my lone gal in Taj Mahal. I still had all but 4 on or above “grade level”. I find this hard to determine in spelling. I also had one little Leaning Tower who came in November and seemed to grasp the inventory ok. However, I soon discovered he was a rather weak speller {but amazing reader} and moved him with Big Ben. At this point they were in the late Letter-Name Alphabetic learning short vowel patterns and digraphs, so he was getting the review he needed. None of the groups “move down” as far as going back and covering lists we’ve already had. If the group bombs long A patterns, I pick a new list from the index of the manual and we do it again. We all chug along and the kids in the groups are flexible.

Tomorrow I will show you what we do each day! It’s only 10 minutes of the day, so you can squeeze it in! I will also have a few freebies later on. Happy Wednesday!

spelling MY way: WTW Week 1 routines

Beware. You are about to enter “my soapbox”…you were warned. I am going to do a little series of posts on WTW and word study in my classroom this week. I am pretty excited about because I actually enjoy it!

This post is a total spin from a comment I put on sweet Misty’s blog post yesterday. I hope she doesn’t mind. I am sure she will not because I think many teachers feel like she does when it comes to spelling.

Admit it. You know it is important to be able to spell. Thing is; it’s kind of hard to teach someone how. I have come to realize I cannot teach a child how to spell. I can expose them to new words and patterns, teach them common patterns and why they work the way they do. I am the first one to admit I knew zip-ola about phonics until I was a graduate student. That’s right. I grew up during the whole reading era! I never had any issues with reading, so I lucked out. A lot of me still thinks this way, too. Exposure and they’ll get it eventually! But that’s only going to work for those top notch students who frankly would get it without you too.

ok, enough of my ranting. I wanted to show you how I set up spelling and a typical day/week in my classroom with spelling instruction. I AM NOT AN EXPERT! By any means, but I am pleased with with small chunk of my day and want to share so you know dreams can come true!

Background info: I learned about Words Their Way from Grad school. We actually used the newest manual for our class book. Prior to this I used the basal lists. It is so easy to pull the basal lists and use them. They are right there. But guess what? about 1/3 to 1/4 of your students might be successful with them because I am guessing that is all that are right on grade level when it comes to spelling.

the Bible {source}

I want to run you though my first week of school. I will also post of setting up {how I PLAN to set up that is. Live and learn}, getting parents to buy in and sending home lists, types of sorts and word work activities my teammates and I use, and weekly assessment.

Day 2 in the year: Spelling Inventory

I love this thing because your WHOLE class does it together. They get all squirmy in their seats when you tell them we are going to have a spelling test…”but Mrs. Lamb, it’s only the second day of school” they whine.

There are 3 lists you can use. The Primary, Elementary, and Upper Elem. Don’t be fooled by the word Elementary. Many parents wouldn’t be successful with the last few! You can click PRIMARY and see a preview of the list and what happens next. In 2nd grade I use the Primary. I also give all 26 words. In some instances {EC or ELL students} I may give only the first few and if I see them struggling, I will ask them to stop. This would be best in small groups.

ok, If they get all the words correct, I give the Elementary inventory to that child later or have my assistant do this. {I only have one an hour per day-don’t get excited!}. I will repeat this same list in January and again in May. Comparing apples to apples!

throughout Week 1: Score the assessment
Now here’s the hardest part. Scoring. It’s not that is is hard per se, it’s just time consuming. You are not simply scoring correct of incorrect, you are looking for features the kiddos knows and does not. For instance. The word “camped” is nearing the bottom of the 26 word list. Many of my kids write “campt”. Now I see they have the mp, but not –ed endings. ANother strange thing would be that a student could get all the features of a word correct, but still spell the word wrong. It’s ok! We are only looking for these specific areas.

WTW provides a scoring features sheet for you to copy for each kiddo. I found an amazing blog where the teacher redid this form. SO I can share that! click source below for some freebies

Spelling features form {Source}

Do you see the 3 different ink colors. This is instant data! By recording each of the 3 assessments on one form, you can show growth to parents and admin. Not to mention, it is helpful for you too!

here’s an awesome Teacher Tube video, too. I’d do this for you, but…I don’t want to hear my voice!

 

What’s next for the first week?
This form will help you group your students. More on that tomorrow.
I don’t stress about getting the students their perfect list this week {or the next either}. I choose a list that I feel a first grader would be successful with. I copy the sort for each student in my class, no matter their ability. Then, using this common list, we learn routines and procedures for word study. Here is the one I typically use. Click here to go to my spelling city page. I choose this one because it is all the short vowels. A nice review for some! Too hard for some…

Until tomorrow! Go out and do some digging. You'll find some great stuff!