Buddy Word Study Lesson
approx. 20 min. total
Partner #1: ______________________
Partner #2: ______________________
Responsible for literature connection
and sorting activity
Responsible for practice activity and
Phonics/Spelling Concept (narrow to reasonable focus):
Objective:
1.
assessment
_________________________________________
The students will be able to _____________________________________________________________
Literature Connection:
Share a picture book, poem, chant, or song that ties to your chosen concept
(read-aloud, shared reading, or choral reading). Link this “connected text” to the upcoming learning without
spoiling the kids’ chance to make their own discoveries through the sorting activity. Possibilities:
 Read the book for pleasure and then refer back to the word feature you are highlighting in the book
 Before reading, ask students to listen for words with the word feature you are studying (i.e., listen for
words that start with /b/, that have the long E sound, that start with /ch/, etc.)
2.
Sorting Activity:
Create a picture and/or word sort to help students discover the concept. See the
posted example plans from our jigsaw sorting activity for basic sorting procedures.
 Picture sorts make sense for learning simpler concepts connected to sound (rhyming, beginning/ending
consonant letter sounds, short vowel sounds, consonant digraphs, consonant blends).
 Word sorts are more useful for looking at patterns (long vowels, diphthongs,
r-controlled vowels, suffixes, etc.).
 Sometimes it is best to combine pictures and words (see jigsaw sorts 1 & 4).
3.
Practice Activity:
Provide an engaging activity to
reinforce was just learned. It should match the lesson’s
focus, provide plenty of practice for all students (very little
waiting), and be quick to learn! Test drive your activity
with friends to make sure it functions smoothly. Some
possibilities:
 Board game (follow the path, etc.)
 Bingo (no bigger than 4x4 squares to speed up games)
 Card Game (Go Fish, Rummy, Matching, etc.)
 Making Words (word building with magnetic letters or tiles)
 Roll the Cube (example: onsets & rimes on two separate
cubes—roll and make word, read it, and then score points if it is
a real word)

Tic Tac Toe (draw word cards, read them, and try to get 3 in a
row with a certain feature)

Word Hunt (find words in reading materials that match the
pattern studied and write them in categories)

DO NOT DO THE FOLLOWING:
flash cards, worksheets, word searches, hangman, writing sort words in
sentences, races, making it overly competitive, etc. If you’re not sure whether your idea is suitable, ask.
4.
Assessment:
This should document whether the students can use the concept. At a minimum, it should
involve having the students write words with the targeted feature(s), since that assesses a higher degree of word
knowledge than reading the same words. The assessment can be integrated with the practice activity above or it
may be done separately at the end of the lesson. A blind writing sort is a simple assessment that meets these
criteria.
LESSON RUBRIC—Note: You will be scored only on what you create. Your partner’s work
will be scored separately.
General
Objective provides a clear sense of what
students will know and be able to do as a
result of the lesson. It is targeted to learners'
needs, ideally based on assessment results.
BOTH Partners
Required basics are included: objective(s),
related state standards, materials list,
complete procedure
Plan is clear and descriptive enough that a
substitute could teach it as intended
Instructional
Design
Planned activities provide a logical path to
meeting objectives, helping children to build
from the “known to the new” (tapping into
prior knowledge, providing modeling,
scaffolding, etc.) *I DO—WE DO—YOU DO*
BOTH Partners
Lesson design supports student engagement as
well as effective management of materials,
transitions, etc.
Assessment
Assessment is carefully matched to the planned
objective(s), giving a window into the students’
accomplishment of the objective(s).
Partner 2
Materials
Materials are appropriate, complete, and
appealing to students. Materials enhance the
lesson significantly.
BOTH Partners