Words Their Way: Word Study for
Phonics, Vocabulary, and Spelling
EDEL
LITERACY METHODS
EDEL 4975 EDCI 5480
(1 credit)
Fall 2012
Instructor: Dr. Keonghee Tao Han
Phone: (W) 307-268-2056
Email: khan@uwyo.edu
Office: Tate Museum 122
Office Hours: Tuesday & Thursday.
12:30-2:30 PM & by appointment
Register for one (1) academic credit or obtain a visitor’s pass ($25.00)
To register and inquire about the course UW/CC: Phone Number 307-268-2713
Contact person for questions about registration:
UW/CC office phone: 307-268-2713 or email: nmurphy@uwyo.edu
Meeting Place: Loftin Life Science Center Room (LS) 209 Casper College Campus
Breakout Session Meeting Places: LS 209 and the Physical Science (PS) rooms
109,111,117 and 119. PS is adjacent to the Life Science Center
With Authors Dr. Donald Bear and Dr. Lori Helman
Friday, October 12: 4:00 -8:00 PM
Saturday, October 13: 8 AM – 4:00 PM
A Follow-Up Session with Dr. Keonghee Tao Han
Monday, November 19 4:00-7:00 PM
PURPOSE:
This class is intended to integrate with and build upon the October 12 and 13 visit of Drs.
Bear and Helman to Casper to discuss concepts related to Dr. Bear’s seminal work,
Words Their Way: Word Study for Phonics, Vocabulary, and Spelling Instruction. The
book, Words Their Way with English Learners will also be used as a resource. Activities
and workshops involving Drs. Bear and Helman are scheduled during this visit, and a
mandatory review and wrap-up session in November is designed to follow-up on the
October discussions and review connections between the concepts covered and
participants’ classroom practices. The intended audiences for this intensive one-credit
credit class are currently practicing teachers and paraprofessionals as well as preservice
teacher candidates.
For those who take this class for 1 academic credit, and to facilitate professional
reflection and provide performance assessment, a 2-4 single-spaced reflection paper will
be required by the end of November (November 30) to Dr. Han via email attachment.
Before drafting this paper, complete the assessment process and implement three (3)
1
word study activities with developmentally appropriate groups. Complete the spelling-bystage assessment process with a whole class or small group. Complete a feature guide on
each spelling sample, and a classroom organization chart. Describe briefly the
composition of the group.
Combined with complete attendance at all class sessions, submission of this paper
completed to professional standards (see attached rubric) will constitute successful
completion of this class.
Through this experience, teachers will be provided an exposure to one of the strongest
proponents and intellectual parents of word study instruction and related ideas that are
currently influencing literacy initiatives school districts and classrooms. Among the
concepts covered are: Concepts related to developmental spelling and reading, word
study for phonics, vocabulary, and spelling instruction-incorporating word study
notebook and games.
Grading Scale: 100 points (80% attendance and 20% paper—see rubric for paper in the
back)
Tentative Schedule
Friday, October 12
Saturday, October 13
Monday, November 19
4:00-8:00 PM Loftin Life
8:00 AM-4:00 PM
4:00 -7:00 PM
Science Center Room 209
Welcome
Loftin Life Science Center
Keynote Speech:
Room 209
Loftin Life Science Center
Room 209
Welcome and Introduction of
Keynote Speaker:
Discuss the developmental
Dr. Bear and Dr. Helman
Dr. Helman
groups and your
Topic: Creating and
assessments.
Active and Engaging
Word Study Classroom
In small groups, discuss the
8:15-9:15 am
range and grouping of your
class.
Break
9:15 – 9:25
Share how you implemented
word study.
Breakout Session Meeting
Places: LS 209 (Emergent Bring in your word study
Stage Learners)
activities and share how it
went.
and Physical Science (PS)
Bldg. rooms 109,111,117
Make plans for next steps.
and 119
Write a note to Drs. Helman
and Bear.
2
Keynote Speakers: Drs. Bear
and Helman
4:15-6 pm
Topic: Background and
Foundations of Word Study.
Overview of Key Concepts.
Contemporary and Future
Issues. Applications for regular
students, struggling readers and
English Learners. Assessment
Discussion with Words Their Way
Teachers
6:00 – 8:00 pm
Practicing educators organize by grade
level, while preservice teachers
organize by their practicum schools to
introduce the authors to practitioners
and professional experiences.
Rotation I: 6:15 – 6:45
Rotation II: 6:55 – 7:25
(Group 1: Primary K-2 with Dr. Bear
Group 2 with Dr. Helman:
Intermediate 3-5 and above)
The authors will rotate among two
groups and teach a brief lesson, sort
with you, practice an oral language
activity to facilitate group learning and
expression.
Breakout: 9:30 – 2:20
There are five session
options from which
participants can choose.
Breakout Sessions rotate to
permit attendance at 3
different sessions. Each
session is for 70 minutes!
Breakout #1: 9:30 – 10:40
Share one specific literacy
content and appropriate
word study activity and
game to the rest of the class.
Breakout #2 10:50-12:00
AM
Lunch 12:00 -1:10pm
Breakout #3: 1:10 –
2:20pm
BREAK 2:20-2:30
Breakout Sessions for
Different Stages of
Literacy Learners:
1. Emergent Stage
(Loftin Life Science Center
Rm. 209)
2. Letter Name Alphabetic
(PS 109)
3. Within Word Pattern
(PS 111)
4. Syllable Affixes
(PS 117)
5. Derivational Relations
(PS 119)
3
Q&A and Book Signing
Opportunity
7:30 – 8:00pm
Putting It All Together:
What It Takes To Do
Word Study
Dr. Bear
2:30 – 3:30 pm
Closing, Q&A, Follow-up
3:30 – 4:00pm
4
Rubric for 2-4 Page Paper (20 points)
Write Word Study Instruction Embedded in Small Group or Whole-class
Reading/Writing Lesson (a 2-4 single-spaced paper, including prompts) by
providing your response to each of the prompts below. First determine groups,
reading levels, materials, and activities. Explain your rationale of the groupings
and attach your feature guides and class organization chart as appendices. Once
grouping is determined, you provide one (1) small-group differentiated instruction
or one whole-class reading comprehension and vocabulary lesson for this
assignment. On November 19, bring the lesson plan, grouping charts and feature
guide, word sort/games, and student work samples to share in class.
For this 2-4 single-spaced paper, please respond to the prompts below.
1) How Well Did You Engage Students with Comprehension, Word Sort,
and Games?
a) Describe lesson objectives for this Comprehension Strategy and Words
Their Way instruction (WTW).
b) Explain your reading instruction method, for e.g., as part of Read-aloud,
Guided reading, or Book club/Literature Circle. How did you imbed literacy
skills (one comprehension strategy and vocabulary lesson) in your reading
lessons?
c) Describe and provide your rationale as to why you selected specific
reading materials, comprehension strategy, vocabulary, and word sorts and
games. What are your specific text title, comprehension strategy and
vocabulary words, and word sorts/games, why?
d) Explain how your instruction (text, tasks, activities, discussions, and
teaching strategies) linked students’ prior learning and experiences with
new learning.
Prior learning and experience includes students’ academic content
knowledge, language development, social and emotional development,
family/cultural assets, interests, and lived experiences.
ii) How Did Your Comprehension Strategy and Word Study/Game Lessons
Deepen Individual Student Learning during Instruction?
a) Describe by providing student examples why your selection of specific text,
comprehension strategy(ies), and word study activities elicited and furthered
student thinking and learning and supported individual student’s varied needs?
b) What specific responses did you offer students that furthered their learning?
How do you know?—provide student responses and work samples.
5
Rubric for Instruction:
Describe strategies you used to engage students in tasks to develop skills and strategies to
comprehend text and learn focus vocabulary.
1) Cite specific examples of activities/strategies aimed at engaging all of your
students in this small group instruction and examples aimed at engaging specific
individual needs;
2) How did your choice of specific comprehension and WTW strategies elicit
students’ developing academic language and literacy strategies at hand? And how
well did you support and promote varying language proficiencies within the small
group?
Reflection Prompts
Identify both successes and missed opportunities throughout instruction & address
prompts below:
1. If you could do it over, what might you have done to take advantage of missed
opportunities to improve the learning of students with diverse needs and
characteristics?
2. How do you plan to use feedback to assist students in improving their work and
understanding in future lessons?
Reflection Rubric:
Both successes and missed opportunities for monitoring all students’ learning are
identified with examples from video when appropriate.
A plan for taking advantage of missed opportunities is clearly evident in commentary.
Ways feedback was provided to students in lesson are detailed and examples are cited.
A plan for using feedback to assist students in improving their work and understanding in
future lessons is detailed.
Points Total:
__________/ 20 pts.
Comments:
6