September 2015
Dear Parents,
During this school year the students will continue to work with the Words Their Way program.
As part of the Words Their Way spelling program each student completed an inventory to determine
what spelling stage they are currently working on, and have been assigned a group based on the results
of this assessment.
This year the students will study their sets of words over a two-week period. On the first
Monday the students will be bringing home a collection of spelling words that have been introduced in
class. The headings for these words will be removed because it will be the students’ responsibility this
year to determine what the appropriate headings are. During the first week students will become
familiar with the meanings of their words and how they can be used. During the second week students
will focus on the words’ spelling patterns and rules. There will be no written homework that has to be
turned in each day, but the students are expected to do a different activity each night for approximately
5- 10 minutes to ensure that the meanings of these words and the spelling principles they represent are
mastered. These activities have been modeled and practiced in school, so the children are familiar with
them and can teach you how to do them. You can see the attached sheet for suggested activities.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me for clarification. Thank you for
your support. Together we can help your child make valuable progress in this area!
Sincerely,
The 4th Grade Team
Words Their Way: Week 1
Suggested Work for Mastering Meanings of Words
Your child does not have any work to turn in during the school week, however, he or she should be
completing activities at home to prepare for the test and to gain a better understanding of the
meanings of their words. Below is a list of suggested activities. Students should spend 5-10 minutes a
night on word study.
Activity 1: Have your child sort his/her words into two categories: 1) Words I know all the meanings of
and 2) Words I don’t know all the meanings of. Discuss the meanings of the unknown word with your
child or have him/her look them up on the computer or in the dictionary. Remind your child that many
words have more than one meaning and part of speech.
Activity 2: Have your child illustrate the words they did not know the meanings of or they can come up
with a clue that can help them remember the meanings.
Activity 3: Students can complete an open sort. This is when students sort their words based on
meaning rather than spelling. Possible categories include parts of speech, things I like/Don’t like, etc.
The students can cover up their headings and have a family member try to guess what the headings
might be.
Activity 4: Students can play charades to act out the meanings of their words.
Words Their Way: Week 2
Suggested Work for Mastering Spelling Rules/Patterns
Your child does not have any work to turn in during the school week, however, he or she should be
completing activities at home to prepare for the test and to gain a better understanding of the
spellings and patterns/rules of their words. Below is a list of suggested activities. Students should
spend 5-10 minutes a night on word study.
Activity 1: Cut out spelling word cards and ask your child to sort them into categories, as we did in
school. Your child should read each word aloud during the activity. Ask your child to explain to you why
the words are sorted in a particular way- what does the sort reveal about spelling in general? Ask your
child to sort them a second time as fast as possible. Have your child copy them into their spelling
notebook in the categories. Please keep these cards as home. We have another set to work with at
school.
Activity 2: Have your child do a speed sort. Use a timer to see how fast your child can categorize his or
her words under the appropriate headings. Do this a few times to see if your child improves his or her
time.
Activity 3: Do a blind sort with your child. Lay down a word from each category as a header and then
read the rest of the words aloud. Your child must indicate where the word goes without seeing it. Lay it
down and let your child move it if he or she is wrong. Repeat if your child makes more than one error.
Activity 4: Do a blind writing sort to prepare for the Friday test. As you call out the words in random
order, your child should write them in the correct categories in their spelling notebook. Do not allow
your child to look at the words. Call out any words your child misspells a second or even third time.
Have them write words correctly next to any mistakes. Return the spelling notebook to school to be
checked.
Spelling Test on the 2nd Friday!!!