I absolutely loved this article. I could tell the authors were excited about using word study in exciting and innovative ways, and that made me all the more excited. I honestly have to say that when someone puts enthusiasm into something, they can usually “sell it” to me, no matter what it is. Therefore, when teaching students, we have to put time, effort, and enthusiasm into the lessons we plan for them. I chose to read this article for two reasons. The first reason is because I am becoming more interested in the upper elementary grades. I feel as if I do not know as much about the type of instruction that occurs in these grade levels, and I would like to know more about it. Also, I am currently doing my intership in a fourth grade classroom. I thought it would be most beneficial to me to glean some ideas from this article that I would hopefully use in my classroom.
Interestingly enough, we don’t often think of having to do a word study in the intermediate grades. We often think students have already learned all those things and now it is time to learn comprehension strategies. However, I learned that even comprehension strategies can be supported through a word study. For example, the “Roots and Branches” chart can be used to break down the meaning of the Latin or Greek root word. It expands beyond that to include a variety of words and their definitions. Having this visual aid can help students see how all these words are related. This is a very important concept in the intermediate grades. The possibilities of using a words study are seemingly endless which is a really exciting proposition for me as a beginning teacher.
The first thing I noticed about the article was that it reviewed a great deal of the word patterns. We learned these extensively in RE 3030, and it was refreshing to know that I recognized these and knew how to use them. It was also very helpful because as I reviewed each one, I was able to think of ideas and ways to teach each type. It not only reviewed the word patterns that should be learned in the intermediate grades, but it discussed the basic word study patterns such as C-V-C and C-V-C-e. I made the connection between the fact that they included these beginning word study patterns because not all students will be instructionally ready to learn concepts such as syllable juncture pattern in the fourth grade. They may still be grasping the concept of C-V-C and C-V-C-e. Therefore, elementary teachers have to know a wide variety of word study patterns used across each grade (K-8).
I also found it interesting that students build reading, writing, and spelling concepts through oral language. Teachers should integrate these concepts and make a sequence of events where it flows smoothly from one to the other. Students should be able to see how each concept is related. By doing this, it will greatly increase their retention rate. This also supports the fact that students should learn the word study patterns in a sequence. It is foolish to think a fourth grader can learn homographs-syllable juncture stage when they haven’t even learned all of the simple vowel patterns. It should be a process of mastery, where students master a concept before moving on to the next. I believe that is one of the huge problems in schools today. We are rushing to get through the material so quickly that we just learn general bits and pieces while forgetting the rest.
The thing I enjoyed the most was finding that a word study can be modified to meet the needs of multiple students. For example, on page 252, the article mentions teachers became more comfortable with the word study as they used it more often and became familiar with making changes to fit individual students. I connected this with the social studies/reading article as well. For instance, if you have three reading/spelling groups, it should be no different for word study. The word study activites you give a student should be based on an individual level of achievement. I also like that the word study promotes placing students at their instructional level. By providing just enough challenge in the appropriate sequence, teachers can scaffold kids learning and see improvements almost immediately. By taking little extra time, which will be well worth it in the end, you can help all your students work at their instructional level. Overall, I thought all the ideas, such as the homophone dictionary and the homograph concentration, were superb. I plan on keeping this article as a resource for the future.
I read this article too, as I am in a fourth grade classroom as well. I thought it was interesting reading the article to get classroom ideas like grouping students for instruction and integration of the subjects including reading, writing, and spelling instruction rather than viewing them as separate entities. I also agree with your statement about the spelling/word study grouping. I had never really considered grouping students for spelling until yesterday in class, but I realize now that by grouping them all for whole class instruction when they are at different levels is doing everyone in the class a disservice, as the higher students need to be pushed forward and the lower students need to find that area to build themselves up through the scaffolding process. I think the most important piece of information I gained from the article was that we must view our students as individuals in the classroom and not just as a classroom of first graders or fourth graders. They might be in the fourth grade, but that doesnt mean they are all working at an instructional fourth grade level. Great blog!