Choice Lit Topic: Word Study and Vocabulary
Here is where you will find resources for teaching students about spelling, word features, vocabulary, and grammar.
Results
Reflecting on the First Six Weeks of Word Study
Going into word study with a different plan is always a little scary. With the first six weeks of school finished, it feels like it is time to see where...
Assessing Spelling in Writing Workshop Part 2: Noticing Patterns in Individuals, Small Groups and the Whole Group
Regie Routman writes about assessment in her book, Teaching Essentials: Expecting the Most and Getting the Best from Every Learner K-8. She says, Teachers have to develop a mindset that views...
Assessing Spelling in Writing Workshop Part 3: Embedding Instruction
The only way we can teach efficiently and have enough time to teach what's necessary -- curriculum, standards, all discrete objectives -- so all students achieve at higher levels, is...
Fifth-Grade Word Study Homework
Karen Terlecky's fifth-grade students share what they learned from their word study homework.
Finding Words: Linking Community and Classrooms
Principal Karen Szymusiak and 3rd Grade Teacher/Literacy Coach Pam Hahlen do a quick word search activity using dictionaries donated to the classroom by a local service club.
Envisioning Writing: Wow Words and Mental Images in 1st Grade
In this minilesson, Katie DiCesare uses the book My Cat Copies Me to help her first-grade students "envision" their writing drafts. The lesson focuses on creating mental images to conjure...
First Grade Guided Writing Group: Goldilocks and the 3 Writers
In this video of a first-grade guided writing group, Katie DiCesare works with three girls on spelling issues that have emerged in their writing. By grouping the students together,...
5th Grade Sentence Observation
This past summer, I spent a lot of time thinking about all the components of my writing workshop. I intended to make it a focus of study for myself throughout...
Test-Taking Skills: Reading Strategies for Word Problems Part I
If I've learned anything from the past 22 years of teaching, I know how valuable children's playground philosophies are for dealing with the confusing world created by adults. As a...
Conferring Close-Up: Test-Taking Strategies Part II
Samantha Bennett's energizing book, That Workshop Book: New Systems and Structures for Classrooms That Read, Write, and Think, asks teachers to reflect on their classroom environments and teaching practices. Bennett...
Keeping the M
In an age of standardization, when even preschoolers are expected to perform flawlessly on literacy tests such as letter naming and recognition, it is important for early childhood teachers to...
Word Choice Lesson: A Collaborative Coaching Session with a New Teacher
When I work with a new teacher in his or her classroom, it's a collaborative experience. We design and teach together over time, sharing what works and what doesn't. In...
Flexible Grouping: When, How, and Why
The topic of grouping for literacy, especially any grouping that involves sorting children according to their abilities, is charged politically and can polarize teaching communities. The key in my classroom...
Playing with Word Work: Inviting Students to See Playful Language in Books (BOOKLIST)
In a recent discussion about a Time for Kids article, my fifth-grade students brought up the fact that many common sayings in books and magazines don't make sense to them. In this...
Noticing Words to Expand Vocabulary: Conferring with Mariah
In this conference with six-year-old Mariah, Joan Moser of "The Sisters" has chosen to focus on expanding vocabulary. Joan uses the charts in the classroom linked to read-alouds to anchor...
Whole-Class Vocabulary Lesson, Grades K-2
In this five-minute video, Joan Moser of "The Sisters" teaches a whole-class vocabulary lesson. The focus is on helping students notice interesting words, and make connections between daily read-alouds and...
Introducing Bull’s-Eye and Waves Written Responses in Synthesis Work
My students helped me understand that to synthesize what you are reading, you have to stand in two places at once: in your own shoes and in the shoes of...
Noticing Interesting Words: Small-Group Vocabulary Lesson
In this five-minute video, Gail Boushey leads a short small-group lesson on vocabulary. In the debrief after the lesson, Gail talks with Joan Moser about vocabulary instruction and the importance...
Community Language Board: Building Vocabulary All Year Long
The "Community Language Board" is where the class shares interesting new words from read alouds, sight words, and alternatives to common words in writing. In this video tour, "The Sisters"...
Let’s Get Some Attitude
"All our attitudes come out in language," says English maven Robert MacNeil. Not just thoughts. Not just ideas. Not just imaginings. Attitudes. Maybe that's part of what's missing in those...
Word Study is More Than Spelling
When I was teaching kindergarten years ago, Chelsea ran into the classroom after a trip to the restroom. She was very excited as she yelled, "I found a word! I...
