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WORKING
WITH WORDS
Rationale: Working With Words is an activity that helps students
understand how
words work. It helps them work with articulation of words, segmentation
of
words, sequencing of letters and sounds in words, and word patterns and
chunks. It is better than traditional phonics instruction because it
engages the child in the slow articulation of words and sorting letters
to make the words. The activity is always linked to
literature or a theme unit the class is doing.
Procedure
before the online lesson:
1.
The teacher will determine what word will be used in the lesson.
This
word should be taken from a book or poem that was recently read or is
going to
be read immediately following the lesson. The word may also have
something to do with a theme the
class is doing.
2.
The teacher makes a list of 2, 3, 4, and 5 letter words that can
be made
with letters from the “mystery” word. Write the list of words on a
piece of paper for your own reference. The words are sorted from
smallest to
largest, into patterns (i.e.
an, ot, ee), and words that can be rearranged
to make a new words (tale to late,
or stop to spot).
An
example of a word that was
sorted into
smaller words follows:
elephant
| 2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
| at |
tan |
heal |
plane |
planet |
| an |
pan |
heel |
plate |
|
|
pen |
peel |
pleat |
|
|
hen |
peal |
plant |
|
|
ten |
peat |
|
|
|
|
plan |
|
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3.
If you have the students working at their desks, they will need a
set
of letters for the activity.
Procedure
for during the online lesson:
- Type
in the mystery word
- Click
on start to go to working with words
- Since
asterisks are displayed when you type in the mystery word, be
sure to check to see all of the correct letters have
appeared on the top of the working with words page.
Please
note: There are two ways
for you to implement this lesson.
1)
The teacher has a large screen monitor or LCD panel and is
teaching this whole group with the teacher at the computer.
Students are at their desks manipulating letters on their desks.
2)
Students are at the computers and the teacher is guiding the
activity and placing the words that are made in a pocket chart.
In this scenario, the teacher would have previously printed the
words for the activity on index cards.
3.
Hold up two fingers and tell the students that you will begin
with words that have 2 letters in them. Ask them to make the first
word, and use it in a sentence for them as they make the word on their
desk in front of
them or on the computer.
4.
Each new word is done in the same manner, with the teacher
announcing the change in the number of letters in the word.
The teacher may want to draw attention to the particular features of
words as they are made. For example, the teacher may note that the
students only have to
change 1 letter to get to a new word, or add a silent
e to make a vowel long, and so on.
5.
Students will usually be able to guess at the mystery word by the
time
they get to the end of the lesson. If not, give them some clues, and
have them make the word,
keeping in mind that they must use all of their
letters. The teacher or the student may then click on “check” to
see you are correct.
6.
After the lesson, have the students look at all the words on the
index
cards in the pocket chart or on the white board on the computer game
screen. Sort the words for patterns by clicking and dragging them into
columns or groups, and ask for
other word the students know that are like that pattern.
The teacher may choose to create a label for each pattern or
group.
Suggestions:
This
activity is a powerful instructional method that students will see as a
fun game.
Teachers may also want to use the books Making Words (1994) and Making
Big
Words (1995), by Patricia Cunningham and Dorothy Hall, to find words
that are
already broken down for lessons.
For
more examples and a detailed description of this procedure, please refer
to Phonics They Use, by Patricia Cunningham, or “Making
Words:Enhancing the
Invented Spelling-decoding Connection”, by Patricia Cunningham,
Reading
Teacher, Vol.46.No.2, October 1992.
An
article called Making
and Writing Words, by Timothy Rasinski, shows
teachers a way to use this activity in writing.
This
page was developed by JoAnn Syrell
and Julie Burger.
Copyright © 2001-08
Oswego City School District
Elementary Test Prep
Center
Studyzone.org
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