Rachel Thomas

READ 436
November 3, 2014
Word Study Lesson
For my word study lesson I chose to do a word sort with the whole class. According to
Patricia M. Cunningham and Richard L. Allington, word study focuses on building interest in
words and looking for patterns in words. (2011, p 5). Word study sorts can be sorted by
sounds, patters, or meaning. Teachers should never give more than four categories for the
sorts. They should also set up a weekly schedule and build a predictable routine.
I chose to do a word sort using the four categories: short e, short ea, long ea, and
long ee. The two words for the short e category included felt and shelter. There were four
words for the short ea category, spread, dead, leaven, and head. The five words that
were included in the long ea category includes beast, yeast, feast, neat, and mislead.
Finally, steep, kneed, beet, deepen, and creep are all included in the long ee category. I
chose these words because they were the scheduled words for the word study of this week.
Also, Mrs. Berbes, my cooperating teacher, always does a SMARTboard word sort on
Wednesday, so the activity I did was already planned out.
The students responded well to this activity because they are used to it. It is a normal
routine they participate in every Wednesday. Each word had a picture that was associated with
it, and the students had to drag the picture under the correct section. As a class, we first went
over each picture and what word was associated with that picture. This helps the students to
not get confused if they do not know what the picture is representing. Then, I called on
individual students to choose one picture to drag over to the correct category. After they
finished categorizing the word they chose, they then had to spell the word out loud. After the
student was done spelling the word, the entire class would choral spell the word together. This

Rachel Thomas
READ 436
November 3, 2014
allows all students to practice spelling every word on the word study list. After we were
finished with the SMARTboard activity, the class practiced their handwriting by writing each
word study word three times. This not only helps them practice their handwriting, but it also
allows them to practice writing their word study words correctly. This is a great kinesthetic
activity to do with students to help them remember the correct spelling to different words they
need to know.
There is not much I would change about this lesson. I think this is a great step in the
word study process they have created here at A.R. Ware Elementary School. The students love
working with the SMARTboard. They are always jumping out of their seats to be called on to be
the person who gets to go up front and use the SMARTboard and spell the word. Technology is
a great resource to use during any lesson. It makes students enthusiastic to learn, as well as, it
makes students want to participate. Overall, it was a great lesson. If I had to change anything,
the only thing I would do differently is somehow incorporate every child have a turn to use the
SMARTboard. The number of students who get to use the SMARTboard for the word study
lesson depends on how many word study words there are that week. For example, this week
there were sixteen words, so only sixteen students actively participated in the activity.
Therefore, that left five students who did not get to interact with the SMARTboard. However,
other than that one minor change, everything else in the lesson was great. The students were
using constructivist learning because the lesson was hands-on, interactive, and made the
students critically think.
I will incorporate word study into my own classroom by creating a weekly word study
routine. This will allow my students to gain knowledge about different words in a fun and

Rachel Thomas
READ 436
November 3, 2014
interactive way. I will create an activity for each day of the week that builds upon the previous
day. The week will end with a formal word study test. This will provide me a way to assess the
students knowledge on the words. I will schedule word study lessons within the school day by
setting out a certain time to focus on this topic. Materials I will need are fun, interactive, and
hands-on activities to help the students learn new words. Hopefully, through this practicum
experience I can find the best practice for teaching word study.

Rachel Thomas
READ 436
November 3, 2014
Word Study Words:

Short e

Short ea

Long ea

Long ee

felt

spread

beast

steep

sheltered

dead

yeast

kneed

leaven

feast

beet

head

neat

deepen

mislead

creep