Lauren Gorda

Word Study Minilesson

10/31/14
In order to conduct my word study minilesson, I had a conversation with my cooperative
teacher about what students she wanted me to work with, and what areas to work on. Once again
as with my fluency minilesson before she asked me to work with her lowest reading level group
of six students, and work on what she thought to be a review word sort on plural endings that the
entire class had previously completed. However, little did she know that the students did not
know the rules for how to sort words in their singular form to their plural ending form. My
teacher gave me a word study booklet with words in it, and it had each of the rules on the one
side that aligned with the words given in the sort. The words she had given me had the plural
endings on them, and the students would just put them in the correct plural ending column based
on the rule that applies to each of the words. The only problem with this sort that my teacher
mentioned to me as well, is that the students do not learn how to choose which ending to put on
the end of these words in their singular form. As a result of this, they do not learn how to apply
the rule to make the words in this particular sort plural, and then as a result they do not know
how to form any words. Since I also had to find a game for this assignment, I found a game that
had students changing the singular form of words into their correct plural form, and decided to
use the same words for their word sort. The entire activity took 20 minutes just for them to sort!
(2:15pm-2:35pm)
When I asked my teacher how she knew that these words were appropriate for them to be
using, she replied, Those are the words deemed by Staunton City that are at their grade level,
and are ones they need to know. Since my teacher knows that these students have the lowest
reading level in her class, she wanted me working with them, and making sure they understood
how to sort them. She thought they would be words they knew how to sort, but maybe struggled
with a few, whereas in actuality they did not know how to sort any of them, since they had only
sorted them with their plural endings already included on them. The problem is she does not
know each childs prior knowledge of words, she just goes off of what Staunton City deems
words that are on their grade level, so they should know them. She does not have words that
each of the different reading groups sort, and had not done any preassessments to see what
stage each of her students would be in in order to know what words to give them to sort. Since
she teaches in Staunton City, she is required to have whole group word study, in which all of the
students are given the same words that are deemed by the city to be on grade level, and words
they are supposed to know. In this particular sort, students had to sort words according to three
different features such as singular forms of words that end in -ch, -x, -sh, and -ss, need an es,
words that end in a vowel-y like toy, you simply add an s on to the end of a word, and finally
for words that end in a consonant y- you add an ies on the end to them in order to make them
plural. When I introduced the sort to the students, I told them they would be sorting words they
had already learned about with their teacher. When I asked them if they remembered sorting
words into three different categories of different plural endings. They needed to know when to
add s, -es, and ies, the students said they remembered and knew how. Since, my teacher told
me this was a review lesson, I did not write down the rules under each column, I simply had

three columns labeled s, -es, -ies for them to fill in the correct singular form of words that
would need each of these three endings added on in order to become plural. Then, I gave them a
sandwich bag filled with words in the singular form that could be sorted into these three plural
endings, and they began to sort.
While they sorted, the students had trouble knowing which column to place the words
under, because they did not know the rules for how to make them plural. Since my teacher does
not work in individual word study groups, she had not known that these students struggled with
these words. When they sort the words as a whole class some students finish so fast, and then she
is having to check theirs, and cant assist those who are struggling and vice versa. She is trying to
help everyone, and does not have enough time to work with everyone. Then, after they sort, they
do not go over the words, they just put them away, so those who did not finish sorting and did
not get theirs all sorted will not know the correct way of doing so. It is also like a one time quick
thing. Therefore, this explains why the students I was working with did not know how to sort the
words, because they had not practiced with them enough, and did not learn the rules for knowing
which plural ending to add to the end of these words.
As a result of them not knowing the rules, I had to stop and work individually with each
student, and others had to wait for me to explain the rules and go over them with them
individually. Only two of the students got to play the game for more than five minutes, two of
them only got to for only approximately two minutes, and then the last two students could not
even start the game. It took them the entire time to sort! The game simply expanded on the same
concept of their word sort. The students were given a dice to roll and also know the plural forms
of words, and were told to deal out ten cards to their partner and themselves. Then each time it
was their turn they had to roll the dice and each number told them to do something with their
words whether it be change a word from its singular to its plural form, or plural to singular,
change a word ending in a specific ending such as ch or ies, to its opposite form, from singular
or plural depending on the original word. The game was even more confusing for them because
they did not know how to apply the rule, and sort the words in the first place, so I had to work
each group individually, and explain how to play and how to sort first so that they could play. It
took too much time explaining them the rules since they didnt have the background knowledge
on how to conduct it that we didnt have enough time to get into the game.
If I were to complete this activity over again, I would make sure that the students had the
rules for the words, so that they could know which plural endings to attach to the end of the
singular words in their sort. This way I could see them using the rule, add practice applying it to
their words, and then we could have sorted without the rules in order to see how much they
comprehended from the initial sort. It also could have then helped them transition easier into
playing the game, so that they knew how to change the words quicker and could have gotten
further into it. For those who didnt get to play, would have been able to at least still learn and
practice changing these words from their singular to plural forms, but had fun doing so through a
game. This would have helped with time management, and overall with their understanding of
how to change these words from their singular to their correct plural forms.
As a far as how I will plan word study in my classroom, I will make sure that I conduct a
preassessment such as the DSA in order to know what stage my students are in, whether it be

letter name, within word, or syllables and affixes stage. If I am able to do so in my school, I will
group my students into three different word study groups such as low-medium, medium-high,
and high levels scores based on those three stages, and create words (or picture sorts depending
on the grade level as well) for them to practice with each week that are appropriate to their stage.
I will give each student in my class at the beginning of the year word lists starting with the
lowest stage, and then if they score high enough, have hem complete the next list (which would
be a little more difficult), and then finally they would be given words that they can use but are
confused about so that they can be challenged and are learning. If I happened to be hired in a
school in a city like Staunton where their word study is all whole group meaning, where all of
the students are given the same words to learn and sort for the week, I would do my best to give
all of the students the same words at the beginning of the week, and those that were still
struggling with them after I checked their sort, I would have them continue to work on activities
for those words for the rest of the days of the week, and then grade them at the end of the week
on how much they retained. Each day of the week they would have different activities. For
example, on the first day I might have them sort them by their specific pattern with the rules
displayed for them (possibly on the smart board with me in order to make it more interactive and
keep them engaged, and then have them sort the same or next day on their own), the next day
they would sort by their meaning, then they would write them down on whiteboards with the
rules displayed, then the fourth day I would have them sort and write them on their whiteboards
without the rules in front of them to use, and then finally on the last day of the week I would test
them on putting them in the correct categories when they sort (but not give them to them), and
then I would have them create three sentences using a word in its singular and then correct plural
form. For the words that students continue to struggle with I will send them home to the parents
explaining their word study words, and what we are working on in class such as examples of
activities they can work on with their kids at home so that they can get additional practice. I
could also do different sorting, writing, and interactive smart board or online game activities (for
words at their grade level that I would have to have them learn if I was teaching in Staunton
City for example) at different centers for them to work on, while I work with individual groups
on their particular words for the week. Depending on the grade level, I would also modify these
activities if I was in a lower or higher-grade level classroom than I am now (3rd grade), such as I
would have them sort pictures for their word sorts, and with lower level words. As for upper
grades I might have them write paragraphs using several of their words, or explain to me what
they think they mean in a sentence using context clues.
The main focus however, would be to differentiate the activities they would work on, and
not have everyone sorting the same words. The reason being not everyone learns material in the
same way, and therefore it would be more beneficial if students learn at their own pace so that
every student can be challenged, and receive help with something if they are struggling, as
opposed to it being whole group which I have seen and/or experienced firsthand that it is not
effective.