The original blog post at this link was about the word study approach to teaching spelling. While the act of sorting words can be useful, I no longer believe that Words Their Way should be a core spelling curriculum because it does not include enough explicit instruction.
Stay tuned for a new series about teaching spelling in 2023!
Free Spelling Games
Get this fun variety of sample spelling games from the membership site! The download includes resources for spelling CVCE words, long vowel teams, and multi-syllable words.
Lesley
I am a new ESL teacher and am looking for pictures to go along with your word lists for the different vowel sounds/combinations. Any suggestions for workbooks or pictures that I can laminate to use with word lists to help my students make the connections? Thank you!!
Anna G
If you are using them for your own purposes only, you can get print pictures you find online. If you’re going to share them, you’ll probably need to purchase them… I get my clip art on Teachers Pay Teachers. I’m sorry that I don’t know of a workbook to suggest!
Jaime
Hi There,
Which book do I start with for the “Words their Way”? I used the primary spelling test and my child needs help with the “Long Vowel Patterns”.
Thanks,
Jaime
Anna Geiger
So sorry for the delay in answering your question, Jaime! If your daughter is working on long vowel patterns, you would find this book helpful: https://www.amazon.com/Words-Their-Way-Pattern-Spellers/dp/013514843X
alice-99
Ma’am… can i ask a favor if you dont mind…hmm..please give me some story that are suitable for word sorting….arigatou
Anna Geiger
This page has sample lessons: https://www.themeasuredmom.com/teaching-spelling/
Carrie
So interesting!! I love this method! Thank you for sharing at Sharing Saturday!!
Jackie Higgins
Great series! I also featured this post on Mom’s Library this week! http://www.ready-set-read.com/2013/07/word-work-activities-featured-on-moms.html
Anna Geiger
Thank you so much for the feature, Jackie!
Sarah Fish
Just out of curiosity, what is the goal here? Is it to memorize this set of words or the spelling pattern to be able to generalize to other words? If generalization is the goal, would a purely auditory task be even more beneficial? A task where the children are given pictures (without words) and they sort them by vowel sound and spell them based upon the spelling rules that have been taught. Using that method would a person be tapping into higher level thinking skills as well as applying the new skill?
annageig
Hi Sarah,
Actually, both are the goal — to learn to spell a set of words because learning a generalization helps to spell them… and also being able to use that generalization to spell future words. Actually, auditory/visual sorts are used for children before they are ready to actually write words. Words Their Way contains many ideas for picture sorts for young children, as well as concept sorts for older kids.
I think that what you mention is utilized when children do a blind sort… a word is read aloud to them and they think about how to spell it, then point to the correct column. The word is then revealed and placed in the correct spot.
Jana @ HowToRunAHomeDaycare
Visiting from Teach Me Tuesday. Great post, my daughter is great at reading words with certain spelling patterns but they have not appeared in her writing yet. I think a word sort will be very helpful. We’ll try a few this week.
annageig
Thanks for checking it out, Jana! I’d love to hear out your word sorts go.
Carla
This just makes so much sense! My daughter is getting to a point where I think word sorts will be extremely helpful–I’m so glad you shared this at Teach Me Tuesday at Preschool Powol Packets!!
annageig
I hope you find my Word Study printables useful, Carla — I look forward to sharing them!
Becky
I have all the supplement books and love them. But, I also make my own if the sorts from the book don’t quite match where a child is. Great post, Anna!
annageig
Thanks, Becky!
Liz
I like it