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What spelling words should you teach?

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UPDATE:

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!

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48 Comments

  1. Tafa

    Thanks for this post! I was so enthused I purchased the book, but now feel a bit overwhelmed – it’s mid-term and I just want to start and don’t really have the time to go through it in detail. And I can’t find that spelling inventory feature guide! Can’t you point to where it is in the book? I’ve got the 1996 edition, in case there are lots.
    Thanks again for all you do to help!

    Reply to this comment

    • Tafa

      I guess my edition is way out of date. I can’t find the word sort lists at the back either. Feeling deflated 🙁 Not your fault of course, just having a moan! And hoping people might learn from my errors.

      Reply to this comment

      • Anna Geiger

        This feels very surprising to me, Tafa! I have the second to newest edition, and all the ones I’ve used (back to early 2000s) have had the feature guide and spelling inventory. 1996 is 25 years old though … I would try to get a newer edition!

        Reply to this comment

  2. Jessica

    My 9 year old daughter in 3rd grade is really struggling with spelling (way below grade level). Her school has never focused on spelling (no test or list ever given). I want to do something at home with her to help her along before she falls anymore behind. She is an above average reader but for some reason can not connect the words she can read to the words she can spell. What is your advice for strong reader/poor speller? Thanks son much!

    Reply to this comment

  3. Cheryk

    I have a 9 year old who was taught to spell how the word sounds to her. Which book would you recommend for me to use with her. I looked on Amazon and there are so many of them.

    Reply to this comment

  4. Debra Anderson

    My 6th grader is not spelling correctly, I feel like the school does not care if he knows how to spell or not. I don’t have extra money to send him to a tutor and am very frustrated and don’t know where to turn too. I saw tonight that there might be a program I can use to get him tutoring without having to pay, through the no child left behind act. If that is so how can I get the information to use this program? My son is dyslexic but very good in math. He has an IEP and goes to a school that does not have a language or spelling program just math.
    From a Frustrated mom, FL

    Reply to this comment

  5. Phedeline

    Can you give the inventory to the students as a class? I’m thinking of chunking it so that I read the first ten words or so to the entire class, and have them write it down. Then I’d look to see how many each students got correct, for those who got all words correct or only about 1 or 2, I’d move on to the next couple of words. Do you think this would work?

    Reply to this comment

    • Anna Geiger

      Yes, I always gave the inventory as a class. I would tell them before hand that I would be walking around the room and sometimes telling children they could turn the paper over and draw. So you don’t have to reveal who’s getting it right or wrong; you could just say that it’s a special kind of classwork where everyone finishes at a different time. When it was obvious that someone wasn’t going to be getting any more right, I would have him/her turn over the page.

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  6. Tammy

    Hi somewhere I thought you mentioned that 4th edition of WTW was fine and you didn’t think the 5th edition was needed. I was wondering if the cd that comes with it is of help? And will it work for a mac OSX 10.5? Thank you your help is most appreciated.

    Reply to this comment

    • Anna Geiger

      Hi Tammy! So sorry for the delay in answering your questions about WTW. I have never used the CD-rom except looking at it once. I think it has templates for games so that you can print them and write on them. I think it had some printable picture sorts as well. So, yes, it’s useful as a timesaver, but not necessary. I’m sorry, I don’t know anything about Macs so I can’t tell you if it will work on one.

      Reply to this comment

  7. Amanda

    I’m a bit confused by the Words Their Way books – do you just need the one book? When I looked online there were Words Their Way books for all different kinds of spelling patterns as well?

    Thanks, Amanda

    Reply to this comment

    • Anna Geiger

      Hi Amanda! Sorry for the delay in answering your question. The main Words Their Way book does give you everything you need to know. I have not actually seen a supplementary book, but people who have used them say they save a lot of time when preparing sorts and activities. So after purchasing the main book, if your child is in the within word pattern stage, you might appreciate having that supplementary book to prepare activities. However, it is not absolutely necessary. I never used the supplementary books when I was teaching word study.

      Reply to this comment

  8. Heather

    Hi Anna,
    When I gave my 2nd grade daughter the assessment, she tested as a derivational relations speller. I bought the book and am ready to begin it with her, but I’m wondering, if I start her in this book is there anything she will have missed by not going through the previous books? Obviously she seems to be ready for it when you look at her assessment, but I just want to make sure I don’t miss teaching her anything. Do you have any thoughts on this?
    Thanks much,
    Heather

    Reply to this comment

    • Anna Geiger

      Hi Heather – I’m sorry it took me a while to get back to you on this one. If you go ahead with the derivational relations stage and find that your daughter is misspelling words in the earlier stages, you can always go back and do a review week for the pattern that she’s getting wrong. But if she’s (mostly) spelling those types of words consistently in her spelling, no need to spend time on something she’s mastered!

      Reply to this comment

  10. Lisa

    That’s exactly how I teach my girls to spell. I hadn’t even thought of getting them to read or practice the words before testing them until a relative pointed it out. I felt a bit mean then … now you lovely post has made me feel so much better. I might add my girls prefer it this way too. When the relative I mention gave them the list to practice on before they sat the test (she came to help my husband for a few days whilst I attended a family future overseas), they told her that was cheating, the wee angels. She thought it highly amusing.

    Reply to this comment

    • annageig

      Thanks for stopping by and commenting, Lisa! Actually I DO have my kids practice their spelling words before testing. This is just the initial test to see what level they are at. However, some teachers of Word Study give words on the spelling test that their students have NOT practiced — as long as they fall within the pattern which the kids have worked with all week long. I’m curious as to how you do it — if the girls don’t see the words before the test, what do you do to teach the spelling concept?

      Reply to this comment

      • Lisa

        It would probably help if you knew that my girls are 9 and 11 and finished all their phonics lessons … lol So basically they should know all their patterns now. If they don’t get a word correct then we simply discuss the way it should have been written (unless it’s an exception then we discuss how it could have come to be spelled that way, ie the history of words) and it’s up to them if they wish to rewrite it a few times to get it in their heads. I file the word away and we retest it a few weeks later. When they were younger we never did formal tests, just worked through phonics and spelling books.
        For my eldest I have recently dropped spelling tests and am concentrating more on dictation in order to check both her grammar and spelling.

        Reply to this comment

  16. Len

    I’m really looking forward to your next post, and have enjoyed the series. We just received the book a couple days ago (4th edition) and will be doing the spelling inventory this evening. I have a 1st and 4th grader. The 4th grader is dyslexic and has been struggling with the spelling program we have been using. If I had to blindly place my 4th grader I would say early/mid within words, he struggles with long vowel patterns. Can I give them both the Primary spelling inventory even though one is older?

    Reply to this comment

    • annageig

      Great question, Len, and absolutely – give him the inventory that matches where he’s at. When I was introduced to Words Their Way I was a part of graduate students tutoring struggling high schoolers. My student was 16 but at a 2nd grade reading and spelling level. I’m sure we gave him an earlier inventory than what you’d expect for his age. If you find that your fourth grader does very well, you can always give him the higher inventory another time.

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