The Daily 5: Word Work
Don't try to implement these ideas on your own! Go buy the book! And be sure to check out the official site of "the sisters!"
In their book, The Daily 5, the sisters give the following research based reason for "Word Work":
Expanded vocabulary and correct spelling allow for more fluent reading and writing thus speeding up the ability to comprehend what is read and get thinking down on the paper.
Here's how we do "Word Work" in our classroom:
Reading Mentor
I received a grant from our local education foundation this year to purchase a phonics program offered by Reading Rods and also to purchase a Reading Mentor. (Pictured below)
I'll be using the Reading Rods for small group instruction, but the Reading Mentor can be used by the students to review what we've practiced together. I plan to hook two headphones to it so students can work together. I also purchased some really inexpensive (on clearance) task cards for it so they will have some direction as to what they need to do.
Letter Stamps
I have purchased various sets of very small letter stamps (mostly at the Target Dollar Spot, but some from Michael's $1 area) and stamp pads over the years. Some are foam, but recently I found these wooden ones at Target:
I have probably 12 or more sets of stamps. Each set of stamps and 1 stamp pad will be in a small container so students can take them to their seat easily. Students can use these to stamp their spelling words into their Literacy Spirals.
Download a "stamp and write" worksheet
Scrabble Tiles
I asked for and received a donation a couple years ago from a company that makes various colored Scrabble tiles. (Click the picture to visit their website.) They gave me 5 different colored sets.
Students can use these to spell their spelling words and add the values together to see which word is worth the most points.
Click here to download a cheat sheet with all the letter values. Cut it into strips so they are bookmark sized.
Or, download a worksheet with the letter tiles at the top and space to write and add up the word values.
Sorry, I don't think I have these in doc format anymore, but here is the font if you want to make your own!
Rainbow Words
A couple years ago Office Depot had skinny Crayola markers on clearance for some extremely cheap price and I bought a ton of them. Students can use these to write their spelling words in their Literacy Spiral following a rainbow color pattern.
Click here to download an instructions sheet for kids.
Whiteboards
Students can use whiteboards and markers to practice their spelling words.
Making Words
I will have copies prepared of a Making Words lesson for the week (or day - depends how popular this is) for students to complete at their seat. (Click the link to download tons of examples of this!) The completed sheet should get clipped into their Literacy Folder.
Letter Shakers (like Boggle)
A few years ago I bought some cheap boggle-like letter shakers from Oriental Trading Company.
Students can use these to see how many words they can make. In the past, I have given them a 4x4 grid cut from a blank 100 chart to glue in their Literacy Spiral so I could see what their letters were and they wrote the words below it. This year I am using folders so I am going to use this worksheet.
Sight Word Practice
I have lots of sight word materials from Child 1st - flash cards, mini-word walls, sight word sentence flip books, etc.
Students can select from these materials to practice sight words alone or with a partner.
Puzzles and Word Sorts
I have printed, laminated, cut out, and bagged all the available word sorts on Reading A to Z.
Students can select one of these to manipulate the cards. When they have the words sorted, they can write their answers on a blank word sort template sheet to clip into their Literacy Folder.
I also have five Starfall short vowel puzzles with some printouts from their website that go with them. I am going to use the Reading A to Z long/short vowel word sorts to go with these as well. The assignment will be to build the puzzle and complete the worksheet and work sort for the corresponding vowel sound. They are color coded to match the puzzle boxes.
Computers
Our new reading series, Treasures, has a phonics computer program called "Adventures with Buggles and Beezy" - this will also be a "Word Work" choice. I don't know anything else about it at this point. I also am not sure how I want to balance using computers for "Listen to Reading" and "Word Work."
I also have a sight word program installed on my computers called "Sight Word Buddy." This may be another Word Work option. Click the image to download - it's free!
Another great website for Word Work is SpellingCity.com. Click the image below to link to my personal Spelling City page.
Teachers - you can create an account at Spelling City and input your spelling lists. Students can learn the words, take tests, and play games. My kids love it!
Play Doh Spelling
I bought a whole bunch of cheap dollar store play-doh for an activity for word work. This is a fun, hands-on way to practice spelling words!
Wikki Stix
Magnetic Letters
Other possible ways to practice spelling words (click to download):
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Parents - you can also help our classroom by purchasing books for your child from Scholastic book orders. Many books are $2 or less! Every order placed earns bonus points which I use to purchase books and other classroom materials. Every monthly order totaling $20 or more earns us a coupon for $10 in free books for our classroom. If you order online, I get an additional free book pick, which I will use to select a book for your child!
Click the link below to place an order! Username and password are both "maiolo." FGCU students, feel free to order as well! This is a very inexpensive way to get books for your future classroom!
THANKS! Questions? Comments? Feel free to email me.
