Word Study Wednesday

Over the summer, I went to an excellent teacher college workshop on Reading Workshop.  I took away many new things that I have been trying in my classroom this year.( I will blog about how I changed my reading workshop structure this year on another post. )

One big takeaway from this workshop was to set time aside every day to do word work. In the past, my word work was a choice during Daily Five.

This year I created a Word Study Board. 

Questions and Answers About Word Work

How many stations do students do?

Students are required to do two stations. 

How long do the students work in the stations? 

The students work at each station between 10-15 minutes. I have the students rotate when they hear the bell.

How do you manage the stations?

I start with four stations on Monday and Tuesday and put new stations up on Thursday and Friday. If you look above the blue group goes to Making Words and Big Books on Monday.  I will swap the blue square with the orange square on Tuesday and they will go to I Pads and Poetry. 

Are the stations always the same for everyone?

No,  for example if I have a group that knows their alphabet letters they would not go to an alphabet   station. 

How many days a week do you do the work board?

My goal is to have students do word study at least, four times a week. 

How do I pick groups?

I put students together by ability. I liked to keep the groups the same for some time, but as abilities change, so will my groups. 

What do you do during word study?

At the beginning of the year, I do a lot of interactive writing in small groups and making word lessons. 

I think it is‚ important for students to be learning about words in meaningful ways. Occasionally I will give students recording sheets that go along with what they are learning. I don't think you have to make your word work themed each week to go with the seasons. I try to keep activities simple and meeting their needs. Of course, students need to be using the words they are learning in meaningful ways. It is important for students to have the opportunity to write every day.

Word Work Stations 
You will see in the download above that I have created a lot of stations...I do not use them all!!

I plan to blog next Wednesday on what some of the stations look like.

The following are some resources I turn to for word study:

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