How Kids Learn Words

The order in which children learn to look at words is no secret.  It is not a random sequence that depends on the words to which he/she is exposed.  Here are the three stages of word learning:

Level 1:  Sound

A student understands that sounds are put together to make up words.

Level 2:  Pattern

A student is able to look at several letters at a time and memorize a group of letters.  Many sight words are gained at this time  (If a child is not at this stage, it is bad advice to tell a parent to go and work on a child's sight word knowledge).  Trying to memorize sight words would be an inefficient use of time.  I will be discussing this in greater depth in the next few posts.

Level 3:  Meaning

A student is able to relate a word's spelling to its meaning.  In the word "pleasure", you do not hear a long e sound.  A student at this level is able to understand that it comes from the word "please" and relate the spelling of the two words.  

Reading and Spelling


I often tell teachers, parents, and students, that I do not teach word study so that students will be better spellers, I teach word study so that students will be better readers. Watching a child spell a word can give me a window into their mind. 

Looking at the way a child misspells a word, gives me a clue to the patterns in words that they do not know solidly. So I know that when they read, they are not noticing those patterns, or not reading them quickly. This can create readers who rely on context too heavily, or readers who have to slow down and sound out the pattern that has not been mastered. 

Improving a student's knowledge of spelling creates more fluent readers. This, in turn, will increase their reading level, because they will be able to focus on the meaning of the text at a higher level. In addition, when students reach the "Derivational Relations" stage of spelling, they are increasing their vocabulary knowledge dramatically because knowing one Greek or Latin root can help them figure out many words, not just one.

Feel free to email me with any questions or leave comments.  I love comments :)

Next Post:  Why repetitive teaching of letters and sounds to beginning readers is not an efficient use of your time.  

Opinion Writing

Happy Tuesday!

We just got finished working on a piece of opinion writing.  I was not able to use my graphic organizer that I made when I taught 3rd grade, so I am sharing it with all of you. This graphic organizer is designed to aid your students in their pre-writing of an opinion piece of writing. It has space for the topic, the writer's opinion, 3 supporting reasons, and examples/elaboration for each reason. Hope you like it. I might use it later in the year, but right now was just a quick introduction and my little ones cannot write as much.  So many people have pinned this on Pinterest, so I should have it on my blog.  If you use it/have used it, let me know what you think.  I love comments :)

To grab this file click here:  Opinion Writing Graphic Organizer

Have a great day!

Anna

Spelling--One Layer of Literacy

Some people think that spelling is an afterthought of reading or that it is not necessary to concentrate on spelling because we now have spell check.  This could not be further from the truth.  Literacy has 3 layers.  Advancement in one leads to advancement in the others.  So teachers should not only be good at teaching reading and writing but spelling as well.  And there is a lot more to spelling than many teachers think! 

Researchers have determined that students learn how to spell in a predictable order.  However, there are still teachers who have only one spelling list for their students and all students study the same words!   If spelling is learned in a predictable order, then why aren't ALL teachers finding where each student falls on the continuum? 

If teachers find where students are on this continuum and give them what they need, students are more successful, more confident, and retain more information. 

And, if students are below grade level and teachers are not determining their level of word knowledge and giving them appropriate words and instruction, then those students are not going to progress as fast as they should.  

The good news is that more and more teachers are teaching word study than ever before and I know that if you are visiting this site, the chances are that you know what I am talking about.  I would love to hear from you and your thoughts.  

Anna