Words Their Way Notebook

How Do Your Students Use Word Study Notebooks?

presentation started by John AltieriWillard Elementary School

Ridgewood, New Jerseyhttp://willardgreen.ning.com

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial Share Alike 3.0 License.

Inquiry QuestionsGive students space to answer questions about their word work.

- What did you learn about words this week?- How is this column different than that column?- What have you learned about words that you can use with other words in the future?- How are the words in this column all the same?- What do you notice about the syllables in these words? - Why is this word an oddball?

Word ExpertEach student is responsible for a word each week/day.  Students find the components of a word.  They will write the word at the top of their journal page.  Guide them to pick the word apart and get to know it really well.

Questions to guide his work:How many vowels?  Consonants?  Syllables?What sound(s) does this word make?What other words do you see in this word?Move letters around.  What if you added/removed letters?

Use this information to make a Wordle, video, audio, etc.

Examples of students finding word components.

Word Expertcontinued

Word Hunt

Students hunt for words using the generalization. Word 'hunting grounds' include:- books- in a peer's writing- library- room- anywhere

Find as many words as you can!

Open Sort / Closed Sort

Students can write sorts in any way they see the words fitting together in columns. Some possible ways to open sort words:number of vowelsnumber of consonantsbeginning soundending soundmeaning

Closed sort (glued/written):Follow the pattern for the week.  Have students glue words into the word study book.

Illustrate a Word

Illustrate a word graphically (not unlike graffiti).

Draw a picture of what that word represents.-Can this word be a noun and a verb?

Illustrate words on card size strips and use the illustrated cards to play games like word poker (2,3,4 of a kind of sound) or Go Fish!

Headbands

Students use their word illustration cards they have made or word cut outs to play a guessing game.

One partner holds a word from their sort to their forehead without looking at it. The partner gives them clues about the letters (or meaning) so that they can guess the word.

Guess it right, put it in the finished pile. Can't solve it after x number of guesses, place it in the pile to try again.

Shared Stories In a group (about 4-5 works well), students work together to create a story using their words.

A student starts by picking a word from their list to create a sentence.  Other students build off of that first sentence, helping to create a story.  Students take turns adding to the story.

One student acts as the recorder, or they pass the notebook, taking turns recording their story. Require certain patterns be used to reinforce the sorts.

Balderdash! and other definition activities

Balderdash: Students work to find and one real, and create other fake, definitions for difficult words.  Students then bring their work together, testing one another to discover which definition is true and which are decoys.

Dictionary EntriesStudents create a dictionary entry based on their favorite, most challenging or an assigned words that week.  These entries can be photographed and displayed as a slideshow on the computer, or shared through a photo sharing site.  This can come together as a class dictionary.

Keep Speed Sort Times

Keep a section to maintain speed sort times.

Students are timed to see how quickly they can organize the words in alignment with the generalization.

Beyond the NotebookAct out Words- a partner/class can guess the word the person is acting out

Record a sort- record a student discussing their sort on an audio or video recording to share with teachers, students, parents.

Fingerspell words using the American Sign Language alphabet!This offers a way to connect body movement and memory.  Find a copy of the ASL alphabet here.

Dictionary Race - have students race to find a particular word in the dictionary.