Read Ch. 10 & 12 and 1 chapter of choice

Wells Week 4

Wells Week 4

by Peggy Wells -
Number of replies: 5

Word work is something they learn in primary grades… but is it?

I feel word work is something that is a lifelong learning skill.  Even as an adult, I learn new words often.  Through books I read, articles, even tv shows.  

How do we support students who did not master “breaking the code”?  

I really like the charts on 168 & 169, they will be very helpful.  I am often working with students who did not master breaking the code and these resources will be great to have available.  

What did you learn in this chapter and how will you apply it to your instruction?

It was eye opening reading the conversation on pages 175 & 176.  I feel that is a very accurate conversation.  Teachers tend to use the terms they are most familiar with or used to seeing/hearing.  

Small group instruction is most useful for remediation.  Do you incorporate these into your teaching?  How could you?

Being a resource room teacher, I only do small groups.  I am fortunate to have the opportunity to do all instruction in small groups. 

Name & Summarize (a few sentences) about the “other” chapter you read.

Chapter 14: Spelling.  I agree, spelling does still count!  I find this to be the most difficult skill for students to master.  As a child, I don’t recall spelling being difficult to learn, but as an adult, I find it difficult to teach.  I really like the chart on pgs 226 and 227 with the stages of spelling.  I use words their way in my classroom.  I like the word sorts, they really help the students to get thinking.



In reply to Peggy Wells

Re: Wells Week 4

by Jennifer hutchins -
The conversation on p. 175 and p.176 was one that I really resonating with. We often have the debate of whether to use the same language or not. I personally think it is useful to differentiate our language based on the students but also I explicitly explain in my classroom what some other ways of saying compare and contrast could be . I ask them to reflect on those words and how they have heard them in other classrooms.
In reply to Peggy Wells

Re: Wells Week 4

by Jessica Sullivan -
I did not read Chapter 14, but I agree spelling does count! During my time as principal at the middle school my ELA teachers all brought back spelling tests. They would focused on teaching students a variety of word (words for the state test, high frequency words, words from the current novel/unit, etc.). As well as resulting in better spelling, I think it also helped students to better understand the passages they were reading.
In reply to Peggy Wells

Re: Wells Week 4

by Hunter Dewey -
I agree spelling does count. Spelling is essential for an application for a job or college. I think students find it hard to master because they live in an era of constantly using spell check.

Long-term spelling can be difficult to remember if the student doesn't view importance or use that word. They can remember it for the spelling quiz but will eventually forget it. This was similar to my experience with vocabulary in high school.
In reply to Peggy Wells

Re: Wells Week 4

by Emily Miller -
I agree with you that teaching how to spell is a lot more difficult than learning how to spell (in my opinion) when I was a kid, although I still struggled some, I still feel like it wasn't as hard to learn to spell as it is to teach it. Especially since the English language is the hardest to teach/learn. That is something I always have to remember when I'm working with students.
In reply to Emily Miller

Re: Wells Week 4

by Sarah Wichterman -
I didn't really get why English was so difficult to learn until I worked with 2nd language learners in Atlanta. I was lucky that I spoke and understood enough Spanish to go back and forth between the two languages in order to help them, One thing that really stuck out about that experience is how the Spanish speakers often spelled things phonetically with an accent. For example, Wal-Mart became "Gualmart." This is why reading is soooo important in terms of language acquisition. They see the word rather than just hear it.