Differentiated Word Work in High School

     Wow! Testing is all that has been going on for what seems like forever now! In reality, it has only been 9 days, but as we all know that is 9 days of lost instruction, schedule changes, make-up tests, students pulled at all different times so you NEVER have them all at once, and all of the other end of year activities in high school  - WOW!!! Tomorrow we are back on schedule. That leaves me with 4 days left to teach and 3 days of Early Release/Finals. I will definitely get in one more post after this one before summer, but over the summer I plan to revamp my plans for teaching Reading full time next year. I am beyond thrilled, but somewhat intimidated by the task ahead. I want it to work for them so badly! So - reflection time!!!! That is what summer will be about. Beach-side reflection. Yes, please!
    This post will be fairly short and sweet. I promised a post on Word Work, and this is a quick rundown of how it looked. The timing is pretty good since I just did their end of year assessment to measure growth. I have only had these students since January, so it was only one semester that I could measure. Still, some made significant growth while others stayed pretty much the same in this area. I reflected on that and really feel like the difference came down to which students became more interested in reading and actually read on their own. The ones who didn't, not surprisingly had little to no growth in their spelling patterns because they simply weren't exposed adequately to how words look when spelled correctly and how the patterns come together. Additionally, some of these students have significant learning impairments that make spelling patterns a challenge no matter what. I have always said that I approached teaching these students in much the same way I taught the younger ones in many ways. It is what I know, and it works. I use the book Words Their Way because I have had great success with it for years. In short, you give the students a Word Inventory the first week of school. It assesses Spelling patterns starting with beginning/ending sounds, digraphs, blends and goes all the way to inflectional endings, syllables and affixes. It has never let me down as far as painting an incredibly accurate picture of them as spellers. But even more than that, it helps me see why they decode words in reading the way that they do. This way I can identify which sounds and patterns to target to help support their individual decoding. I can also tailor it specifically to their individual needs. Win-win!!
     In my current class of 9 students, the Spelling Inventory split them into three groups. (One group has 4 students, another 2, and the last has 3.) I had them tab a section of the journal and title it "Word Work". This is where we put all of the word sorts and mini-lessons on the concept taught. I have pictures from each group that I will share below. One of the beautiful features of this book is that it comes with a CD that has all of the word sorts, picture sorts, and games that you just print right off! At first, I thought they would all laugh me out of the room when I gave them paper, scissors, and glue sticks. Once I explained the purpose, they were fine an actually enjoy it each week. Here are the pictures....

This sort had them find the base word and determine the rule for adding -ing.  

This sort had them identify the base word and sort based on adding -ed. 

This is a picture sort for beginning blends. I always have them write the word to go with the picture. If you read what they write, you can totally understand why they struggle as readers with decoding!

Another beginning blend picture sort...

This consonant/vowel pattern sort used both their auditory sense and spelling  pattern knowledge to sort the words. 

   

This picture sort is based on long and short vowel sounds.

     The Spelling Inventory guides the groups, but they are fluid and easily adaptable based on need. And honestly - they never once (after that first day!) balked at cutting, sorting, and pasting. Actually I have had several students tell me how much they feel it has helped them. So, check out the book and give it a shot! It is easy to use, easy to learn, and most importantly incredibly beneficial to the students. I create my own assessments every once in a while just to check where they are. I guess about every three or four sorts I give them one, but they are mostly made up of me calling words based on the sorts they have done. I emphasize I am looking more for proper pattern usage than correct overall spelling. Although, spelling is important and tends to also improve dramatically as they go through the process.  Here are two different assessments I made. I give them two scores. One is based on Spelling and one on the patterns that were taught. I do not record these as grades. They just add them to their charts in the Word Work section of their journals to monitor progress. 

     So that is it in a quick nutshell! I hope everyone had a Happy Mother's Day! I leave you with my most prized possession - my two "children". They are 23 and 26 and the joy of our lives. This was the first time we had all four been together since last May! A whole year.... That is what happens when college and life takes them away. So proud of them!

     End the year strong, friends! Talk to you soon.

     Mrs. Beck