Product Description

With more than 15 years of extensive observations and experiences in real classrooms, the authors bring keen insight to this activity-based book. They advocate basing student learning on the appropriate developmental level. This philosophy is supported with more than 250 ready-to-use word study, spelling, vocabulary, and phonics activities presented in developmental sequence, from the Emergent through the Derivational Relation stage. For educators and school administrators.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1714 in Books
• Published on: 2007-05-21
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 432 pages

The publisher, Prentice-Hall Career & Technology
Written by teachers who are noted authorities in the field of spelling and word study, this comprehensive text/sourcebook explores word recognition and spelling skills K-12 -- with a K-8 emphasis. Based on extensive observations and experiences in real classrooms for more than 15 years, it combines discussions of theory and practical assessment tools and techniques with over 250 ready-to-use word study, spelling, vocabulary, and phonics activities presented in a developmental sequence from Preliterate through the Derivational Constancy stage. It shows students how to work with picture and word sorting, how to use word banks at the beginning levels, and how to incorporate word study into reading and writing.

From the Back Cover

This book would be very useful for both university reading courses and classroom teachers. I use Words Their Way both in my first grade classroom and with college students as a way to implement word study.

Kristi McNeal, CSU Fresno

Words Their Way’s developmentally-driven, hands-on instructional approach has been a phenomenon in word study, providing a practical way to study words with students. The keys to this research-based approach are to know your students’ literacy progress, organize for instruction, and implement word study. This streamlined text and the DVD and CD-ROM that accompany it gives you all the tools you need to carry out word study instruction that will motivate and engage your students, and help them to succeed in literacy learning. Ordered in a developmental format, Words Their Way complements the use of any existing phonics, spelling, and vocabulary curricula.

Knowing Your Students

• Streamlined Chapter 2 provides step by step guidelines for assessing students.
• NEW! Words Their Way Word Study Resources CD: Assessment Planning and Additional Interactive Word Sorts contains computerized assessments to gauge students’ developmental levels.
• Word Study with English Learner sections in each chapter help you organize and adapt instruction to meet the needs of students whose first language is not English.

Organizing for Instruction

• NEW! Words Their Way DVD Tutorial: Planning for Word Study in K-8 Classrooms reinforces and illustrates classroom organization and management, as outlined in Chapter 3.
• Word Study Routines and Management sections in every chapter give you practical guidance on managing and implementing word study in your classroom.
• NEW! Tech Notes throughout chapters pinpoint opportunities for you to use the DVD and CD-ROM to prepare for instruction.

Implementing Word Study

• Classroom-proven, research-driven activities end each developmental chapter, giving you the instructional practices to get your word study instruction up and running immediately.
• NEW! Words Their Way Word Study Resources CD: Assessment Planning and Additional Interactive Word Sorts provides more than just assessments. You’ll also find hundreds of additional word and picture sorts, games and templates, and an interactive Create Your Own section.
• The Appendix at the back of the book contains a comprehensive bank of word lists, word sorts, picture sorts, games and templates.

The theory behind and practice for word sorts allows even the novice teacher to understand how to use the assessments to organize instruction. The organization of the last five chapters creates a useful resource for teachers. Each begins with a research-based description and moves into sound instructional practices, giving the teacher a complete understanding of how to meet the needs of students.

Cathy Blanchfield, CSU Fresno

Meet the Authors

• Donald Bear is Director of the E.L. Cord Foundation Center for Learning and Literacy at the University of Nevada, Reno, assessing and teaching students who experience difficulties learning to read and write. A former preschool and elementary teacher, Donald currently researches literacy development with a special interest in students who speak languages other than English, and he partners with schools and districts to consider assessment and literacy instruction.
• Marcia Invernizzi is Director of the McGuffey Reading Center at the University of Virginia exploring developmental universals in non-English orthographies. A former English and reading teacher, Marcia works with children experiencing difficulties learning to read and write in intervention programs such as Virginia’s Early Intervention Reading Initiative and Book Buddies.
• Shane Templeton is Foundation Professor of Literacy Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno. A former classroom teacher at the primary and secondary levels, he researches the development of orthographic and vocabulary knowledge
• Francine Johnston is Associate Professor in the School of Education at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she teaches reading, language arts, and children’s literature. A former first-grade teacher and reading specialist.

About the Author

Donald R. Bear is director of the E. L. Cord Foundation Center for Learning and Literacy in the College of Education at the University of Nevada, Reno. As a former preschool, third, and fourth grade teacher, Donald extends his experience working with children who experience difficulties learning to read and write both in the center and in numerous outreach programs. His recent research includes the study of literacy development in different languages and the influence of first language and literacy knowledge in learning to read in another language. He and his colleagues work with many schools and districts to conduct literacy instruction workshops.

Shane Templeton is Foundation Professor of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Nevada, Reno, where he is Program Coordinator for Literacy Studies. A former elementary and secondary teacher, his research focuses on the development of orthographic knowledge. He has written several books on the teaching and learning of reading and language arts and is a member of the Usage Panel of the American Heritage Dictionary. He is author of the "Spelling Logics" column in Voices from the Middle, the middle school journal of the National Council of Teachers of English.

Marcia Invernizzi is a professor of reading education at the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia. Marcia is also the director of the McGuffey Reading Center, where she teaches the clinical practica in reading diagnosis and remedial reading. Formerly an English and reading teacher, she works with Book Buddies, Virginia's Early Intervention Reading Initiative (EIRI), and Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS).

Francine Johnston is a former first grade teacher and reading specialist who learned about word study during her graduate work at the University of Virginia. She is now an associate professor in the School of Education at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she teaches courses in reading, language arts, and children's literature. Francine frequently works with regional school systems as a consultant and researcher. Her research interests include current spelling practices and materials as well as the relationship between spelling and reading achievement.

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Customer Reviews

Great Resource!
This is a great resource. It gives many examples of how to impliment the program. One thing I really like about Words Their Way is the fact that is hands on. This will really help my students who are more concrete thinkers.

great word study for students
Words Their Way is an excellent source for teachers to use for word study. It gives great insight into how kids learn to spell.

Spelling and Reading
It's been shown that spelling provides a window to one's reading. This book explains the developmental stages children go through K- adult. The database software on one of the CDs that allows one to analyze the spelling inventories and sort the results is very easy to use. Classroom teachers appreciate the data I have been able to give them on their students. The word games and short videos on the 2nd CD are very helpful. The analytical phonics approach is very kid-friendly right up through high school. This is a very thorough resource that every ELA, SpEd, and Title I teacher should use.