Chapter 3: Word Study: The Wonder of Words

I believe word study is essential in reading, but it is the first thing that gets overlooked. English language can be so difficult because there are so many rules that students need to know to understand the meaning of words. It is not an easy language to learn. Many letters make different sounds, "ea" can make a short sound and a long sound, and there are many, many more! I know when teaching my students the different phonics rules some of them get very confused, and I don't blame them! I was the type of reader that didn't know every phonics rule, but I was a very good reader. I owe that all to my parents who spent many days reading to me. Our district has taken the weekly spelling test out of the curriculum and has adopted the Words Their Way curriculum. This was a big change for many teachers. I believe this has been a good change. Even though I have had to re-teach myself phonics rules! Word study is a key component when reading. Many of my students who understand the phonics rules are my good readers. Those who struggle with phonics are my struggling readers. I believe that if my struggling readers were more familiar with their phonics and wordy study they would be better readers. I liked how the book gave several examples of what teachers can do word study in the middle school grades. I think that word study should not stop after the elementary years! To become a successful reader, students need to know the different meanings of roots, prefixes, suffixes, etc. In my classroom, I use a vocabulary chart from Marzano. They break apart the word to find the definitions. They also look for synonyms and antonyms. After going through this process, my students have a better understanding of the word. In the beginning of the year this was done whole group. Now that it is the end of the year, my students are able to do it on their own. They also take challenging words and dissect them to understand the meaning of the word. It makes me feel like I have done my job. I hope that the need of word study continues throughout education. Our 1st and 2nd grade classes use Fundations to teach phonics. When I talked to the teachers about this program, they all have seen a major difference in their students' phonics skills. I am excited to see the next group coming up because they have had two years of Fundations!

 There are so many great resources out there that can help students with word study. I have used several of the ones listed in this chapter. Another one I really like, which reminds me of educationalrap.com is flocabulary.com. This does cost some money, but my students really enjoy it. It can be used for all subject areas.