Word Study

For the last four weeks, Second Grade students have been learning some rules in spelling and working on spelling 8 words using these rules.

In this lesson, students learn that by adding a “silent -e” to the end of a word it changes the vowel sound from a “short” vowel sound to a “long” vowel sound. First, they added an -e to the example in the left column. Then, they challenged themselves to think of their own short vowel words that they could add an -e to, to make it a long vowel sound. It was amazing to see what they came up with!

They create their own word list on a green sheet of paper. They use this sheet of words for the rest of the week as they practice spelling in different ways.

One of the strategies they use during the week is “Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check”. They “Look” at the word on the list and then turn the list over. They will “Say” the letters for the word after they pull down the far left flap and “Write” the word. They flip the list back over and “Check” each letter that they see on the list and in the word they wrote. For example: “cane” they will say, “C,C-A,A-N,N-E,E”. Then, they cover the first flap and pull down the middle and far right flaps, one at a time, repeating the process.

Another strategy that is used, is writing a word three times in a row in their Word Study Notebooks. They work on spelling and handwriting.

We also do step or ladder writing. When students do this work in their notebooks, they “build” the words one letter at a time.

Writing each letter in the air, while saying the letter, is a strategy known as “Air Writing”. They spell each word 3 times using this method. This is another way for their bodies to “feel” and say the letters of each words as they write.

Students end the week by writing sentences that include their spelling word. They not only are working on spelling, but also thinking about sentence structure. Are they starting the sentence with a capital letter? Are they remembering punctuation? Are they able to start their sentences in different ways?

Finally, on Thursday mornings, they take a quiz on the eight words on a white sheet of paper. Teachers will check and record each student’s scores. We staple all of their work from the week together and send it home for you to see. Take a moment to ask your child which of these strategies they like best and why. I was surprised by some of their answers.