Word Study Workbook I

Students will learn to read, spell, and understand most of the vowel and consonant sounds, including digraphs and trigraphs. Also introduced and practiced are prefixes, suffixes, several word endings, and more vowel and consonant variations as well as the schwa spellings and homonyms and homophones. Each of these four Word Study Workbooks (I-IV) basically follow the same format consisting of five exercises per lesson. Pairing words that rhyme is sometimes replaced with abbreviations and syllabication. Completing these four books will place a student well on his or her way to skilled reading.

The first exercise – “Read, Discuss, Spell” – presents a list of words to learn:

• The “Read” has the students read the words out loud to the teacher. Students discover that reading simply involves recognizing the letters of a word and knowing the sounds they make, then pronouncing these sounds from left to right.
• The “Discuss” components call for the teacher to chat with students about word meanings (no formal definitions needed) and make students aware that many English words have several meanings (bat, lap). This activity of discussing words ensures that students will develop the habit of thinking about meaning while they read.
• The “Spelling” part consists of a spelling test given at the end of every Exercise 1.

The other four exercises reinforce concepts taught in Exercise 1 and involve

• pairing words that rhyme, dividing words into syllables, or matching abbreviations,
• putting words from a list in alphabetical order,
• word study vocabulary building, and
• dictionary work

These workbooks provide for small group (centers and reading groups), one-on-one instruction, interaction with the entire class, and really help students start out as confident, authentic readers. Teachers using this curriculum have been pleased by the dramatic improvement their students have shown when tested by reading programs such as Fountas and Pinnell, Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI), and computer programs including iStation and Read 180.