Word Study Notebook
The Word Study Notebooks document students' word study and vocabulary program, and helps teachers to assess student activity and growth. Words can be grouped by sound, orthographic patterns, and meaning. Word Study Notebooks are begun early in this stage of development if not before. You can use spiral notebooks or sewn notebooks with stiff covers, but the notebook can also be several pieces of paper folded and stapled. Word Study Notebooks are used almost daily. Students bring them to small group meetings to share their discoveries and to add to their lists as they read. Students can participate in a word study hunt where they look for specific words as they read a text. They write what they complete into their Word Sudy Notebooks under the appropriate short or long vowel, and they share the results of their hunts. This strategie can be shared in team settings or teacher guided small group settings as well as a whole class setting. Thie words would be new vocabulary workds from a reading the studnets will be completing.
Sample: Using the book, or part of the book "Night" by Elie Weisel, the list may include "Ghetto, Concentration Camp, Rabbi, Gestapo, Council" to name a few. They could be sorted by first vowel sounds and/or could be chunked.
For the primary grades, you could use the book "The Hungry Caterpillar", by Eric Carle. The vocabulary words could be the days of the week. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. or the teacher could use the food words, or the catepillars cycle from a little egg to a butterfly. the studnets could list them in the order they appear in the book or by vowel sound.
Look Fors for Successful Implementation: Students will use the graphophonic cueing system. Teachers will hold students accountable for accurately spelling all words and using them in context appropriately.
Reference: Bear, D.R. Invernizzi, M., Templeton, S., and Johnston, F., (2003). Words Their Way. Upper Saddle, NJ: Merrill.
