ASBESWordStudyPhilosophyandAgreements

DevelopedbytheElementarySchoolLiteracyCoach,Fall2014

WordstudyattheAmericanSchoolofBombayprovidesacomprehensiveapproachto
teachingspecificwordrecognition,vocabularyandphonicsunderstandings,strategies
andpatterns.Ourapproachisbasedon
AEROLanguageArtsStandards
andFountas
andPinnells
ContinuumofLiteracyLearning
inordertobuildourstudents
communicationskillsinreading,writing,listeningandspeaking.

Weutilizeformalpre-assessmentstoanalyzewhichareasofwordknowledgestudents
alreadyunderstandandwhichareastheyneedfurtherinstruction.Thisanalysis
facilitatesdifferentiatedwordstudyinstructionbasedonindividualstudentsneeds
usingadevelopmentallyappropriateapproach.

Wordstudyis...

Wordstudyisnt...

basedondevelopmentalassessments.

aone-sizefitsall.

aninvestigationtobuildunderstandings
ofthepatternsandmeaningsinwords.

amemorizedweeklysetofwordpattern
lists.

systematic.

basedonaprogramsideas.

embeddedintothecurriculum.

anisolatedprogram.

taughtinsmallgroupsandone-on-one
conferencesduringreadingandwriting
workshopinstruction.

oneskilltaughttotheentiregroup.

Assessment
TheWordsTheirWay(WTW)SpellingInventorywillformallybeadministeredtwicea
year,beginningandend.Theinitialassessment,incombinationwithFountasand
Pinnellinstructionalreadinglevels,applicationofwordknowledgeintodailyworkany
additionalaswellasassessmentteacherswouldliketoadminister,willbeutilizedto
determineindividualstudentswordstudyneedsandinstructionalgroupings.

Ifgradelevelteamsorclassroomteacherswouldliketoadministertheappropriate
WTWSpellingInventoryatanothertimeduringtheyeartomonitorstudentsgrowth
andreportprogresstowardmeetinggradelevelexpectationstheymaydoso.For
example,highfrequencywordassessments(seefurtherinformationabouthigh
frequencywordsinFAQs).


ThechartbelowindicatestheappropriateWTWSpellingInventory.
Primary

Elementary

UpperElementary

Grades1&2

Grade3

Grades4&5

Throughouttheschoolyear,teachersandteachingassistantsshouldinformallyassess
studentprogressduringsmallgroupandindividualstudentconferences.

InstructionalAgreements
Allstudentswillparticipateinwordstudyinstruction.Recommendedguidelinesfor
frequencybygradelevelofformalinstructionareoutlinedinthisdocument.

Manystudentswillnotfitneatlyintothesuggestedcategoriesoutlined.Itwillbeupto
TeachersandTeachingAssistantstodeterminehowtobestformgroups.The
ElementarySchoolLiteracyCoach,ReadingSpecialistsandLearningCoachescanassist
informingsmallwordstudygroups.

Formalinstructionwilloccurindividuallyorinsmallgroupsbasedstudents
developmentalwordstudyneeds.Wordstudyskillsshouldbereinforcedduringwriting
andreadingworkshopsmallgroupsandindividualconferences.

TheESLiteracyCoachunpackedgrade-by-gradestandardsandskills.Itisrequiredthat
facultyfollowthesestandardsandskills.Inordertobestmeetallstudentsneedsfaculty
shouldutilizestandardsandskillsfromthegradelevelaboveorbelow.Wedonotutilize
oneprogramforallwordstudyinstruction.Facultyplaninstructionbasedonthe
standardsandskillseachstudentneeds.Overthenextfewyears,wewouldliketo
providespecificresourcesforallstandardsandskillsbeingtaught.Currently,faculty
canusetheirdiscretiontodetermineresourcesthatbestmatchthese.

SomeresourcesavailableatASBtoteachwordstudy

WordsTheirWay
Stage-by-Stagebooks
FountasandPinnell
ContinuumforLiteracyLearning
formoredetailedbreakdownof
principlesandconceptsincludingexamples

FAQs
Whatifastudentperformsatdifferentlevelsofexpectationsforguidedreading,
classroomapplicationandWordsTheirWay?
Teachersshouldusetheirbestjudgementtodeterminehowandwhichwordstudy
focus/groupwouldbestsuittheirneeds.

Howdowemeasurestudentprogress?
Tomeasurestudentgrowth,wewilladministertheWordsTheirWayassessmentat
thebeginningandendofyear.Thisallowsforfacultytomeasureindividualstudent
growthandprogresstowardmeetinggradelevelstandardsandexpectations.

Whatistheplaceofhighfrequencywordsinwordstudy?
Teachersmayassesshighfrequencywords.WeuseFountasandPinnellshigh
frequencywordlists.ListscanbefoundintheFountasandPinnellBenchmark
AssessmentKitsupplementalassessmentbook.

Currentlywedonothaverequirementsforarequirednumberoflistofwordsfor
studentstoreadorwriteateachgradelevel.Theselistscanserveasaguidefor
teachers.

WhatresourceswereutilizedindevelopingASBsWordStudyphilosophyand
beliefs?
AEROLanguageArtsStandards,
FountasandPinnells
ContinuumofLiteracyLearning
GuidedReadingandPhonics
Continuums&
CairoAmericanCollegesWordStudyAgreements(2012).