Running head: AE #2

Assessment Experience #2

Words Their Way Elementary Spelling Inventory

By: Anja Fletcher

CIL 621

University of Nevada Las Vegas

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Assessment Experience #2

Words Their Way Elementary Spelling Inventory

Student Data

“Amber” is eight (8) years old and is in 3rd grade at Richard Bryan Elementary School.

Amber resides in her home with her five (5) year old brother, who is both mentally and

physically disabled, and her Mom and Dad. Amber is very interested in learning about the solar

system and anything pertaining to animals. Amber shared with me her love for reading books of

her choosing, drawing, painting, and writing in a variety of forms.

Protocol/Assessment

The Words Their Way, “Spelling Inventory consists of lists of words specially chosen to

represent a variety of spelling features at increasing levels of difficulty.” (Bear et al., 2012, p.

26). Students are assessed on a list of words that build in complexity that show where they are in

terms of common orthographic features. Whatever “stage” that student ends up at can provide

information for planning instruction based upon the results. This test was administered on a one

–on-one basis but can easily be given in a whole class environment. Students are orally given

the word; teacher then uses it in a sentence, and then repeats the word one final time. This

inventory can be used to identify all the way up to the Derivational Relations Stage and is mostly

recommended for third-fifth grades.

Results

Results of the Words Their Way, Spelling Inventory indicated that the student falls within

the early stages of derivational relations. The term derivational relation is used to describe the

type of word knowledge that more advanced readers and writers possess. The term stresses how

spelling and vocabulary knowledge at this stage grows primarily through the processes of
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derivation (meaning from a single base word or root word with the addition of prefixes and

suffixes). (Bear, Invernizzi, Templeton, & Johnston, 2012, p. 273). The goal at this stage is to

teach students that words that are related in meaning are often related in spelling as well. So by

thinking of a word that is related to one you're trying to spell, you will often discover a helpful

clue to the spelling.

Thompkins Teaching Strategy

Word Sort – Students use word sorts to categorize words according to their meanings,

phoneme-grapheme, or spelling patterns. The purpose of the word sort is to help student focus

on phonological features of words and identify recurring patterns. The word sort will focus on

words with unaccented final syllables (/chur/zhur/yur) as well as derivational relations (e-drop +

ition). This strategy would be in alignment with Common Core Standards: RF.3.3 - Know and

apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words. (NVACS, 2019, p. 26)

The Elementary Spelling Inventory is an informal literacy assessment that I used with my

student to help observe her understanding about literacy concepts. This ESI is such a thorough,

yet quick way to assess exactly what this student understands about phonics. Understanding the

principles that surround literacy concepts and the application of assessments, have helped me

come to understand how important my role as a literacy teacher is for students at all stages of

literacy development. Through this assessment in particular I now understand how useful an ESI

can be as it presents a reliable scale of developmental word knowledge. Through this assessment

my student now has a better understanding of where she can learn and grow in her spelling

development, and I now feel confident in using the information gained from this assessment to

implement targeted instruction.

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References

Bear, D., Invernizzi, M., Templeton, S., & Johnston, F. (2016) Words their way: word study for

phonics, vocabulary, and spelling instruction. Pearson.

Cooter, R., Flynt, E., & Cooter, K. (2014) The Flynt/Cooter comprehensive reading inventory-

2: assessment of K-2 reading skills in English and Spanish. Pearson.

Nevada Department of Education. (2019). Nevada Academic Content Standards for English

Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects.

Retrieved from

http://www.doe.nv.gov/uploadedFiles/nde.doe.nv.gov/content/Standards_Instructional_S

upport/Nevada_Academic_Standards/K-12_ELA_Standards_ADA_Accessible.pdf

Tompkins, G. (2013). Literacy for the 21st century: a balanced approach. Prentice Hall.