Word Hunt

Yesterday, I taught my students new activity called word hunt. Students are expected to find words in their reading books that follow the current week's spelling pattern. It was an interesting experience. As I explained the directions, most of my students had blank stares. As a whole class, we found examples of words that followed a particular pattern. After numerous examples, I let my students divide into their spelling groups to hunt for words. Below is a picture of a student looking for words in her reading book.

I was pleased to see her using her finger to look for words carefully.

As I walked around to help each group (as well as take pictures), I found it interesting to see how each group was working. I started working with the blue group (medium level). They were having a difficult time getting started. Therefore, I helped them find a couple of examples for each category. I was pleased to see how successful my ELL student was looking for words and taking a leadership role in helping his group.
 

A student example from the blue group.

As I examined the blue group's work after school, I was pleased to see they found appropriate words to fit each spelling pattern. In fact, the blue group finished first during the activity, which concerned me that they might have rushed. However, I was wrong. These students worked as a team helping each other find each word that they were able to work accurately and correctly.
 

A student example from my orange group.

My orange group (medium-high) had the most trouble getting started. They could not figure out which book to use despite me giving the directions numerous times. Then, some students started to copy their spelling words while two other students talked. The orange group only had two patterns to search for as their third spelling pattern was "oddball" words. Obviously, this group came close to finishing but did not complete the second column. 
 

A student example from the pink group.

The pink group (low) did not need my assistance during the assignment. They used a variety of previously learned strategies to find words. Even though they did not finish the first pattern, I was extremely pleased with their effort and work. They only missed one word in the third pattern. "Only" does not have a long "o" sound. When I originally wrote my lesson plans for this activity, I had planned to spend my time helping this group. However as I observed their group, I felt that I was more of a nuisance than a help. The pink group's strategy was to start in the glossary then work page by page to find words. They were so pleased with themselves and cannot wait until next week!

A student example from the yellow group.

I only have two students in my yellow group as they scored the highest among their classmates. Due to their strong spelling abilities, I expected them to breeze through this assignment and had an enrichment activity for them to complete when they finished the word hunt. However, I did not need this extra activity. These students goofed off and stated they could not find the words. After a short discussion and assistance from my, one student got to work and he found the words in the above sample. However, the other student waited for the first student to do the work. I am going to need to reevaluate these students work in a partnership because based on this assignment they are not being successful. Luckily, I have a week to bounce ideas off of my teammates.

Overall, the word hunt activity was a great success. I learned not to auto-assume that my higher achieving students will perform the best and finish first. I need to give all my students a fair chance!

Student Assessment

Originally, I had planned to give my students their spelling assessments last Friday. However, weather forced us to have a snow day. Thus, I had to assess my students yesterday. I gave the assessment in the morning hoping to have it graded by the end of the day. Unfortunately, I was not able to grade all of the assessments before the students left yesterday. Thus, I had to change plans. My students received their spelling words today and I met with each group to go over the spelling patterns being studied for this week. Despite starting a day later than planned, our class is back on the timeline schedule.

After much research, I decided to use the program Words Their Way to provide my students with differentiated spelling. In order to differentiate spelling for my students, I need to pre-assess my students. Using the spelling inventory from Words Their Way (Pearson, 2004), I called out 25 words for my students to spell.

A student sample of the pre-assessment given Monday.

Once I collected the pre-assessments, I used the spelling inventory to determine what spelling patterns each student needs to study. Based on the spelling pattern areas in need, the inventory places students into stages: Emergent, Letter-Name Alphabetic, Within Word Pattern, and Syllables & Affixes. 

Using the above spelling assessment, the spelling inventory placed this student in Middle Syllables & Affixes.

The maximum number of feature points a student could score was 78 points. In my classroom, I had students score between 27 and 78. Thus, the pre-assessment data confirming the need for differentiated spelling in my room. Using the feature points, I had four students fall into late Within Word Pattern, six students fall into early Syllables & Affixes, seven students fall into middle Syllables & Affixes, and two students fall into late Syllables & Affixes. Based on this information, I was able to form three spelling groups. The first weekly spelling test will be Friday. I will post in a couple days to let you know how the students performed in their various spelling groups.

Putting A Plan Into Action

Each week, my students receive a new set of words and practice these words nightly in preparation for their spelling assessments on Fridays. Overall, my students spell these words correctly and earn A's. However, my students do not transfer their spelling patterns into their writing. Thus, my students know their words on Friday and forget them by Monday. As a teacher, I understand the necessity of spelling to be successful as strong readers and writers. Thus, my research action plan is designed to find out if my students will learn and understand spelling patterns better by following the differentiated spelling program. 

This week I use a pre-assessment to determine how to divide my third grade students into three groups. Based on their scores, I will group them based on similar spelling stages and needs. This is a great undertaking as I have never completed an action research inquiry. I am extremely nervous that I will not be able to find common themes or make appropriate modified changes to my plan based on student performance. However, I know that I am determined to be the best teacher to my students as I can be for me students. My strong motivation and attention to detail will allow my research inquiry to be successful.

Below you will find a tentative timeline (Win Calendar) in which to guide my action research inquiry. Due to snow days or other professional requirements, I know that I might need to change days. However, I will complete the required tasks that particular week. I will post my journey on this blog twice a week with my goal being on Sundays and Wednesdays. I look forward to you joining me during this journey.

Welcome to my new blog. In my last graduate class, I am completing an action research inquiry on spelling. My research question is, "How can developmental word study instruction help improve my students' spelling?" This blog will be used to track my progress through my journey this semester. I hope that you find my research and commentary helpful and are able to use it in your classroom. Let the research begin!