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!