RSTAQ: Reviews

Sort, search, and discover: spelling in the child-centered classroom.
Fresch, M.J. & Wheaton, A.1997, in The Reading Teacher, vol.51, no.1, pp.20 — 31.

This article provides some excellent teaching approaches for those teachers who have adopted word sorting activities as part of their ‘bread and butter’ practice in teaching spelling. Central to this article is a description of a ‘Sort, Search, and Discover’ approach that incorporates an instructional plan to be used over five days.

While all students have the same generalization as the basis for their spelling instruction, a supplementary list of more difficult words is provided as well as the basic list of words to provide for students who demonstrate mastery of some these words on the Pretest. As well, students who regularly score 80% or more on the Pretests are free to develop their own lists based on the generalizations for the week.

The following activities are used in the ‘Sort, Search, and Discover’ approach.

A whole-class discussion and think-aloud in using the BEE (Brain, Ears, Eyes); the teacher guides the students in applying this approach to the words (i.e., sort the words) and finally derive a generalization (Brain) that encapsulates their observations of the words’ common properties.

Student discussion of their discoveries with the whole class followed by a modelled sort by the teacher;

Students search of a variety of texts for other words demonstrating the patterns;

Students use words in creative writing activities (e.g., limericks, advertisements, jingles, etc.). These texts are sustained with students engaging in peer-editing activities.

Students engage in a variety of vocabulary activities to add stimulation to the instruction; these include learning more about word origins, games such as letter scrambles, and crosswords.

Students work in pairs to test each other on their individual lists.