Remedial and Support Teachers'
Association
of Queensland
›› Tips
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›› Tips |
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Spelling/Word
Study Open-ended word sorts Select a group of words that are already in each student's reading vocabulary as 'sight words'. Present them in sets of cards or on slips of paper. Suggest to the students that there are a number of ways in which the words might be sorted. However, it is important that each learner is able to explain why he or she has chosen to group particular words together. Allow the students to range widely into letter-sound relationships, visual patterns, number of syllables, common word parts, common derivation, semantic relationships, etc. A particular student's performance may give interesting diagnostic information. Some students may need to be guided through some basic steps such as: Planning:
ask the student to look at all the words carefully; to choose one set
that can be grouped together; to put the others to one side.
Defining the category: ask the student to explain the pattern that he or she is using for sorting. Planning again: encourage the students to choose other categories and to group and regroup words. Redefining the categories: the student may need to think about his or her decisions. Storing: it may be useful to use the sorts to make lists in personal notebooks.
Structured word sorts The teacher establishes the category to explore such areas as short vowel patterns or consonant digraphs or final consonant blends. Preferably the child should select the lead word for each category (the exemplar or prototype). If not, the teacher attempts to pick the best exemplar from the child's word bank. The teacher might for example choose 'bread' and 'meat' from the word bank. After the child has finished sorting a group of 'ea' words, he or she will have established which are 'bread' words and which are 'meat' words. |