Choice #7: The FINAL Choice - Word Work/Spelling

This week was another short week for the students, and I was finally able to introduce our FINAL Reading Workshop Choice: Word Work/Spelling. As I have expressed before this is the choice that I was most hesitant about... being that I did not know exactly what would make this a benifical choice for my 4th graders. The main focus of this choice during this first week was practice with Spelling Words, although I feel that I would like to incoperate some more vocabulary into this choice in the future. These were the observations I made regarding Word Work/Spelling during Reading Workshop Choice Time this week:

Whiteboard: Practice writing your spelling words in print or cursive on a small whiteboard. After you have written each word you may then draw words to go with each spelling word. If you do not know what a word means, look a dictionary to look it up. A few students choice this option throughout the week and it seemed to be an ok way to practice spelling words. One student told me, after completing this choice, that if you got almost all the words right on your spelling pretest then this is not a great choice because it is too easy.

Wikki Stix: Practice your spelling words by writing them with Wikki Stix. Do not cut or break the Wikki Stix, find ways to use them as they are. This was a popular choice with students. I had enough Wiki sticks for 3 students to do this each choice time. As students started this we found that using their clipboards provided a good surface for them to work on and allowed them to still work in their Book Nook spots. I found this to be a good way for students to practice their spelling words, and after they made the word they could trace it with their finger - allowing for more kiethestic like practice.

Grammar: Read the directions of the folder and complete the corresponding activity. If there is a sheet you need to fill out with the activity please attach it to your logging sheet. This choice was not popular with the studnets this week, as many were more interested in "fun" and "different ways to practice their spelling words.

Vocabulary: Look up this week’s vocabulary words using the glossary in your reading hardcover book. After you write the definition using words you may then draw small picture to show what the word means. Most students do this during Morning Work time, so the number of students completing this during chocie time was limited.

BONUS: Occasionally there will be another option for Spelling/Word Work. Look for a note card on the back of this sheet for more information about this option. This week the additonal choice was using letter stamps to stamp out the spelling words and this was a hit with the 4th graders! I only have 3 sets of letter stamps, so only 3 students could be doing this per choice time. However, this was so popular I feel that I may need to make it a regualr choice for Word Work/Spelling.

The theme of this week's words was frequently misspelled words, but in the future when there are more specific letter sound themes to our words I would have the students underline the sounds and or pattern when they are practicing their words on the whiteboard, with Wikki Stix, or with Letter Stamps. Patterns are something I feel more students need work with, in regards to spelling so I see this as another way to focus on that spelling strategy.

Overall I would say this first week of Word Work/Spelling was successful, of my 25 students I think about 18 were able to try it out this week. I look forward to asking some Word Work/Spelling questions on my next student survey to get a better idea of thier thoughts.

Also this week during Reading Workshop students practiced and performed Reader's Theater plays. We considered this to be our fluency practice for the week so Read to Someone was not a choice this week. Students LOVED doing the Reader's Theater plays, but were bummed that Read to Someone was not a choice. It was reaffirming to know that they do enjoy having the choice to Read to Someone, but also a good change of pace to have them practice their fluency in a different way and spend some time on other choices they may not do as much.

                                          Word Work/Spelling with Wikki Stix

                                         Word Work/ Spelling with Letter Stamps

Two five day weeks and then a four day week lead us into Christmas Break... and with a lot of extra things going on I am sure some of our Reading Workshop time will be affected, however I am looking forward to seeing all of our choices in action over the next three weeks and taking some time to reflect with my students about what they like and dislike about our Reading Workshop time in 4th grade.

Going forward I am looking at the organization of our Reading Workshop choices. I am asking myself questions like: How can I better organzie who does Listen to Reading and Word Work/Spelling - because these choices have limited spots and/or supplies? How do I make sure those that REALLY need it get to specific choices? How can I keep better track of student choices? I am also thinkign about how I can continue to keep students motivated during Reading Workshop now that all of the choices have been introduced.