Words Their Way, Shout Out and a Linky!

I wanted to share that another wonderful teacher is sharing her Words Their Way resources and is having a giveaway...check her out, she's done a lot with Words Their Way and I'm excited to hear more about how she runs it.  Check out Tammy's blog, 1...2...3...Teach With Me.  


As I mentioned before Words Their Way offers a wonderful easy way to differentiate word work and spelling. The spelling inventory provides a wealth of data you can present to your RTI team...I've used it and it's powerful data!


At the beginning of the year I had 4 different Words Their Way (*which from here on out will be called WTW).  I had a long vowel, blends, short vowel, and digraphs group.  Since reassessing in the winter it became clear that my students were struggling with vowels - this isn't hard to belive.  English vowels are the WORST for Spanish speakers.  Honestly, they seem so random after learning Spanish.  With Spanish what you see is what you get, and English is more into sending mixed messages.


Here are some magnetic pocket charts that I use in my classroom.  Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of them with a sort, but you get the idea.  When I had 4 groups, students knew their group color and would know on Monday we would do the sort together as an introduction and we'd sort it in their pocket chart.  This was a great way to sort together and a reference for them.

Since giving the reassessing my students I have 2 groups - a short vowel and long vowel group.  The problem is WTW zooms through short vowels assuming the student is a native English speaker.  For my students the few weeks spent on short vowels was not enough.  So, I was lucky to discuss this with a colleague who happened to have a wonderful book...All Sorts of Sorts.  This book provides sooooo many sorts to supplement WTW.  This has been a lifesaver!  Currently, I'm using All Sorts of Sorts much more than the WTW books.  Check this book out if you find WTW zooming through a concept that your kids need more time on.

Ok, that's all for now on WTW.  

I also wanted to metnion a fellow bilingual teacher...Krista at The Second Grade Super Kids, is having a 50 followers giveaway!  You could win a Barnes  & Nobles gift card and a great superhero read aloud.  Check her out!  She has some great ideas to share!  

I'm also linking to a wonderful link party that is meant for K-2 teacher blogs.  Jeannie of Kindergarten Lifestyle has hosted this linky so that primary teachers can find each other.  She'll be creating a Pinterest board so that it will be easy to find primary blogs!  What a great idea!

Head over if you're a primary blog and want to participate!

Cheers,

Laura

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