During Grade 2 Word Study lessons in the Being a Reader program, students explore polysyllabic words by focusing on word parts. All of the work students do in Word Study supports their growth as readers as it improves their spelling and word analysis strategies and develops vocabulary. Students begin writing the words they are sorting early on in the program, when the Word Study Notebooks are introduced. Guided Spelling, introduced a few week later, focuses on developing thoughtful spellers who apply what they are learning about words to reading and spelling unfamiliar words. Guided Spelling is introduced as students begin to think about which spellings to use for complex vowel sounds and continues through base words and affixes. The spelling in the last few weeks of instruction focus on frequently misspelled, irregular, high-frequency words.
Research tells us that students learn to spell words more successfully when they have had several exposures to the words and can read them without difficulty. For this reason, we selected words from the previous week’s sort for guided spelling instruction. We purposely paired reading and spelling to reinforce spelling patterns and common syllables students are likely to encounter in their reading and writing. Words are introduced early in the week and students practice the spelling patterns both in their Word Study Notebooks and by re-sorting the previous week’s words when they go to independent word work.
If you wish to test students weekly, we provide instruction for administering a spelling test later in the year. Teachers who prefer to assess students’ spelling in their independent writing can forgo the test and use the time for independent work.
For more information about guided spelling and spelling tests, see “Understanding the Program” in the Program Overview section of the Implementation Handbook.
- A print copy of the Handbook is included with your Being a Reader materials. It is packaged with the unit teacher manuals.
- A digital copy of the Handbook can be found on the Learning Portal.