Their Way Is Your Way: Development,
Success and Courage
Sponsored by the Minnesota Center for
Reading Research
Donald Bear
February 29, 2012
E. L. Cord Foundation Center for Learning and Literacy
College of Education, Mail Stop 288, University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557
Contacts: [email protected], www.unr.edu/cll
Topical Outline
•
•
•
Upper Level Deep Vocabulary Study: success, development, and
courage
Interesting Word & Golden Line Activities
Development through the Stages: A Few Key Aspects of Literacy
Learning
Instruction may be most effective when we teach “their way,” when we follow students’ leads. It
takes courage to teach developmentally, but doing so leads to success, three words that we study
at the beginning of this talk: development, success and courage. As an illustration of teaching
“their way is your way,” we examine how students’ word knowledge guides word study
instruction. Specifically, we will visit five stages of development to see that what students are
experimenting with, what they are “using but confusing” is a window to their development, their
ways of learning.
a. Synchrony of Literacy
There is a synchrony among
reading, writing and spelling
development and instruction.
c. "Prosody, and orthography are not parts of
grammar, but are difused [sic] like the blood and
spirits through the whole." Ben Jonson, 1637, OED,
page 1492.
b.
What is word study?
Word study =
phonics + spelling +
vocabulary instruction
Donald Bear
2
Interesting Words & Golden Lines
Interesting words and ideas: What interesting words do you see and hear? What important ideas and terms did you read or hear
today? When you see or hear an Interesting Word or Golden Line in what you read or view, take note. Record the word in your
vocabulary notebook. Record the Golden Line in the reader response area of your notebook.
Directions for Recording Interesting Words in Your Vocabulary Notebook
1. Collect the word. While reading, note words that are important, interesting or difficult. Read around the word and think of about its
possible meaning.
2. Record the word and sentence. Sometimes sentences are too long so sections of the sentence can be recorded.
3. “Take apart.” Look at word parts and think about their meaning. Look at the different parts of the word – prefixes, suffixes, and base
word or root.
4. Think of related words. Show students how to go from the word parts from “take apart” to brainstorming related words by the meaningful
parts of words (e.g., syn- chron –y). Students can work in pairs to brainstorm related words, and they can concentrate on different
parts: prefixes, suffixes and roots or bases.
5. Study the word in the dictionary. Record interesting information. Show students how to read the dictionary and its abbreviations. Students
can use brief etymological resources to study words and their histories. Students can add additional words from the dictionary and
etymological resources to their lists of related words.
6. Review and share. Students report back what they learned and recorded in their word study notebooks. Consider small group, whole class,
small group and partner configurations for studying and sharing interesting words. Reading comprehension activities often follow
from sharing our interesting vocabulary words. *(See the first activity in Words Their Way, Chapter 8.)
Golden Lines
Golden Lines: What is an interesting quote or idea you have heard or read today? Through short activities, we teach students to locate
Golden Lines as they read. They start with lines that strike them while they read. They learn to find Golden Lines and they practice
marking them with post-its in the margins, or by noting them in their word study notebooks.
1. Cacophony caco phon –y
2. 4 Tools: Confidence in a few basic principles of literacy
development; we can't teach by telling; vigor and common
20. Life is a DR-TA
sense; classroom organization and management.
21. Directed Reading-Thinking Activity (DR-TA), (DL -TA,
3. RRWWT: Read To, Read With, Write With, Word Study,
K-W-L), (Bear & Gill; Bear & Invernizzi)
Talk With
22. Predict – Read - Confirm Cycle, Resolution
4. Synchrony syn- chron -y
23. “I know you don’t know, but what do you think this
5. There is a synchrony among reading, writing and spelling
reading / sort will be (is) about?”
development and instruction.
24. Content DR-TA: What do you know? What do you think
6. Orthography ortho graph –y
you know? What do you want to find out?
7. Spelling is a conservative measure of what students know
25. See the KWL.
about words.
26. “Vigil to understand” – James Deese
8. 5 Stages of spelling development: emergent, letter name
27. Emerson: “It is the good reader that makes the good
– alphabetic, within word pattern, syllables & affixes,
book.”
derivational relations
28. Concept of Word in Print (COW), the Space – Time
9. Word Study = spelling + vocabulary + spelling
Continuum, and the Miracle of Beginning Reading.
10. Look for automaticity and fluency and not just accuracy.
29. "Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One
11. Grammar is folded in to word study instruction.
does not love breathing." To Kill a Mockingbird
12. Morphology and the Meaning Connection:
30. Prosody, and orthography are not parts of grammar, but
a. Inflected Morphology – -ed, -ing, -y, -s,es ….
are difused [sic] like the blood and spirits through the
b. Derivational Morphology - affixes, roots ….
whole." 1637 by Ben Jonson, 1637, OED, p. 1492.
13. Make the meaning connection: Show students how words
31. . . . and like a good sauce, the realization of a sentence's
related in meaning are often similar in spelling, despite changes
in sound. (see Words Their Way, Bear, Invernizzi, Templeton,
Johnston, 2008)
14. Assimilated prefixes: in + mature, ad-, com-, dis- ….
15. “Etymology is the archaeology of thought.” B. F.
Skinner
16. The time to teach a rule is when students already know what we
are talking about.
17. When there is frustration on the student's or your part take a
step backwards, instructionally.
18. “Objects are concealed from our view not so much because
they are out of the course of our visual ray as because there is
no intention of the mind and eye toward them...Nature does not
cast pearls before swine.” Thoreau
19. Chinese - "playing the guitar to a cow.
prosodic structure is a blend of different ingredients none of
which can be separately identified in the final product. Cutler
and Isard, 1980, " p.245.
32. Flannery O’Conner, “A Good Man is Hard to Find”
“whose face was as broad and innocent as a cabbage”
33. “We want the idea to feed the pen and not the pen to
interfere with the idea.” Edmund Henderson
34. Language makes altruism possible (P. Lieberman)
35. “You rush, you crush.” Vusi Mahlasela
36. Development requires “(t)ies that commit us to action in behalf
of the well-being of others beyond our own self-interest.”
(Bronfenbrenner & Morris)
37. Stop an activity when it's going well.
38.
Donald Bear 3
Did$you$see$the$following$today?$
1. 
2. 
Word'study'is'enjoyable'and'though5ul.'
Word'study'encourages'vocabulary'
development.'
Etymological'study'deepens'thinking'
Learn'one'word,'you'learn'ten'(Tamara'
Baren);'cf.,'generaHve'vocabulary'learning'(M.'
Graves).'
In'the'upper'levels,'spelling,'vocabulary,'
morphology,'and'grammar'instrucHon'
intertwine.'
Content'vocabulary'can'be'taught'in'a'variety'
of'contexts'and'in'phrases.'
3. 
4. 
5. 
6. 
'
Selected Concepts by Stages:
§
§
§
§
3 Layers and Stages of Development
Emergent – COW (concept of word in text)
Beginning/Letter Name - Articulation
Transitional / Within Word Pattern - Lesson Plan Format Flores
§ Syllables and Affixes and Derivational Relations Morphology, the Meaning Principle, Deep and Generative
Vocabulary Instruction
Videos and other materials can be found free for a while at
(beta)
http://pdtoolkit.pearson.com/
Donald Bear 4
THE SYNCHRONY OF LITERACY LEARNING
ALPHABET / SOUND
→
PATTERN
MEANING
LAYERS
→
….
Reading and Writing Stages: Emergent
Beginning
Early
Middle
Transitional
Late
Pretend read
Read aloud, word-by-word,
Concept of Word
fingerpoint reading
No COW, Rudimentary COWà Full COW
Pretend write
Word-by-word writing, writing
starts with a few words to
paragraph in length
Early
Middle
Late
Intermediate
Early
Middle
Late
Advanced
Early
Middle
Late
Approaching fluency,
phrasal, some expression in
oral reading. Wright
Brothers of reading
Read fluently, with expression. Develop a variety of
reading styles. Vocabulary grows with experience reading.
Approaching fluency, more
organization, several
paragraphs
Fluent writing, build expression & voice, experience different
writing, styles & genre, writing shows personal problem
solving & personal reflection.
Spelling Stages: Emergentà
Early
Middle
Letter NameAlphabetic à
Late
Early
Middle
Late
Within-Word
Pattern à
Early
Middle
Late
Syllables &
Affixes à
Early
Middle
Late
Derivational
Relations
Early
Middle
Late
Examples of spellings:
bed
ship
float
train
cattle
cellar
pleasure
confident
opposition
f
bd
sp
ft
jn
k kd
slr
pjr
bad
bed
sep shep ship
fot flot flott
jan tan chran tran
catl
salr
plasr
cadol
celr
plager
flote floaut flowt float
teran traen trane train
catel
celer
plejer pleser
seler
catol
seler
plesher
cattel
celler
cattle
seller
cellar
pleser plesher plesour plesure pleasure
confadent
confiednet confedent confendent confident
opasishan oppasishion opositian oposision opposition
Donald Bear 5
FLORES SECOND GRADE
General Daily Literacy Block Schedule 10:30 – 11:15 ish
11:15ish – 12:00
Guided Reading Group
Seatwork & Centers
Word Study & Independent Reading Time
Students who are not at a guided reading group work on their seatwork and then move on to
work on a center.
Students who ARE at a guided reading group, do the same thing when they are done at their
guided reading group.
Seatwork and Center Weekly Routines:
Monday
District routine on Monday: Students get the sight words for
the week and add them into their Sight Word Dictionary.
Students read through their sight word dictionary, and add any
words if necessary. When finished, they move to Center work.
Tuesday
Students cut up sorts they received during small word study
group on Monday. They put initials on the back, and sort at
least two times. When finished, they move to Center work.
Wednesday Students get out sorts and practice sorting 5 times. They need
to have a peer “check it over” at least once. They also write
headings in their word study notebook to get ready for writing
their sort on Thursday. When finished, they move to Center
work.
Thursday Students get out their sort, sort a few times, and then write the
words in their word study notebooks.
Friday
Students get our their sorts, sort a few times, and then glue the
sorts in their word study notebooks.
Each student completes one center a day.
Types of centers include:
*Pocket Chart (Varies: Can be sorting, sight word sentences, poems,
contractions, homophones, synonyms and antonyms, etc.)
*ABC Order
*Listening
*Letter Writing
*Word Study Games
*Free Choice: Computer Work, Stamps, Computer Work (using Microsoft Word)
Donald Bear 6
Bruskotter 5th Grade
Fri
Thur
s
Wed
Tues
Mon
Daily Word Study class work
1. cut words (recycle trash)
2. work with a partner to read and sort 1x
Ø discuss differences, if any
3. write your sort neatly in your word study book
Ø at the bottom, explain your sort (explain your
thinking or what you notice about each column)
1. read and sort 1x; read it to a partner
Ø discuss differences, if any
Ø REPEAT with a new partner
2. read and sort 2x on your own; read it to yourself
3. blind sort with a partner
1. read and sort 1x; read it to a partner
Ø discuss differences, if any
2. speed sort with two partners
3. word hunt from a book at your easy level
Ø add at least 8 words to each column in your sort
1. read and sort 3x on your own; read it to yourself
2. blind writing sort with a partner
1. as a group, each student writes 2 words from each
column on the poster-sort
2. CHOICE:
Ø speed sort race with a partner (or time each
other)
Ø memory with a partner
3. spelling test
On any day, when you finish, please read your
INDEPENDENT LEVEL reading book.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Misc Principles of Instruction - Bear
Understand and consider development
Conduct meaningful, ongoing assessments
Differentiate for Read With and Word Study activities
Fidelity to students’ development ensures fidelity to program
th
Donald Bear 7
Literacy Activities in M r. Ikenbarry’s 6 Grade Classroom
Schedule Projected on Front Board
Today During Literacy
§
§
§
§
§
Introduce Blind sorting + demonstration
Spelling
– Meet in groups: discuss patterns
– Sort and record words and pattern in Word Study Binder
– Blind sort and Speed sort with Partner: Word hunt with spelling
groups
Silent Read (House of the Scorpion or Tiger Rising)
Begin semi-final draft of dialogue story
Begin illustrations of dialogue story
Generative Vocabulary Instruction
10 Principles
From Words Their Way with Struggling Readers, Grades 4-12,
(Flanigan, et al., 2011, pp 171 – 173).
1. Select words and word elements that capitalize on the generative nature of our spelling –
meaning system.
Meaning families
democracy, plutocracy, autocracy, theocracy
crat/cracy
2. Start with examples in which the “route” back to the “root” is clear and straightforward.
unworkable, audiologist
3. Balance teacher-directed instruction with student exploration and discussion.
chart it
small group and guided with struggling readers
4. Use words students already know.
50 – 75%
“anchor words” like
graph and autograph
“stretch words” like
seismograph and ethnography
5. Indentify key words and pictures for major roots, prefixes, and suffixes.
tract / tractor
6. Model and think aloud.
Write the word as you unpack it.
When I take off the prefix ….
7. Break the process down into smaller steps.
Walking through words is a new experience.
Think of their orthographic development.
8. Make instruction concrete and visual.
Sort, chart, display
9. Keep instruction consistent.
Roots, base words, prefixes….
10. Keep instruction active.
Partner work, sorting, speed sorts, look-ups, games
Donald Bear 8
Selected References
August, D. & Shanahan, T. (2006). Developing literacy in second-language
learners: Report of the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority
Children and Youth. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Bear, D. R. (1992). The prosody of oral reading and stage of word
knowledge. In S. Templeton & D. Bear (Eds.), Development of
orthographic knowledge and the foundations of literacy: A memorial
Festschrift for Edmund H. Henderson (pp. 137–186). Hillsdale, NJ:
Lawrence Erlbaum.
Bear, D. R., & Helman, L. (2004). Word study for vocabulary development
in the early stages of literacy learning: Ecological perspectives and
learning English. In J. F. Baumann & E. J. Kame’enui (Eds.)
Vocabulary instruction: Research to practice (pp. 139 – 158). New
York: Guilford Press.
Bear, D. R., Helman, L. A., Templeton, S., Invernizzi, M. & Johnston, F.
(2007). Words their way with English learners: Word study for
phonics, vocabulary and spelling instruction. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Pearson Prentice Hall.
Bear, D. R., Helman, L., & Woessner, L. (2009). Word study assessment
and instruction with English learners in a second grade classroom:
Bending with students’ growth. In J. Coppola and E. V. Primas (Eds.)
One classroom, many learners: Best literacy practices for today’s
multilingual classrooms (pp. 11-40). Newark, DE: International
Reading Association.
Bear, D. R., Invernizzi, M., & Templeton, S., & Johnston, F. (2012). Words
their way: Word study for phonics, vocabulary, and spelling
instruction, 5th edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Bear, D. R., Smith, R. (2009). The literacy development of English learners:
What do we know about each student’s literacy development? In
Helman, L. A. (Ed.) Literacy development and instruction of English
learners (pp. 87 - 116). New York: Guilford Press.
Bear, D. R. & Templeton, S. (2000). Matching development and instruction.
In N. Padak, et al. (Eds.), Distinguished Educators on Reading:
Contributions that have shaped effective literacy instruction (pp. 334376). Newark, DL: International Reading Association.
Bear, D. R., Templeton, W. S., Helman, L. A., & Baren, T. (2003).
Orthographic development and learning to read in different
languages. In G. Garcia (Ed.), English learners: Reaching the highest
level of English literacy (pp. 71-95). Newark, DE: International
Reading Association.
Calderón, M., August, D., Slavin, R., Duran, D., Madden, N., & Cheung, A.
(2005). Bringing words to life in classrooms with English-language
learners. In E. H. Hiebert & M. L. Kamil (Eds), Teaching and learning
vocabulary: Bringing research to practice (pp. 115-136). Mahwah, NJ:
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Caravolas, M. (2006). Learning to spell in different languages: How
orthographic variables might affect early literacy. In R. M. Joshi & P.
G. Aaron (Eds.), Handbook of orthography and literacy (pps. 497511). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Dressler, C. & Kamil, M. (2006). First- and second-language literacy. In D.
August & T. Shanahan (Eds.) Developing literacy in second-language
learners: Report of the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority
Children and Youth (pp. 197-238). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates.
Ehri, L. C. (1997). Learning to read and learning to spell are one and the
same, almost. In C. A. Perfetti, L. Rieben, & M. Fayol (Eds.), Learning
to spell: Research, theory, and practice across languages (pp. 237269). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Flanigan, K., Hayes, T., Templeton, S., Bear, D. R., Invernizzi, M., Johnston,
F. (2011). Words their way with struggling readers, 4 – 12. Boston,
MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Goswami, U. (2006). Orthography, phonology, and reading development: A
cross-linguistic perspective. In R. M. Joshi & P. G. Aaron (Eds.),
Handbook of orthography and literacy (pps. 463-480). Mahwah, NJ:
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Helman, L. A. (2005). Using literacy assessment results to improve
teaching for English-language learners. The Reading Teacher, 58, 7,
668-677.
Helman, L. A. (2005). Spanish speakers learning to read in English: What a
large-scale assessment suggests about their progress. In B. Maloch,
J. Hoffman, D. Schallert, C. Fairbanks, & J. Worthy (Eds.), 54th
Yearbook of the National Reading Conference (pp. 211-226). Oak
Creek, WI: National Reading Conference.
Helman, L. A. (2004). Building on the sound system of Spanish: Insights
from the alphabetic spellings of English language learners. The
Reading Teacher, 57, 452-460. Newark, DE: International Reading
Association.
Henderson, E. H. (1981). Learning to read and spell: The child’s knowledge
of words. DeKalb, IL: Northern Illinois Press.
Henderson, E. H. (1990). Teaching spelling (2nd ed.). Boston: Houghton
Mifflin.
Howard, E. R., Arteagoitia, I., Louguit, M., Malabonga, V., & Kenyon, D. M.
(2006). The development of the English Developmental Contrastive
Spelling Test: A tool for investigating Spanish influence on English
spelling development. TESOL Quarterly, 40(2), 399-420.
Invernizzi, M. & Hayes, L. (2004). Developmental-spelling research: A
systematic imperative. Reading Research Quarterly, 39, 216-228.
Invernizzi, M. & Meier, J. (2001). Phonological Awareness Literacy
Screening 2001-2002. Charlottesville, VA: The Rector and the Board
of Visitors of the University of Virginia.
Labov, W. (2003). When ordinary children fail to read. Reading Research
Quarterly, (38) 1, 128-131.
McCabe, A., & Bliss, L.S. (2003). Summary of NAP for children and adults.
In A. McCabe & L.S. Bliss (Eds.), Patterns of narrative discourse: A
multicultural, life span approach (pp. 171-177, 121-122). Boston:
Allyn and Bacon.
Morris, D., Blanton, L., Blanton, W. E., Nowacek, J., & Perney, J. (1995).
Teaching low-achieving spellers at their “instructional level.”
Elementary School Journal, 96, 163–178.
Morris, D., Bloodgood, J. W., Lomax, R. G., & Perney, J. (2003).
Developmental steps in learning to read: A longitudinal study in
kindergarten and first grade. Reading Research Quarterly, 38 (3),
302-328.
Morris, D., Nelson, L. & Perney, J. (1986). Exploring the concept of “spelling
instructional level” through the analysis of error-types. Elementary
School Journal, 87, 181-200.
Read, C. (1971). Preschool children's knowledge of English phonology.
Harvard Educational Review, 41, 1-34.
Schlagal, R. C. (1992). Patterns of orthographic development into the
intermediate grades. In S. Templeton & D. R. Bear (Eds.)
Development of orthographic knowledge and the foundations of
literacy: A memorial Festschrift for Edmund H. Henderson (pp. 3152). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Shen, H. & Bear, D. R. (2000). The development of orthographic skills in
Chinese children. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal,
13, 197-236.
Templeton, S. (2009). Spelling-meaning relationships among languages:
Exploring cognates and their possibilities. In L. Helman (Ed.), Literacy
instruction with English learners in the elementary grades: What,
why, and how? New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Templeton, S. & Bear, D. R. (1992). Development of orthographic
knowledge and the foundations of literacy: A memorial Festschrift for
Edmund H. Henderson. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Templeton, S., Bear, D.R., Invernizzi, M., Johnston, F. (2009). Vocabulary
their way. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Templeton, S. & Morris, D. (2000). Spelling. In M.L. Kamil, P.B. Mosenthal,
P.D. Pearson & R. Barr (Eds.) Handbook of Reading Research:
Volume III (pp. 525-544). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates.
Tolchinsky, L. & Teberosky, A. (1998). The development of word
segmentation and writing in two scripts. Cognitive Development, 13,
1-24.
@ allynbaconmerrill.com, www.wordstheirway.com
Words their way supplements for each stage,
Words their way supplements for Spanish speakers
Word study in action, Word study in action with English learners
Donald Bear 9
Interesting words.
Follow the directions for the
Interesting Word Activity as it is described as the first
activity in Chapter 8 of WTW or on page 3 of this handout.
The word of benevolent below is an example of a student’s
word study notebook entry as an interesting word. Use
small etymologies like the ones below for your word study.
Example of Upper Level Word Study Notebook Entry
Word Histories for Upper Level Word
benevolent
“The brown blotches of benevolent skin cancer the sun brings from its reflection
on the tropic sea were on his cheeks.” (p. 33)
bene
benevolence
beneficial
benefit
benefactor
vol
voluntary
volition
volunteer
-ent
confident
patient
different
bene - well
volo - wish
-ent - a suffix used to form adjectives from nouns
Study
1. Ayto, John. Dictionary of Word Origins. New York:
Arcade.
2. Hoad, T. F. The concise Oxford dictionary of
English etymology. NY: Oxford University Press.
3. Kennedy, John (1996). Word stems: A dictionary.
NY: Soho Press.
4. Moore, Bob & Moore, Maxine (1997). NTC’s
Dictionary of Latin and Greek Origins: A
Comprehensive Guide to the Classical Origins of
English Words. Chicago, IL: NTC Publishing
Group.
5. Shipley, Joseph. (1984). The origins of English
words. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.