Explicit Word Analysis Instruction Guide
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Explicit Word Analysis Instruction. You said a mouthful.
We all agree that this term doesn’t exactly roll off the
tongue. But as a reading comprehension strategy for your
students, it sings. Explicit Work Analysis (EWA) is firmly
planted in common sense, with the premise for success
being simply, repeated exposure to lots of words and word
patterns. EWA lends itself nicely to a variety of classroom
games; we’ve included a few that we like for quickreference.
Overview:
We know that words, words and more words get students
interested in reading. When the words have a personal
meaning, children—and readers of all ages for that
matter—get interested in reading them. Witness the
number of children who can recognize the McDonald’s sign
before they can read anything else. For mastery, teachers
provide explicit instruction, build word knowledge, and
directly teach skills and strategies for word analysis
(phonemic awareness, phonics, word recognition,
structural analysis, context clues, vocabulary) e.g. direct
phonics instruction, (yes, phonics!) word walls, word
sorts, making words, picture clues, songs, poems, rhymes.
According to the Children’s Reading Foundation www.
readingfoundation.org, researchers report that children
who have memorized six to eight nursery rhymes become
good readers.
Try this! Post-its as comprehension reminders.
An effective best practice for reading comprehension uses
the simple post-it note. Every time students encounter
a word or phrase that causes them to pause, ask them
to place a colorful post-it note on it. When a chapter is
completed, students go back and read each paragraph that
contains a post-it. If the passage now makes sense, the
post-it is removed. If the student is still confused, then
the post-it remains until a peer or a teacher helps. As
readers improve, post-it notes become places to record the
reader’s questions to the author, the reader’s connections
to the text, and, still later, the reader’s research questions.
Post-it notes are a good habit for lifelong reading and
comprehension.
Word Sorts and Word Walls are Musts for K-2
Classrooms. (And highly recommended for older
students.)
Word Sorts are useful activities when dealing with groups
of related words. Sorting forces students to think about
each word and to see similarities and differences among
words. (Words can be also be sorted according to their
origins or roots.) Students might sort the following words:
melancholy, weary, tired, sorrowful, exhausted, glad,
contented, cheerful, delighted, unhappy, gloomy,
overworked, dejected. The sort could be open, which
means that students would decide on categories or it
could be closed. In a closed sort, the teacher decides the
categories, happy, sad, tired. After sorting the words,
students would discuss why they sorted them the way
they did.
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For older students, biology teachers might have students
sort kingdom and phylum; chemistry teachers might have
students sort elements based on structure or ability to
bond; history teachers might have students sort commonly
cited causes for World War I. The possibilities are endless
and not limited to traditional literacy topics. Be creative!
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Word walls are an excellent device to use for reinforcing
both patterns and high frequency words. Words are placed
on the wall in alphabetic order. About five new words
are added each week. (Cunningham & Allington 1999)
They are drawn from trade books, experience stories, and
real-world materials that students are reading. You might
encourage students to suggest words for the wall from
stories they have read or words that they would like to
learn. Kindergarten teachers might start their word wall by
placing children’s first names on it in alphabetical order.
Placing the names in alphabetic order helps reinforce the
alphabet. (Campbell, 2001) Pre-reader’s names are a great
source of games and interactions.
Before adding a word to the wall, discuss it with the
children. Emphasize its spelling, pronunciation and any
distinguishing characteristics. Also talk over how it might
relate to other words, for instance it begins with the
same sound, it rhymes or it is an action word. To reinforce
beginning consonants, highlight the first letter of the
word or consonant you wish to spotlight, for example,
the p in pumpkin and pull. To reinforce rhymes, highlight
the rhyme you are enforcing, such as –at in hat and cat.
Teachers of older students might discuss the Latin or Greek
roots of a word, or the way the word can be broken apart
into chunks.
Because the words are on the wall, they can be used as a
kind of dictionary. If students want to know how to spell
there or ball--they can find it on the wall. The words are
readily available for quick review. Troublesome words can
be reviewed on a daily basis, as can words for a particular
unit of content knowledge in math, science or social
studies.
After a pattern has been introduced, place the new pattern
words on a separate part of the wall and arrange model
words alphabetically by pattern. The -ab pattern would be
placed first, followed by the –ack and –ad patterns, and
so on. (For older students, the patterns can be based on
prefixes, suffixes or a similar type of sorting). The model
word should be placed first and should be accompanied by
an illustration so that students can refer to the illustration
if they forgot how to read the model word. When students
have trouble with a pattern word and are unable to
use a pronounceable word part to unlock the word’s
pronunciation, refer them to the word wall. Help them
read the model word, and then use an analogy strategy to
help them read the word they had difficulty with. Review
the words on the wall periodically, using the following or
similar activities:
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1. Find as many animal names, color names and number
names as you can.
2. Pantomime an action: (sit, run) or use gestures to
indicate an object or other item (pan, hat, cat, pen)
and have students write the appropriate pattern
word and then hold it up so you can quickly check
everyone’s response. Have a volunteer read the word,
point to it on the word wall. Before pantomiming
the word, tell students what the model word pattern
is— for example cat or pan.
3. Have students sort words by pattern. Students might
sort a series of short -a words into –at, -am, and –
an patterns or sort long -a words according to their
spellings: a_e, -ay and ai. Older students might take
a base word from the wall and find or create all of
the possible derivatives made by adding prefixes and
suffixes.
Gunning, T. (2010) Creating Literacy Instruction for all
Students, chapters 5-6. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Quick Tip:
Gunning says to incorporate dialect differences in
your planning. Although “egg” is often used as an
example of a short -e word, many people pronounce
it as though it begins with a long -a sound. If that’s
the way your students pronounce it, don’t use it as
an example of a short -e word.
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(Kids love this one!) Secret messages.
Have students create secret messages by substituting
onsets in familiar words and then putting the newly
formed words together to create a secret message.
(QuanSing, 1995) Besides being motivational; secret
messages help students focus on the onsets and rhymes
of words and also foster sentence comprehension. Once
students become familiar with the procedure, invite them
to create secret messages. Here is a simple secret message:
Take h from he and put in a w. (we)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
The secret word is in the –at pattern.
It has three letters.
It is an animal.
It can fly.
The _ _ _flew into the cave.
After supplying the five clues show the secret word (bat)
and discuss student’s responses. See who guessed the
secret word first! Older students can benefit from the same
activity done with age/grade/subject appropriate words.
Gunning, T. (2010) Creating Literacy Instruction for all
Students, Chapters 5-6. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Take l from lot and put in a g. (got)
Telephone. An oldie, but goodie.
Take p from pen and put in t. (ten)
Don’t underestimate the value of this game, one that
children have been playing for decades. We suggest
making the message a rhyming message, for maximum
phonemic value.
Take st from stew and put in n. (new)
Take l from looks and put in b. (books)
1. Divide class into groups of 6 or more, and arrange
each group in a straight line or row.
Secret message: We got ten new books.
Gunning, T. (2010) Creating Literacy Instruction for all
Students, chapters 5-6. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
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All you need is a computer and Internet access.
Our program is designed for educators with any
level of technology experience and expertise.
No matter what your computer or Internet
connection speed, you can learn online with
ease and efficiency.
Call toll-free 855-MATMARYGROVE
Also try the Secret Word. (Cunningham & Allington
1999) Select a word from a pattern and jot it down on a
sheet of paper but do not reveal its identity. Have students
number a paper from 1 to 5. Give a series of five clues
as to the identity of the word. After each clue, students
should write down their guess. The object of this activity
is to guess the word on the basis of the fewest clues. The
clues might be as follows:
2. Ask for a volunteer listener from each group. Take
them outside of the classroom and give them a
rhyming message (one sentence or more, depending
on student level).
3. Open the door, and let the students run to the first
member of their group to whisper the message.
4. Each member passes the message, by whispering to
their neighbor.
5. When the message reaches the end, the last person
should run to the board and write the message that
they heard.
The winner could be determined in various ways: first team
to pass a legible, complete message (even if it’s wrong),
first team to finish, or first team with a message closest to
the original. http://www.teachenglishinasia.net
Quick Tip:
Teachers often bookmark websites like
http://www.rhymezone.com for resources on rhyme
schemes, http://www.grammarbook.com for help
with punctuation and grammar, and http://www.
dictionary.com for an all-purpose site for word
definitions.
questions? Call toll-free 855-MATMARYGROVE or email: [email protected]
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Frey, N. and Fisher, D. (2007) Reading for Information in
Elementary School. Content Literacy Strategies to Build
Comprehension p. 77. New Jersey: Pearson.
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