I am loving my summer vacation! Like many of you, I have had taken care of
many duties that are much easier to do once we are out of school. My “chores” have included: dentist appointments, car maintenance
appointments, children’s sports physicals, pet vaccinations, clearing up insurance
issues, Vacation Bible School, and I’m about to start what my husband has been waiting months for...
“cleaning out”.
However
I’ve enjoyed some great activities too:
our school’s book mobile, working with my flowers, weekly swim parties
with friends, sleeping in (here and there = anything past 6:30am is sleeping in
for me), having lunch with friends in real restaurants, reading with my
youngest child (and not being pressed for time), and of course designing new
products for use in my classroom.
My newest product is called A Treasure of WordSorts: Spelling for the Whole Year...more than you can actually use in a whole
year = 40 sets of word sorts! I’ve complied many of the most common word sorts
that I use in my 3rd grade classroom, into an easy to manage skill
list set.
These sorts have feature words which act as
examples of the spelling pattern for that lesson. They are underlined for identification. I introduce these words in small group and
teach the phonics rules of spelling there.
When I teach a word with a CVC spelling pattern, I tell students that
this pattern makes the vowel have a short sound. I record the feature words and the rules of
the spelling pattern (the sort) on my copy of a “Treasure Chest of Sorting
Sheet”. See the picture below.
On my copy, I record the feature word in the
pirate’s hat, and then write a brief rule below in the waves. I have
students record the same thing on their sorting sheets as I write. They can refer to my sheet if they find they
make a mistake or lose theirs before the assessment. Here is a copy of one of mine, but with the entire sort filled for illustration purposes here.
I do not record the word
sorts. I leave this for my students to
do independently or with their parent help (hw).
However, I do choose a word or two from each sort (spelling pattern) to
ask the group which treasure chest it belongs in (which sort it belongs
to). In the beginning, I do allow them
to go ahead and record those words. As
the year goes on, I have them save that to do on their own, for time’s sake.
Whole class, in centers, or with a peer, I have the
students cut their word lists apart and practice sorting them under the correct
underlined feature word (on the floor or at their desk). My students do this several times during the
week. My students refer to this poster with a list of sort activities (part of this packet).
For homework or as independent work, have students
write their sorts on their Treasure Chest Sorting Sheet. It is important that you check it for
accuracy prior to the assessment, then hand it back for students to study.
Included in this packet, 40 sets of word sorts or spelling lists, a poster of word sort
activities for display in the classroom, and there are also directions on how
to assess the sorts.
You can get this product at my stores on either TPT
or TN. I hope this will be helpful. Let me know what you think.
