Words
Their Way
As teachers seek to match phonics instruction to the needs of their learners, formative assessment tools are required that explicitly indicate where students are in their development. Words Their Way: Word Study for Phonics, Vocabulary, & Spelling Instruction by Bear, Invernizzi, Templeton, & Johnston can become a valuable method of assessing a child’s phonics understanding. Words Their Way is a tool that will "zero in" and show where children are in their surface structure system development and what instruction is needed next. The documents are designed for the literacy coach to help facilitate others in learning how to perform the steps necessary to reveal the child’s instructional placement within the stages of spelling. Included in the “toolkit” is a lesson plan to present to the staff as well as supporting documents for practicing how to use the inventory. At the conclusion of the session, teachers make use of the book’s CD of activities to match a word sort or game to the child’s level of phonics development.
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