Word Study Week Lesson Plan

Name: Erica Scully

Student Grade Level: Third Grade

Abbys (pseudonym used) scores form her spelling analysis suggest that she is currently in the middle within-word
pattern spelling stage. The results demonstrate that Abby has a strong understanding of short vowels, diagraphs, and
blends. However, she started to struggle with words that consisted of common long vowels, and had even greater
difficulty with other vowels that did not follow the traditional short and long vowel pattern. Below is one week of word
study lesson plans that is centered on developing an understanding of long vowels that are less commonly seen. The
open sort will give students the opportunity to explore their problem-solving and analytical skills. This lesson plan will be
directed towards a small group of students who are in the same spelling stage as Abby.
Objectives for week Students will work on developing mastery of less common long (e) vowels through various sorting exercises
and practice.
SOLs for week
3.3 The student will apply word-analysis skills when reading.
a) Use knowledge of regular and irregular vowel patterns.
Monday
The teacher will pass
out the word sort that is
focused on developing
less-common long (e)
vowel patterns. The
teacher will first
demonstrate the sort by
having the group of
students unanimously
read the words aloud.
The teacher will clarify
any questions that
students have regarding
pronunciation or
meaning of words.
Then, students will be

Tuesday
The student will
independently practice
sorting their words in
the correct category.
After they are done,
instead of having the
teacher check their
work they will turn to a
partner who is in their
same spelling stage and
they will compare their
sorts. They will work
together to agree on
the correct place for all
15 words. They will then
be asked to write each

Wednesday
The students will
practice their words by
participating in a word
hunt. Students will
reread the last chapter
in their current just
right book and
highlight any word that
appears/ words that fit
the particular sound or
pattern of their words.
The word hunt will help
students see the
connection between
word study vocabulary
words and reading.

Thursday
Students will take out
their word study sorts
and practice sorting
them independently for
about 5 minutes. This
(hopefully) should be
easier for students to
complete quickly at this
point in the week. Then
students will pair up
and the teacher will
pass out a set of cards
to play Vowel
Concentration. The
object of this game is to
have students use their

Friday
Final assessment day.
Teacher will be read
aloud each word study
word twice. Students
will spell the words on
their paper. After they
have written all of their
words, they will go back
and write each word in
a sentence.

sent back to their seats

to cut out the words
and headings. Students
will try their best to
decide how the words
should be sorted based
on patterns that they
notice. When the sort is
complete, they will raise
their hands and the
teacher will check and
reflect how well they
sorted the patterns. The
teacher will have
students read their
words down the list and
wait for any selfcorrections that occur
during this time. If there
are errors, the teacher
will direct the student to
reconsider the word
that does not look right
instead of giving them
the answer right away.
After the sort is
completely right, the
teacher will ask the
student to explain their
thinking behind why
they sorted the way
that they did. This will
be crucial insight into
whether or not the
student genuinely
understands the

word in a sentence. This

lesson will give students
the experience to
independently practice
as well as collaborate
and work with a peer.
Having them work
together to create
sentences using their
word study words will
give them a chance to
explore the meaning of
the words. The teacher
will then read their
sentences and discuss.

When students have

reread their last
chapter, have students
copy down their
highlighted words they
find into their word
study notebook.

memory skills and

higher-level thinking
abilities to look for pairs
of words with the same
sound and pattern. The
cards will consist of
their word study words
and a few extra that fit
into the patterns. All
cards will be faceddown. The first player
will turn over any two
cards- if they have the
same long vowel sound
and pattern they have a
match and they keep
both two cards. If the
two cards are not a
matches, they turn the
cards back over and the
next person goes. The
person with the most
matches at the end
wins.

feature. Before students

put their word sort
away, they will be
asked to write their
word sort in their word
study notebooks to get
practice with spelling.

Describe in detail all materials you would use for these lessons:

Word sort (attached)- The 15 words this week- greed, speech, greet, creek, cheese, thief, niece, grief, piece, scene, theme,
eve, vein, friend, seize
Word study notebooks
Pencil
Vowel Concentration game cards (attached)

Less Common Long e Sort

CVVC (ee)

ie

e-e

Greed

Grief

Scene

* Odd
Balls
Vein

Speech

Piece

Theme

Friend

Greet

Thief

Eve

Seize

Creek

Niece

Cheese

Cards for Vowel Concentration game. Consists of word study words without the oddballs (because there
would not be a match) and some new words they have not studied but fit into the same pattern.

Fleet
Greed

Shriek
Grief

These
Scene

Speech
Greet
Creek
Cheese

Piece
Thief
Niece
Field

Theme
Eve