WORD STUDY LESSON OUTLINE

1. TYPE OF LESSON
Word Sort
A. About the Lesson
i. Objective for recognizing words with ou, ow, aw and au
ii. Small group of 3-4 students
B. Materials Needed
i. Word cards
ii. Picture cards
iii. Sorting Trays

2. PROCEDURES
A. I will introduce the students to the objective of the word sort by showing them
examples of the words they will be studying. I will ask them to say aloud words
with au ou and ow so they can listen to the sounds it makes. I will ask them to
repeat this for words that have aw and au.
B. I will then explain to students how they could sort these words based on their
features. I will do this by modeling and example of a word sort. I will talk to them
about my reasoning as I demonstrate the sort.
C. Each student will receive a set of cards, that has an assortment of words and
pictures, that have the ou, ow, aw and au parts. They will also receive an tray with
each section labeled separately for ou, ow, aw and au. The students will sort the
cards into the trays. I will ask them to say the each word to themselves while they
are sorting them.
D. After they have sorted all of their words, I will ask students to take turns reading
the words to a partner. As they read the words, they will tell their partner what
section they were sorted under (ou, ow, aw or au).
 OU OW AU AW

LOUD CAUSE YAWN

SHOW FA_LT HAWK

HOWL

GROW SA_CE

CO_NT AUTO DR_W

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 REFLECTION
When planning my word study lesson, I relied on input from my cooperating teacher

to design a lesson that was appropriate for the students. The students in my third grade

class, do not participate in words sorts as part of their normal routine. My cooperating

teacher used assessments from student’s reading and writing samples to determine what

areas needed more instruction. My cooperating teacher does reading assessments by

filling out a rubric while students read aloud, she assesses their writing through journal

writing. She suggested focusing on the differentiation of the sounds and spellings of ou,

ow, au, and aw.

The students responded well to the lesson, but needed some assistance when working

though the lesson. When I introduced the lesson, I took extra time to explain how to

complete a sort, since the students were unfamiliar with the process. I used the checklist

given in class as guidance to my procedure. I introduced the lesson by going over the

headers with the students and asking them to look for similarities and differences

between the items. The students recognized that ou and ow, as well as au and aw, each

make the same sound but are spelled differently. I then modeled the sort with the

students by using their cards as examples, and encouraging them to give me input. I then

shuffled the sets of cards, and gave one to each student to sort into a tray. I asked the

student to verbalize each word or picture as they sorted them and answered any questions

they had. After the students completed their sorts, we checked them and made

corrections when necessary. We then reviewed the similarities and difference between

the columns again.

If I were to do this lesson again, I would focus on either ou and ow or au and aw.

This would help the students have a deeper understanding of each relationship. As the

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students were doing the sort, they would often confuse between the two sets because of

spelling differences. For example, with the “house” card, students would place it in the

ow column instead of the ou column because of the similarity in sound. Dividing this

sort into two different sorts would help the students focus on distinguishing between

spelling with just one group at a time.

When planning for word study in my own classroom, I would make them part of a

normal routine. I would rely on spelling tests as an assessment method for determining

the context of the word sorts. Students would be grouped by ability level, so they could

rotate through stations in groups. Word sorts would be introduced on Monday and

students would read the words, cut them and sort them. The students could do this with

supervision from a teacher so they can clarify any of the words. On Tuesday, the

students would complete the word sort with a buddy. Students would be partners so that

they are working on the same groups of words together. For Wednesday, the student

would work on sorting with speed by using word hunts. This would help them become

more comfortable with recognizing the words they are studying. On Thursday, the

students would review all their words together using games. Then on Friday, the students

would be assessed on that week’s set of words.

Having the students complete word sorts regularly, would help to improve their

spelling and reading abilities. Reading and spelling seems to be a difficulty in my

practicum class because students are not given any scheduled time for word work. They

learn vocabulary that is associated with topics they are learning in other subjects, but

never have a chance with vocabulary that just corresponds to their grade level abilities.

Giving students a structured way to study words, can help to improve their reading and

writing levels, as well as expand vocabulary. By implementing my word study lesson, I

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also learned that students appreciated word sorts. The enjoyed the interactive component

and the opportunity it allowed to practice seeing and saying the word simultaneously.

LESSON IMAGES