Sunday, August 7, 2011

Word Work Station- Picture and Explanation

Happy Sunday! I report back to school tomorrow for a meeting and then have a conference by Robert Marzano's group on Thursday and Friday on standards based reporting... I am ready to get back into "school mode" and really excited to see my teacher friends this week! We don't officially report back until the 29th to start a week of PD and then school's back in session on September 6!

Anyway, I have received a few e-mails lately about "Word Work" (or "Work on Words") and thought I would share how that looks in my classroom on my blog.

You know I use the Daily Five for my reading workshop structure in my classroom and "Word Work" is one of the stations my kiddos visit each week.

My kiddos have to complete 2 "Word Work" activities a week and choose an activity that allows them to practice their spelling words first before they do one of their other choices.

I have a small "cubby" bookshelf from Lakeshore Learning to store my "Word Work" stuff in. It has 20 bins and I have about 20 activities for them to choose from... it sounds like a lot, but not all of them are spelling word related so there are some things they can do when they finish practicing their spelling words.


If you click here you can view a list of all of the activities with a brief explanation. And if you keep reading this post, I'm going to tell you about some of my kiddos' favorites!

Top 5 Word Work picks in Mrs. Bainbridge's Class
5.)
This one isn't on the list above... my kiddos go to ABCya.com and use the paint program to design their words.
4.) They loooove to do "Funky Words". I bought a bag of cardstock tiles that are very colorful and in many different fonts. The kids use the fonts to lay out the words. I like this because it helps them develop a general awareness about the "look" of letters. Sometimes they struggle to read a word if the font is unfamiliar because they don't recognize the letters... this gives them exposure to different styles of letters.
3.) "Twisty Words" is one I see them choosing often. They use Wikki Sticks or pipe cleaners to shape out their words.
2.) This one isn't on the list either (I really need to update that list!). They use their fingers to spell their words in a box of sand. I, in a fit of spending, paid waaaay too much money for four little boxes with sand inside of them so my kids could do this activity. Another teacher at my school got some free sand from her home and put it inside pencil boxes that she paid $0.50 for at Wal-Mart!

And... the top favorite activity my students choose at "Word Work" is...

1.) RAINBOW WORDS!!!!! My students use a black permanent marker to write their spelling words on a piece of scrap paper and then use Dot Markers to place a colored dot on each letter.

My kids don't turn in anything from "Word Work". I like them to have time for self-discovery of spelling rules and to get to do something tactile with their words. When they have completed the activity with their spelling words, they can continue it with vocabulary words or sight words or they can get a different activity. I have syllable games, sight word activities, and lots of "Hot Dots" pen and flashcard sets.

I would love to hear any suggestions on how you all make "Word Work" meaningful for your students and also how you keep your kids accountable for this time!

16 comments:

  1. I posted today on my activities for Word Work. You can view them at http://ericashep.blogspot.com/2011/08/word-work.html.

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  2. My kids have certain sheets they have to complete each week during word work time (spelling sheets, handwriting, word searches, phonics, etc.) When they finish one sheet, they can then do a "your choice" activity, such as one of your activities. The favourites in my room include white board crayons, clothes pins with letters on them (they create their words and clip them to the side of the box. Literally $2!), play dough to make their words and the good old magnetic letters!

    Back Hall Collaborators

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  3. I am a true blog stalker because i saw that you commented on Cara's post about getting teachers together in your area and i think that's a fabulous idea!! I don't have my own blog but i read a lot of blogs and would love to meet up! I think your from michigan right??

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  4. I also have my kids do 2 word work activities a week. They must do a word sort in their word study notebook first. (I do a variation of Words Their Way program.) One activity that I saw used alot last year was bean spell. I put a bunch of beans in little ziplock bags with instructions on what they could do with them. Easy and cheap. I did my rainbow words differently in that they used different colored markers for each letter. I like the idea of pipe cleaners. I think my kids will really like that.

    Marlene
    I Heart Teaching Elementary

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  5. I saw the Sisters in Ypsilanti recently and they said something that I had never heard before about Word Work. They discussed the fact that once students build stamina in Read to Self you wouldn't be doing as many rounds each day..more like 3. They said they require Read to Self and Work on Writing each day and then the remaining 3 are choices. They like to team Word Work with Work On Writing by having the students set a timer for 10 minutes to do Word Work then go on to Work On Writing when finished...has anyone done this before?

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  6. @Cindi--I did this in my second grade class after the winter break because students had built stamina for reading and writing and the novelty of "word work" fun had waned. I taught third grade last year and we didn't even do word work!
    ~Kitty
    The Write Handed Teacher

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  7. I just started blogging and am now one of your followers. Thanks for posting your great ideas! I'm starting Daily 5 for the first time this year and I was looking for different activities. These will help me so much. Thanks!
    http://www.firstgradefoundme.blogspot.com

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  8. Christina .... somehow you always know EXACTLY what to post about! THANK YOU!

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  9. I love these ideas and but I'm still really weary of what district officials would say if I were to be visited. I'd be using the phonics skill/spelling words and vocab from our district adopted reading series...any ideas/experience with this??? I'll be implementing Daily 5 for the first time this year.

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  10. my favorite is your "funky words" that's a great way to expose them to different fonts. Sounds like your word work station is so much fun!

    Do you ever end up with a sand mess?

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  11. Thank you SO much for sharing! I love your stations.

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  12. Mrs. H.- I am very fortunate in that my school gives us freedom to use our own expertise if we want to do something different... as long as we can show results! I would give it a shot!

    :)
    Christina

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  13. Mrs. Luna- No sand messes! The boxes that I got enticed into buying (ha, ha) have a rubber band around them and I spend a lot of time showing how to carry with two hands, carefully open, and then wipe the sand back in if it happens to land on a desk. We've used them for two years with no problems!

    :)
    Christina

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  14. I love your ideas!!!! I did not know teachers blogged!!!!WOW!!!! Love it!!!

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  15. Christina,
    Thanks for another helpful post! I was wondering, do you have a file with your "funky words" fonts, or is it something you've added to over time? If you are willing to share I would be grateful!
    You should know, you are an *INSPIRATION!* I've followed your website for years and now I am officially a blog stalker! Thanks for your enthusiasm and passion for teaching, your students are lucky to have you! I love your comment about freedom to use your expertise, because you are such a creative educator! Many thanks for all your efforts!

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  16. Luv2Teach~

    Thanks for the kind words! :)

    The "funky words" is something I bought once- it just came as a bag of little squares and each square has a different letter and font on the front and back. I have scoured the internet typing in every thing I could think of that might describe what it is so I could find a link to if, but I've had no luck! If I come up with something, I'll let you know!

    :)
    Christina

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