Hi, The reasons that our school chose Words Their Way are: first- that the pattern- building and -seeking aspect is more inquiry based and brain compatible, and second- that the phases are a developmental continuum that allow us to differentiate and have our students working on word features and vocabulary that are appropriate for their needs, resulting in many phases being worked on within a grade level. The publication of WTW into grade levels and workbooks is possibly making it much less likely that the program will be implemented in this second way. When something is packaged in workbook form it is encouraging us to reduce our thinking and reflecting on what a student needs next, and in the worst case a decision is made based on what is on the next page.
I also think that the fine motor skill development/practice that occurs from cutting the sorts is worth a lot. Some of our classes have students start the year with stopwatches timing how long it takes to cut them, keeping a personal graph, and watching their speed go down. Other teachers precut them into strips so the students just cut across. Lisa Roy PYP Coordinator Berlin Brandenburg International School -----Original Message----- From: Mosaic [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected] Sent: Thursday, January 17, 2013 9:00 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Mosaic Digest, Vol 77, Issue 9 Send Mosaic mailing list submissions to [email protected] To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://mail.literacyworkshop.org/mailman/listinfo/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to [email protected] You can reach the person managing the list at [email protected] When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of Mosaic digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Words Their Way (Jacqueline Brick) 2. Re: Words Their Way (Ellen) 3. Re: Words Their Way (Rachel Kimboko) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Thu, 17 Jan 2013 09:25:47 +0100 From: Jacqueline Brick <[email protected]> To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Subject: [MOSAIC] Words Their Way Message-ID: <560c259339c15749bdb3fcb94c7d131054c6a4f...@asmpigeon.asmadrid.org> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Hello, Our school is considering order the Words Their Way: Word Study in Action 2012 word study workbooks. We have been using WTW for several years, photocopying the sorts as needed. I am wondering if anyone is using the workbooks. It seems to me that although it would be more teacher friendly to have the sorts already in a consumable form, it might be wasteful-what happens when kids test in the middle of a level, for example late within word pattern, and start off in the higher sorts in middle of a word study work book? It wastes the whole first part of the workbook. Also, do any of you have issues with the cutting of the sorts, especially for kindergarten and first grade students? Our teachers are precutting the sorts. Thanks for your advice! Jacki Brick Resource Specialist American School of Madrid ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Thu, 17 Jan 2013 12:36:43 +0000 From: "Ellen" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]>, "Jacqueline Brick" <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] Words Their Way Message-ID: <[email protected]> Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=UTF-8 Tim Razinski has some great word sort resources. Sent from my Droid Charge on Verizon 4G LTE ------Original Message------ From: Jacqueline Brick <[email protected]> To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Date: Thursday, January 17, 2013 9:25:47 AM GMT+0100 Subject: [MOSAIC] Words Their Way Hello, Our school is considering order the Words Their Way: Word Study in Action 2012 word study workbooks. We have been using WTW for several years, photocopying the sorts as needed. I am wondering if anyone is using the workbooks. It seems to me that although it would be more teacher friendly to have the sorts already in a consumable form, it might be wasteful-what happens when kids test in the middle of a level, for example late within word pattern, and start off in the higher sorts in middle of a word study work book? It wastes the whole first part of the workbook. Also, do any of you have issues with the cutting of the sorts, especially for kindergarten and first grade students? Our teachers are precutting the sorts. Thanks for your advice! Jacki Brick Resource Specialist American School of Madrid _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive ------------------------------ Message: 3 Date: Thu, 17 Jan 2013 12:35:49 -0500 From: Rachel Kimboko <[email protected]> To: "Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email Group" <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] Words Their Way Message-ID: <CACgZ=qtr4s8lf6elaj9mhqzrwfyqscbf308pjqfgcrnma4q...@mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 I don't think that I would bother with workbooks, but I can understand the temptation. It is a fair amount of work to do the reproduction and organizing of the loose sheets. I am currently using the teacher books, with tear-out masters. Since my kids are working at their own pace and are all over the place in terms of their ability and speed of acquisition, I don't think the workbooks would make it that much easier. I do have my kids do their own cutting. It doesn't really need to perfect for the children to learn from them. However, I am a Montessori teacher and I know that I have the luxury of letting someone spend 30 minutes on that work if it takes that long. I make sure that they have done the sort and had it checked -- by me or one of my more advanced students or even a member of their spelling group that week -- before the paste it into their spelling book. This year I am using spiral-bound notebooks for this work. They do their additional work, like word hunts, and record it with the sort in the notebook. Best, Rachel Kimboko Capitol Hill Montessori School ------------------------------ Subject: Digest Footer _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. ------------------------------ End of Mosaic Digest, Vol 77, Issue 9 ************************************* BBIS Berlin Brandenburg International School GmbH - Gesch?ftsf?hrung/Executive Board: Peter Kotrc (CEO), Dipl.-Kfm. Burkhard Dolata (CFO) - Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrates/Chairman of the Supervisory Board: Dr. Frank H. Walter-von Gierke - Sitz der Gesellschaft/Company Register: Kleinmachnow - Anschrift/Address: Am Hochwald 30, D-14532 Kleinmachnow - Registergericht/Court of Registration: Amtsgericht Potsdam, HRB 16184 _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive
