Words Sorting

Word sorts were something I didn't think I would be doing much of as a 5th grade teacher. However, after completing the spelling inventory with my class it became obvious that most, if not all, of my students would benefit from words sorts of varying skills. I decided to ask a kindergarten teacher friend of mine for her advice when it came to sorting and how to best introduce this to my students. Of course, small group sorts work the best. It allows the students to concentrate more and receive more guided redirection and specific instruction. I did introduce word sorts to the class as a whole and we did complete some basic sorts with magnetic word cards on my white board. however, when it came time for explicit instruction on certain skills I found it easier and more beneficial to work with fewer students.

Thanks to the Common Core mentality, I immediately began to think about how I could introduce vocabulary into the word sorts based on patterns and that is an idea that I plan to continue to explore. 5th graders use a lot of higher vocab with complex word structure so I'm determined to make it happen. :)

All in all, I found words sorts to be a surprisingly beneficial tool.

Spelling Inventory

As a 5^th grade teacher at Matt Arthur Elementary School, I was already required to perform this assessment on my entire class. I did not expect, however, to have to administer the Elementary Portion of this assessment. I came to this realization after attempting to administer the Upper Level and realizing that only a few of my children were able to even complete the assessment without reaching their frustration levels and even fewer were able to score moderately well. After seeing this, I decided to administer the Elementary to the whole class (even to the few who did well on Upper Level) just to have two class composites to learn from.

                I did not expect the Inventory to be so enlightening. After completing the assessment, which I did not find difficult or time consuming, I was able to see that the majority of my class needed further remediation in the area of Harder Suffixes, Bases or Roots, and Unaccented Final Syllables. I also see that many of my students can be grouped and remediated in small groups in the areas of syllable junction, inflected endings, and other vowels. I was surprised to see that a couple of my children need remediation in areas as far back in the spelling stages as digraphs and long vowels.

                This will help to mold my teaching by allowing me to focus my instruction in very specific areas rather than taking a shot in the dark with my children need work with. I can pinpoint the skills that need further instruction and very adequately assign tasks that will improve that said skill.