Words Their Way: Word Study for Phonics, Vocabulary, and Spelling Instruction (4th Edition) (Words Their Way Series)

Words Their Way offers a complete package for working with young readers. Carefully constructed within a wide range of activities is an adherence to a developmental philosophy of learning, assessment methods, and instructional strategies for a range of ages.

This book is a MUST for any reference library.


Very useful for homeschoolers too...   October 29, 2007
 19 out of 19 found this review helpful

My children attended a public school where this program was used. When I brought them home due to their various LDs/allergies, I balked at the $40 price tag of this book and opted for the less expensive Spectrum Spelling books for their grade level. I found those to be rather annoying because often my children already knew the words. And the ones they didn't know, they would spell correctly on the tests, but they didn't necessarily continue to spell the words correctly in their writing. Mid-way through the year I abandoned the Spectrum books and purchased this one.

My favorite thing about this approach is how the kids really think about and interact with the words. It is a disciplined program, I require my kids to do a word sort and an activity in their spelling journals every day -- their choice. However, this typically takes less than 10 minutes a day.

The other thing I do is pretest the kids every week to find out which words they need to study. If they already know a spelling pattern, then I don't give it to them and move on to the next one. Sometimes I pull misspelled words out of their writing, and then find the pattern that applies and give them those words for the week.

I will say, that for most homeschoolers, this book is pretty heavy on the theory, and the "how-to" is mixed up with the theory so it may take more work up front to start the program if you are unfamiliar with the idea of spelling notebooks and word activities. But it is quite fascinating, and will give you a new appreciation for a young child's emerging spelling skills, as well as concrete strategies for helping older students with more complex words.

As for content, the book covers spelling from pre-K through at least middle school, perhaps early high school.

And the CD-Rom is a real time-saver too, with its words for sorts and activities.

All in all, quite effective, very interesting, and a great value - you buy this once and then purchase simple notebooks or composition books for their spelling journals, and you are set for years to come.




use with older,low readers   September 11, 2005
 16 out of 17 found this review helpful

I am using this text with 8th graders who are on a 4th grade reading level. I began at the 6th chapter. Learning roots and word origins is giving them another handle by which they can hold on to and retrieve word sounds. They are enjoying it so far.