Making and Writing Words I. A brief introduction A. Making words is conceptually an engaging and effective instructional task. B

Making and Writing Words
    Good morning, everyone. Today’s lecture is about making and writing words. Making words is conceptually an engaging and effective instructional task,for some of us its implementation is daunting. Making and writing words is a variation of mak-ing words, a popular spelling and word study instructional activity. In making and writing words, students are guided by their teacher in writing and sorting words using a limited set of letters. Teachers have found that the activity is engaging and appears to be helpful in developing students’ proficiency in word recognition and spelling. (2) The major difference between the two activities is that in making words students manipulate letter cards,while in making and writing words,students actually write the words on a sheet of paper designed to accommodate the activity.
    When planning for making and writing words, the teacher should begin by deciding on the challenge word. Usually this word is connected with an area of study for the class or with a special event.
    Selection of words for making and writing words should be guided by the ability of the students. Children at the early elementary level may benefit most from a five- or six-letter challenge word containing one vowel. For seven- to nine-year-old students,a word with six to eight letters and two vowels may be appropriate. Children in the upper elementary grades will be challenged appropriately by a word longer than eight letters and containing three or more vowels.
    Making and writing words works well with students of almost any age as long as they have some facility in writing. With beginning readers, I recommend the original making words activity since it involves manipulation of already printed letters. With students who have some writing fluency,the making and writing words variation may be an alternative worth exploring. Indeed, the task of writing instead of simply maneuvering letter squares may provide additional practice that will help students internalize the structure and spelling of the words.
    Making words is an excellent activity for helping students develop greater awareness of word structure while gaining important practice in spelling. As with any exemplary instructional strategy, variants that meet the needs of particular students are likely to emerge. Making and writing words is a variant of the original strategy that is particularly effective in engaging slightly older students in using letters to form and learn about words.
    As in Making Words, making and writing words begins with the identification of vowels and consonants to be used in the lesson. Students each write these letters at the top of their making and writing words sheets. Students will write words made from the letter set. Before they begin,the teacher reminds them that the word they write in any box may contain only letters listed at the top of the page, and that each letter may be used only once per word unless it appears more than once in the list at the top.
    Here is how the activity might play out in the classroom;
    The teacher instructs the students to write the following letters in the appropriate boxes on their individual making and writing words sheets;the vowels a,e,i,and o; and the consonants c,n,t,and v. She also asks them to write an apostrophe,placing it for convenience in the consonants box,and uses this time to review briefly the nature and role of apostrophes in making words.
    The teacher works with the classy through the remaining words she had planned. Throughout this work the teacher either pronounces the words or provides clues to help students figure out the word,or both. Thus,making and writing words promotes not only growth in spelling and decoding but also in vocabulary acquisition.
    The final word is always the"challenge word". Students are told that it uses all the letters listed,and they are challenged to write the word in the final box.
    As in making words,the teacher guides the students to apply what they learned, where they discover new words that follow or transfer some of the same patterns or principles. Of course,the teacher may wish to challenge students with other transfer words beyond the three for which boxes are provided on the making and writing words sheet.
    Making and writing words involves students sorting the words they have just written. Using scissors, they cut out each box on the sheet to make individual word cards. Students will work with the cards over several days, so providing envelopes for storage is a good idea.
    For word sorting, students organize their cards into categories provided by the teacher. Of course, not all the sorts have to be letter-sound related. Teachers can also have students sort words into semantic or meaning-bearing categories.
    As students become adept at sorting words, teachers may wish to have them name the categories. Even young children display a surprising degree of creativity in leading this part of making and writing words. For older students,the teacher can modify the activity by having them list the categories on a blank sheet of paper and write the words under the appropriate category,rather than creating cards for manual sorting.
    With each new sort, students not only gain added exposure to the words but they also analyze the words from different perspectives. This gives them greater control over and knowledge about how the words are constructed and what they mean.
    To sum up, today we mainly discussed a variation of making words—making and writing words. From the activity of making and writing words,we see that it is helpful in developing students’ proficiency in word recognition and spelling. That’s all for today. Thanks for your listening.