Word Study: Transfer of Skills

Jaimie Howe contributed today's post. Click here for more of Jaimie's thinking.

Where does word study fit in the realm of a typical elementary school day? The answer is everywhere.  

I recently attended the NCTE conference in Minneapolis, MN and attended a session on Word Study and the transfer of those skills to reading and writing.  Below is a table that was shared describing the subject.

What It Is	What It Is Not
Learners find logical spelling patterns that can be categorized and generalized Spelling instruction is alongside authentic reading and writing Children learn words by doing sorts and other hands on activities - tactile Children become part of word study groups that learn, think, and talk together about their words	Only taught in isolation Memorization A time to learn spelling “rules” Children doing workbook pages Weekly lists Words practiced by writing, copying, or reciting them

From my experience, I do feel that most teachers have shifted towards this idea of “word study” versus traditional spelling; however, are still struggling to see the transfer of these skills in the students’ reading and writing.  So if teachers are using “word study” versus traditional spelling, why aren’t students using the skills they’ve learned in their reading and writing?

The session I went to at NCTE addressed exactly this.  There is a continuum of instruction that needs to occur in order for these skills to transfer for most students:

1. Explicit Instruction: Sort Introduction
2. Practice Activity: ex: blind sort, open sort, partner sort, games, etc.
3. Application Activity: ex: Word Hunt
4. *Explicit Instruction for Transfer: shared reading, poetry, interactive writing

What the presenters found was that 87% of questions that teachers asked during the sort introduction could be answered with one word or yes/no and that most of the activities during the week were spent practicing. Very little time, if any, was spent on application or explicit instruction for transfer.  Below is an example of what the presenters heard when observing in classrooms:

What They Heard	What It Could Be
Teacher: “Okay, What’s the word?” S1: “fudge” T: “Good, and this word?” S2: “stage” T: “Right. What does stage mean?” S3: “We had our play on a stage.” * Study by  Ganske, 2013	Teacher: “Wow, you really explained ‘fudge’.  I love the specific language you used. I wish I had a piece right now. Can you identify and define the word?” S1: “That’s stage.  It refers to a floor that’s raised, where you perform.” T: “Can you expand on that?” S2: “ I can explain another meaning.”

So when we think about the transfer of these skills, we need to reflect on what type of language and interaction we are having within our sort introductions and also to what extent the activities we are having the students do throughout the week are supporting the transfer of these skills. Also, at what point are we making the connections from word study instruction to the student’s reading and writing? If word study only occurs during one time of the day, in isolation,  and never carries over into reading and writing, how can we expect students to make these connections and apply the skills?  

Also, a deeper issue is the type of assessment we are using to determine students’ needs in word study.  The assessments tend to fall too much on the quantitative side; however, where we can gain the most information about our individual students is qualitative assessment.  To me, the best assessment of spelling is a sample of a student’s writing, not a weekly spelling test.

Quantitative	Qualitative
Spelling Inventory Spell Checks High Frequency Word Lists Letter ID Letter Sound Concepts About Print (PALS COW) Phonemic Awareness	Student Writing Sample      -not one where conferring occurred Running Records      -miscue analysis

In conclusion, word study is more than just sorting words and finding patterns.  It’s more than just one spelling inventory, to determine a student’s needs.  Word study encompasses all areas of literacy, speaking, listening, language, reading, writing, and so much more.  It is not something that can be taught at one time of the day and then forgotten about. Thought, analysis, and reflection in many areas of literacy are an integral part in the understanding of a student’s word study knowledge and their ability to transfer the skills from isolation to reading and writing.