Word Study / Work Unit in the Making - Sample Week Assignments for Short and Long /r/ Sounds

I've decided to put together a Word Study Unit for me to share with you all. My team and I slowly created throughout the year as we worked through a different list every week. This material is inspired by the Beth Newingham’s Word Study Program that most are familiar with. Some things have been added, taken away and altered to better fit my classroom. Her unit has an allotted time for spelling instruction daily and in my district there isn't a specific time for explicit spelling instruction. With that being said, these resources take minimal time from classroom instruction. The word lists are in the order from the Word Pattern Spellers, Words Their Way. This is a SAMPLE of List 25, which covers short and long /r/ sounds. The entire unit will have 30+ lists to use.

~Tic-Tac-Toe Activity Sheet is used by the students to pick their activities for the week.

~The Word Study Words Sheet has all the words you'll need for the week. It has words for the pre-test, word list for the week and the post-test.

~This is the letter that is sent home with the student each week explaining what words they will focus on. There are two different letters because it is designed to be differentiated for my below and on level spellers. The students will still be working on the same sounds in whole group instruction, but it will be more appropriate for specific students' levels.

 ~This is an activity for the students to make words that have the sound you are working on. They cut the squares out and make words by arranging them, then recording them in the columns on the other sheet.

 ~This is just another activity to support the word lists. The word search is also differentiated for the below and on level spellers.

 ~I made word wall words for all 40 words on this list. You can use them for all types of activities though! = )

BASIC OVERVIEW on how I incorporate Word Study in my class:

Day 1 - Give new word study list. Introduce new words and rule(s). Word Wall cards are displayed and the students sort them as part of the introduction lesson before I give them the sounds we will be working on for the week. Decide whether the student gets the regular list (#1) or challenging list (#2) based on pretest given on day five. Give students Tic-Tac-Toe form for the assignments for the week. Have students select the five high frequency words (these words are from a pretest given at the beginning of the year - more info will come about this). This is when students get their tests back from the previous list.

Day 2 - Have students work on assignments during morning work, reading centers and/or homework.

Day 3 - Have students work on assignments during morning work, reading centers and/or homework.

Day 4 - Have students work on assignments during morning work, reading centers and/or homework.

Day 5 - Collect all assignments. Give the test - depending on the list the student was given.

There are a few other components, mainly because of time, but I've included the main parts. Any suggestions, or anyone else who is working on a Word Study unit? = )