Word Study

Have mercy!  

I have went back and forth between spelling words, Wordly Wise, and now I have *finally* settled on Kristen's wonderful Morphology Dictionary resource.

First, let me get this out of the way... These are my opinions.  I am not receiving anything from Kristen to promote her product.  I just want to share a great resource :)

To be honest, I was a little hesitant about purchasing it because it is $14.50!  That's a lot to fork out for one resource.  I bought it during the TpT back to school sale and it sat in my purchases until last week.  What??  That's right...  I didn't even look at until last week.  I knew Wordly Wise wasn't engaging my students like I wanted it to.  Studying greek and latin roots are also standards for 5th graders so it was a win-win.

I explained to my poor students {this is their third attempt at something to work with words} what we would be doing.  Overall, they all seemed excited to get started.  I wanted to share how I am using this product in my classroom.

Monday was our first day, and I modeled with them how to highlight the prefixes, suffixes, and root words.  All prefixes are highlighted green, suffixes pink, and all root words yellow.  These colors also correlate to the colors on our focus board for prefix/suffix/roots.  The students then identify all prefixes, suffixes, and roots and record them on their vocabulary sheet.  Then, they define each.  Last week, Kristen just so happened to post a wonderful resource that she uses to introduce the vocabulary words to her students.  It was as if God was saying, "yes, you should use this!"  I do mine a little different which I will explain in a bit.  First, here is her resource that she has posted on her blog for *FREE*!

You should so go check it out!  She also has an additional resource available for extra practice.  I am also planning on using this.

Here are some pictures of my kiddos working on highlighting those words!

They worked so hard flipping back and forth through the dictionary!

With my higher-order thinking students, we did the first 10 together.  Then, I had them work with a partner to find the other 10.  This process will usually be something they will complete individually during word work through the week.

I was SO proud of how well they worked together! 

Here are some things I am doing with it.

1. On Monday, students get their vocabulary list that will serve as their vocabulary list for 2 weeks. This list remains in their literacy binder for the first week.
2. Students highlight prefixes, suffixes, and root words according to the color code.
3. During Word Work for the first week, students will record prefixes, suffixes, and root words.
4. Students will also define each during the first week.
5. On Monday of the 2nd week, students will transfer the list to their agenda binder so they can study the words at home.
6. During the second week, students will complete Kristen's second resource that I linked to above. They will complete this for each word on their list.
7. Students will study each night for their vocabulary / spelling quiz that will be on Friday of the 2nd week.

I haven't decided what my quiz will assess, but I will be sure to share it when I do.

I hope this is something you can use in your classroom.  It is probably the best resource I have ever bought from TpT!