Julie, India, and I took the day to go over the 4th-grade word study program. We figured out how to use the program, went through the units, and determined which lessons we are planning to teach in the 2022-2023 school year and which we can skip since we touch on that topic when we teach grammar. We also organized the materials and cut out our first month's worth of word sort cards, game pieces, etc, to prepare for the beginning of the year.
We also took the time to really strategize and think about how this program will be structured next year and looked at options to help us organize the materials. One idea that came out of this work today is a high-frequency word wall that will live in the classroom and rotate every few months(adding new words, removing the ones the students conquer...). That way kids can use it as a resource and will have more exposure to the list of words, which will hopefully help with their spelling. This will also remind us of what we have taught, which will help us keep them accountable when they spell these words incorrectly in their assignments.
This work made me feel more confident and excited to jump into word study in the fall! I feel this upcoming year is a chance for me to continue to think critically about the program and continue to tweak it in order to best support my students.
Sounds like it was a productive time to set the stage for a successful launch of the word study program and the idea of a HFW wall is great. I could see students tracking on their own list which words they've mastered, need to work on, and even creating their own lists if they've mastered them all. Here's to a great year and thanks for sharing about your collaborative time.