Tool Box Tool 

Word Study in Developing Content Vocabulary 

Victoria Sidorski

 
What is Word Study and Vocabulary?
 
Word Study​~ It provides students with opportunities to investigate 
and understand the patterns in words. 
~Word study is an alternative to traditional spelling instruction.  
Vocabulary​~ The body of words that are used in one’s language.  
~Vocabulary development is an important aspect of a student’s 
education. 
What is the strategy Word Study in Developing Content Vocabulary? 
It is when you incorporate content area vocabulary with the word 
study patterns words in your weekly instruction.  
Basically It’s the ​“MIXING”​ of Word Study Pattern Words with Content Area
Vocabulary.
This challenges the students to use both types of words in a meaningful
way.
Why would I teach/use this strategy?
Well, according to Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey,​ “Vocabulary lies 
at the heart of content learning.”   
Word study addresses: 
● Word Recognition 
● Phonics  
● Spelling  
~Tests pattern in knowledge of a word vs. memorization of a 
word. 
~Students would no longer just be given words to memorize.  
~They will learn the meaning of words and how they are used and 
how they relate to others.  
~Since vocabulary is so important, when you integrate it with 
weekly Word Study Instruction, you are not just handing them 
vocabulary words “to know” they are seeing how the word relates 
to others and how it is used in the content and how they can use it 
when completing different activities.  
~Now each week the students are not just learning word study 
pattern words they are building their content area vocabulary as 
well. 
 
How Would I use/teach this strategy?
1. As you develop the weekly word study word lists you begin to 
incorporate content area vocabulary words as well.  
2. Introduce the words to the students and discuss the word 
patterns and meanings.  
3. Have a binder where they can record each of the words in 
these types of charts to refer back to.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
4. During literacy block use various centers and activities where 
the students explore the word list for the week.  
 
5. Assess the students how you normally would at the end of the 
week to see if they grasped that weeks word patterns.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Word Study Activities & Games
Open Sort – ​Students work together or alone to create their own categories for 
sorting. ​(All grades) 
  
Closed Sort – ​Students are involved in sorting pictures or words with teacher 
direction. The teacher tells students the categories they will be sorting. ​(All grades) 
  
Blind Sort​– Teacher, student, or other adult calls out the words while student writes 
or calls out the words under the correct header. Students are not allowed to see the 
words to be sorted but must rely on sound and their knowledge of the associated 
pattern to determine word placement. ​(All Grades) 
  
Speed Sort​– Student race against time and /or each other to sort the words into 
categories. ​(All Grades) 
  
Writing Sort – ​Words are written down under appropriate categories, headed by 
words. Students may look at words to write them under correct headers. ​(All Grades) 
  
Word Hunts – ​Students hunt through their reading and writing to find words that are 
further examples of the sound, pattern, or meaning unit they are studying. Words are 
written under correct headers. ​(All Grades) 
 
Draw and Label –​Students recall the feature introduced on Monday and draw 
pictures and write the word illustrating the feature. They may use words from their 
sort or find other words with the same sound, pattern, and meaning to draw and 
label. ​(All Grades) 
  
Cut and Paste​– Search through magazines and newspapers to find words and 
pictures to illustrate their featured sort. 
(All Grades) 
 
 
 
 
Exciting Sentences - ​Write 5 sentences using 2 or more words from your sort in each 
sentence. Example: The ​five nice mice ​went for a walk. ​(All Grades) 
  
Bubble Words​– Students choose 5 words from their sort and write the letters in the 
word using different colors and lines around the letters.(Grades K – 2) (If students 
have access to a computer, they can write their word study words in different fonts 
using a word processing program. ​All Grades)  
  
Rainbow Words​– Students choose 5 words from their sort and write them in their 
Word Study journal. Using a different color crayon each time, students trace over the 
letters in the word, saying each letter as they trace and then saying the entire word at 
the end. Continue tracing each word in this way using 3 – 4 different colors. ​(Grades K 
– 2) 
  
Spellamadoodle​– Create a design using 5 - 10 of your Word Study words.  
(Grades 1 – 5) 
  
Rhyming Words​– Choose 5 words from your word sort and write 3 – 5 rhyming 
words for each word. 
(Example: ​Bread ​– head, red, dead, said, dread) ​(Letter name / within word 
stages) 
  
ABC Order​– Choose 10 words and arrange the cards in ABC order. Students write the 
list in their Word Study notebooks. ​(Grades 1 – 5) 
  
Spelling Riddles​– Students write riddles for one or two of their Word Study words. 
(Grades 1 – 5) 
Example: I have 7 letters. 
I rhyme with might. Answer: delight 
I begin with the letter d. 
I have 2 syllables. 
  
Word Relationships​– Using the Word Tree, students add a prefix or suffix or both to 
create words. ​(Grades 3 – 5) 
 
 
Itty-Bitty – ​This is the reverse of the ​Making Words Activity​ where students practice 
recalling words and patterns they have previously used. For example, give students a 
word like spinach and they make lists of one letter words, 2 letter words, 3 letter 
words, etc.  
(Adaptable to all grades) See attached 
Example: I 
in, an, is 
pin 
spin 
pinch 
  
​Endless Words ​– (Similar to Word Ladders) Beginning with a 3 or 4 letter word, the 
student creates a list by changing only one letter at a time to create new words. For 
example, a sequence might look like this: ​(Letter Name/ Within Word Stages) 
​Pat rat sat Sam Pam tam Tim tan tap   

Memory Match – ​Using one set of word study cards, students partner with another 
student from their Word Study group. All cards are placed face down on the table in 
rows and columns. Students take turns turning over two cards, reading the words, 
and deciding if the words match based on the pattern and/or sound. If there is a 
match, student gets another turn. Continue playing until all cards have been matched. 
Student with the most matches, wins. ​(Letter Name, Within Word, and Syllable 
Juncture Stages) 

​ ock, Paper, Scissors – ​Students partner up with someone in their Word Study 
R
group. Each student places their word study cards in a stack face down in front of 
them. Student who wins the round, turns a word study card over, reads it, spells it, 
and / or tells its meaning. Play continues until all cards in the stack have been read. 
Student who finishes his / her pile of words first is the winner. ​(All Grades) 
  
 
Bingo – ​Students choose 16 words (9 for younger students) or pictures from their sort 
and place them in a 4 X 4 grid with words facing up. When a word is called out, 
students turn the word over. Four in a row is Bingo! ​(All Grades) 
  
 
 
 
 
 
Vowel/Consonant Patterns​- Choose 10 words. Write your words in crayon or pen. 
Write each consonant letter in red and each vowel in blue. Then write the V/C pattern 
under each word. (Example: red CVC; rain CVVC) ​(All Grades) 
Fraction Action​- Choose 10 words. Write your word study words as fractions based 
on the number of vowels and consonants in each word. See attached.   
(Grades 2 – 5) 
Secret Code​-Write 10 of your words in secret. Challenge a parent, sibling, or class 
partner to use the code to decode each word. Correct their work. Example: glad= 
7-12-1-4 (See attached) 
Tongue Twisters – ​Write tongue twisters using at least 5 of your word study words. 
(Example- spelling word: ​some​- ​S​ally ​s​aw ​s​ome ​s​eals in the ​s​ea.) 
​(Grades 2 – 5) 

Reference​~ ​www.gvsd.org​ The faculty and staff in the Great Valley School
District in PA, created this list of multiple Word Study and Vocabulary
activities and centers that you can incorporate in your classroom. They can
all be modified/adapted if necessary.