Word Work and Writing (with free samples)

Word work is a staple in my classroom. We do have word lists for sight words, but we also build words to study digraphs, blends, magic e, and anything else my assessments show a need for. 

One of the reasons word work activities are so popular is that they are hands-on and engaging.  Luckily, most sets of word work are very low prep, and can be used year after year. 
It can be as simple as tossing a basket of letter tiles or word cards on the table, and my students will be occupied for ages making words and sentences and recording them. 

                               

Click HERE to see this set

Yes, I did say "recording them", because this is an essential part of the task. It holds them accountable for work completed and gives some much needed writing support. Because the templates are similar, they feel confident as they write. 

Why all the checklists? I want students to be accountable for their learning, and also focus on self-editing before handing work in. They can even earn two checks with a partner if they do some peer-editing. 

As far as marking them, I just circle the category that's incorrect and send them off to figure out why it's wrong. This process doubles or triples the learning involved in simple word building and sets up good work habits that their future teachers thank me for.  

We've decided our motto is going to be "No more sloppy sentences! 

Only silly sentences allowed!"

If you'd like to see some of the sentence building sets we do through the year, you can see them in this free collection of samples below:

{{ click here to download }}

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