- [Narrator] The teacher explains that a making words activity helps
children to understand how longer words are constructed
based on common patterns, such as a vowel combinations.
This process also provides opportunities for ongoing
assessment.
The activity begins with students building a two letter word
and culminates in the unscrambling of the seven letter word
oatmeal.
Students reflect on what they learned through making
words lessons.
- Right now we're going to do a making words
lesson in which the children are given
the limited number of letters
that in the end go together to make a long word, use that
to help us understand how words go together and how they can
help us make patterns that we can spell more difficult words
with.
So we're looking for patterns in words,
double bell patterns,
and then transference of that to a larger word.
While they're doing that,
I'm going to be pointing things out to them,
help them stretch out words,
help them to understand how those vowel shapes need to go
together.
And I'm doing a lot of assessing actually,
because there's certain kids that I'm going to zero in on
that I know as we build,
they're going to have a harder time with this.
How many vowels do you have in your collection of words?
We have four vowels.
Why are vowels important, Natalie?
- Because then the word will make sense.
Words have to have vowels in them.
- A word has have to have a vowel,
every word has a vowel.
Ready?
Okay.
We're going to start out by making some little words and
then we're going to build, start with some easy ones.
Are we ready?
We're going to make some two letter words.
The first letter you're going to make is the word at.
Who can spell the word at?
Sean.
A T,
We're going to put that there because they're going to build
on that.
Alright, you're going to add one letter to at.
You're going to make it say eat.
Whew. That was pretty easy.
Leave that there and add one letter Pierre.
Good. Spell it for me.
- E A T
- Good.
All right. Let's look at eat.
Now what you're going to do is take those three letters and
you're going to change the position and make them say ate.
Keep your three letters down.
Change your order.
It is a magic key Elliot. Good job.
Spell it for me.
- A T E
- Excellent. What we're going to do now,
Are you listening?
We're going to make the big words.
We need to find a word that uses all of the letters.
I'm going to give you a clue.
Begins with a vowel.
When you get it cover it up.
Good, good, cool.
I like this.
Excellent. Got it.
- I got it, I got it!
Everybody stop.
We are going to hear my friend Cole spell the long word.
- O A T M E A L.
- And what does it say Cole?
- Oatmeal.
Good job.
Why is this activity important? Julia?
- Because you can learn more words from this activity.
- You can learn what?
- You can learn more words.
- It helps us learn words.
Why else?
- It's like a funner version of word study because you're
making words and it's like a game.
- Learn to read it, and to write it.
- Good it helps us with reading our words and then helps us
with writing our words.
Good job, boys and girls.