Organizing Words Their Way!

Words Their Way is a wonderful approach to developmental spelling stages.  It targets each child and helps teachers to instruct based on individual needs!  

Pro:  I can't say enough good things about it!  

Con:  Organization of WTW can be tough in an elementary classroom.

Solution:  Read on to find out!!

This is a long post but, I assure you, it's worth your time because there are lots of FREEBIES!

Organizing Words Their Way!

1.  Groups

2.  Daily Activities

3.  Sort Mats

4.  Sort Containers

5.  Words Their Way Sort Organization

6.  Sort Notebooks

7. Individual Student Charts

Keeping groups organized is key!  For WTW to be effective and to show growth, you must first administer one of the WTW Spelling Inventories which can be found in the Words Their Way book.  

I found this AMAZING excel program from Techy-Teacher on Teachers Pay Teachers.  You certainly don't have to use any outside excel program but it does make life a bit easier!

Whatever you use, you will need to group your students.  (All student names have been changed.  This is actually all family members!)

Now I have my groups ready.  Next I put their names into a quick and easy way to help me, on a daily basis, remember groups.  It is also very useful if you have someone push into your classroom to help out.  Click here to see how I made this folder to help organize flexible groups!

At the beginning of the year, all students have the same sort and are working on the same day.  I go through the whole process slowly (days 1-5) two or three times.  It's not until about week 5 that I have students working independently on different sorts and the groups on different days.  Clip Art was purchased from Mrs. Stewart here!

Notice students only need a teacher on Days 1 and 5!!

(If using Spelling City, find someone who has already typed in all the sorts!  It will save you hours of work to simply import lists from another user!)

I keep a smaller version of this in their WTW notebook for easy reference! 

During our morning meeting we go over our daily schedule and WTW schedule.  This is displayed in our meeting area.  

It reads like this:  

Red group-Sort 34 day 2, 

Orange group-Sort 15 day 5, 

Yellow group- Sort WW11 (Within Words Book) day 3, 

Green group-Sort WW16 day 2, 

Blue group-Sort WW21 day 4.  

Click on the picture for your free copy!

Sorts are done on little sort mats from the Target Dollar Spot.  I simply cut them in half so I need only one pocket chart for two students!

You can find these cute Q-tip containers at Walmart for 97 cents!  

I feel it's kind of expensive to do your whole class but I hoping to get a few years out of them!  Plus the added bonus of getting to keep all those Q-tips!!  Click the picture for a free copy of the "word work" labels!  Just print on 2x4 labels and cut off the sides to fit!

Clipart by Ashley Hughes!

I spend a lot of time at the beginning of the year getting materials ready.  This saves me TONS of time throughout the year.  I keep all WTW sort copies in a file cabinet.  Most of our sorts come from the Letter Naming (LN) or Within Words (WW) books.  

The Letter Naming book is red so labels are typed in red. The Within Words book is yellow so the labels are typed in...yep, you guessed it... yellow!  Click on the pictures to get a free copy of each!

Inside each folder I keep copies of the sort, baggie with sort for teacher discussion day, and a test.

*Update:  I now include a Words Their Way Home List.  The kids are given one when we start the sort and I suggest putting it right on their refrigerator!  Click here for a post on how I use these!

I find it much easier to keep all of their paperwork in one place.  I ask students to turn in their  notebooks after day 5 so I can check them.  This saves on the amount copies you make to keep the program running smoothy!   The colored dot helps the kiddos remember what group they are in!  Click on picture for your free copy of notebook labels!

 Individual student graphs are a must!  These graphs are intended to be colored in by each student and kept in their data folders or for the teacher to keep one class binder and fill it out each time an assessment is given.  I actually plan on doing both this year!

Click on the picture to check them out!

I hope you have enjoyed this rather long post (and the freebies) about organizing Words Their Way!  I would love to hear any tips you might have on using and organizing Words Their Way!

Words My Way Data Recording Charts (Second Edition)

Words My Way Letter Name-Alphabetic Spellers Home Lists

Words My Way Within Word Pattern Spellers Home Lists

Words My Way Syllables and Affixes Spellers Home Lists

Words My Way Data Recording Charts (Third Edition)