Words Their Way: Letter Name- Alphabetic Sorts for Spanish-speaking English Learners - Couverture souple

One reality of today’s classrooms is the scarcity of materials available to teachers trying to support English learners’ literacy development.  The educators and researchers who developed Words Their Way® with English Learners, a phenomenon in word study, understand this challenge.  The cornerstone of the Words Their Way® approach to word study is the examination of the word knowledge students bring with them to instruction, building language and literacy competence naturally on that foundation. 

This approach is especially valuable for English learners, and this text is a companion piece of the series focusing on the specific needs of Spanish speakers.  It provides you with the reproducible sorts and step-by-step directions you’ll need to guide students through each sorting lesson. The week-by-week curriculum provided in this text will complement the use of any existing phonics, spelling, and reading curricula.

Word study is a powerful instructional method for teachers and their English-learning students.  Empower your students to grasp their new language at the word level, build skills to understand how English differs from Spanish, and develop the skills to explore word meaning through spelling. 

 Who are Letter-Name Alphabetic learners?

• Kindergarteners to early third graders, as well as older newcomers to English who are at the beginning stage of reading

How does word study help these learners develop English language proficiency?

• By building on students’ vocabularies in Spanish and the letter sounds that are common to both English and Spanish
• By starting with the most common and high-utility English words
• By teaching vocabulary through pictures and word-picture matching
• By providing opportunities to explicitly compare and work with sounds in English that may require extra help for Spanish speakers

What does Words Their Way® Letter Name-Alphabetic Sorts for Spanish-Speaking English Learners provide to guide students toward this proficiency?

• Notes for Teachers
• Standardized Weekly Routines
• Literature Connections
• Assessments
• Reproducible word cards and picture cards to get your students underway

Lori Helman

Loriis associate professor in literacy education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Minnesota. Her research and writing have focused extensively on the reading and spelling development of students learning English as a new language, including other Words Their Way® instructional materials for English learners. She has also edited a text for teachers, Literacy Development with English Learners.

Donald R. Bear

Donald is director of the E. L. Cord Foundation Center for Learning and Literacy where he and preservice, Master’s and doctoral students teach and assess children who struggle to learn to read and write. Donald is a professor in the Department of Educational Specialties in the College of Education at the University of Nevada, Reno. Donald has been a classroom teacher and he researches and writes about literacy development and instruction. He is an author of numerous articles, book chapters, and books, including Words Their Way®, Words Their Way® with English Learners, and Vocabulary Their Way.

Marcia Invernizzi

Marcia Invernizzi is Director of the McGuffey Reading Center at the University of Virginia exploring developmental universals in non-English orthographies.  A former English and reading teacher, Marcia works with children experiencing difficulties learning to read and write in intervention programs such as Virginia’s Early Intervention Reading Initiative and Book Buddies.

Shane Templeton

Shane Templetonis Foundation Professor of Literacy Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno.  A former classroom teacher at the primary and secondary levels, he researches the development of orthographic and vocabulary knowledge

Francine Johnston

Francine Johnston is Associate Professor in the School of Education at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she teaches reading, language arts, and children’s literature.  A former first-grade teacher and reading specialist.