Words Their Way: Emergent Sorts for Spanish-Speaking English Learners - Couverture souple

One reality of today’s classrooms is the limited supply 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 students’ word knowledge, so teachers can build language and literacy competence on that foundation.. 

This approach is especially valuable for English learners. This text focuses on the specific needs of Spanish speakers just beginning to learn English.  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 phonics, spelling, and reading curricula.

Word study is a dynamic instructional approach for teachers and their English-learning students. Your students will feel empowered as they grasp new words in English, build skills to understand the commonalities and differences between Spanish and English, and make connections between oral and written words.

 Who are emergent learners?

• Pre-kindergarteners through middle first graders 
• Newcomers at later grades with little or no formal schooling

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® Emergent 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 sorting

What does the field have to say?

This text is an addition to a well-known and highly successful series.  The research base is well documented and the teaching strategies are classroom proven.  It doesn’t get any better than that.

Patricia Kelly, Virginia Tech

I was very excited when I saw the title of the book, and even more interested as I looked through it.  I think this is a valuable addition.

Marsha Riddle Buly

WesternWashingtonUniversity

For Professional Development Resources, visit www.allynbaconmerrill.com.

For College Resources, visit www.pearsonhighered.com . 

Lori Helman

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.