Reading and writing are both very mentally engaging activities. Even as adults, we all occasionally come across a new word in our reading or desire to utilize a word in our writing that we do not usually use. In these instances, it is helpful to have strategies about how to tackle those words at hand. Now, these strategies that you use are most likely completely ingrained to the point where you no longer consciously think about how you arrive at the proper pronunciation or spelling of a particular word. It is our job to help our children uncover those strategies so that they can utilize them as well.
Children need to build these mental strategies to help them tackle unfamiliar words. In order to break down an unfamiliar word they first need to make connections to other word and spelling patterns that they already know. The goal is really to ingrain these spelling patterns so that when they encounter new words, they will automatically begin to compare them and sort them in with the patterns that they know already. To become a more proficient reader and writer, children must be given opportunities to extensively practice those common spelling patterns and parts of words.
Word stairs is the title that we give to our series of interactive videos in which the child starts out with a series of letters and is then asked to combine those letters in different ways in order to create new words. Letters are added, deleted, or rearranged from a base word to form new words. In word stair activities, children are given physical letters or letter tiles with which to work. Using and manipulating tangible letters is important, as it makes the activity multi-sensory. It is always helpful to include as many of the different senses as possible with learning activities and by including letter tiles, children are using their auditory, visual, and kinesthetic processing centers. Using all of these different centers in the brain is very beneficial to overall learning and makes it more likely that children will retain the information.
Home School Navigator’s word stair activities increase in difficulty as you go. The first section of these videos provide a lot of additional support for learners. In a sample of these videos from earlier sessions, the directions might include, “Using the letters on your table, create the three letter word sit, now add one letter to the word sit to make the word site.” In this example, the child needs to have an awareness of the role of silent e at the end of a base word and how that e affects the sound of the middle vowel. The next section of these word stair activities might include, “Using the letters on your table (p-i-s-n-g-r), make the six letter word that is the name of a season of the year in which flowers start to bloom.” In this portion, the child is asked to think of the meaning of the word and by rearranging the letters, should come up with the word, “spring.” In this case, the child is asked to think about the meanings of the words as well as the spelling conventions (in this case- the three letter blend spr and the ing ending).
After practicing their word building skills with the help of the videos, children can then progress towards completing word stair handouts, again utilizing letter tiles for the formation of the words. The handouts begin with one series of letters and then by giving descriptions of the words required, plus the number of letters for the selected word, the children are encouraged to rearrange the letters to create different words, adding or deleting letters with each turn. The final step is to use all of the given letters to produce one word. At this stage, children are expected think about known word patterns as well as think about vocabulary and the word meanings more independently.
Want to know another great thing about word stair activities? Word stairs are self- motivating. Even children who balk at the idea of practicing any form of spelling instruction will usually be enthusiastic about performing the word stair activities. The presentation of the activities is generally perceived as more game-like and it is non threatening in the fact that at if at any point the child makes a mistake, he or she can see that correction and quickly fix it without fear of any repercussions, as the correct answers are shown on the videos. All of the word stair activities are designed to provide enough support as well as to be challenging, yet not to the point of frustration. The children are invited to practice their word patterning skills and feel the sense of accomplishment when they uncover that final “mystery” word. Let the fun begin and let Home School Navigator show you how.
Let the learning and fun begin!