Tompkins Ch 7

Man, whew. That was my first reaction to this chapter. I remember learning spelling words in grade school and how difficult it was to remember all the different meanings to words, and reading this chapter brought back that exhaustion. Being in a first grade class I have seen this being such a struggle for the students. I talked to my CT about some of the ways she approaches this challenge. She told me a huge key is to introduce each meaning and word at a separate time. For example, introducing two and to and too the kids learn better and understand when they are introduced one week at a time. Having them work with each word for a full week alone helps cement it and they learn it. However, there will still be confusion and at times you have to deal with it numerous times. Being in lower grades also, it is often that you will get hung up on the Unknow Word and Initial Recognition. The biggest goal is to help them get as close to the Parital Word Knowledge as possible. Being in upper elementary next year, I will make sure to keep in mind the struggles can transfer up to the higher grades as well. Just another reason to keep this book close next year and beyond =)