Must See Links



TEDxYouth Talk at The Nueva School (2019)

(Recommended as a an introduction to the ‘big picture’ of SWI)

Click HERE for this 18 min video of my talk at this TEDx event organized by students at The Nueva School near San Francisco that has done such seminal work with SWI. This video provides a brief overview to the theory and practice.


Click here for a video of my talk for the Bristol Conversations in Education 2023-2024 series I gave at Bristol University on April 12 before my full-day in-person workshop at Bath Spa University hosted by PATOSS on April 13.

Click here for a page with notes on the talk and links to further resources.

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Click here fora video showing how we can provide students with more explicit instruction about grapheme-phoneme correspondences when we teach them in the context of morphological relatives with the help of matrices and the word sum.   

Click here for a video of Nueva pre-school teacher Carolee Fucigna as they create a morphological web on the base <rain>. See how straight froward it is to investigate morphological families with readers and non-readers. 

How can I start?

Click here for a post from Rebecca Loveless on “Word Bag Excitement” that offers teachers a sense of this excellent activity for studying word families modeled on Lyn Anderson’s work. This is a great reference for jumping in. Rebecca’s site has many more posts to explore too.






Click here for Mary Beth Steven’s brilliant recent post “Outer Beauty Attracts, but Inner Beauty Captivates.” This is a wonderful way to compare studying real “word families” compared to words that simply rhyme. Explore her whole blog!




Click here for an inspiring post, “Comprehending Spelling” from Sue Hegland’s excellent blog, “Learning About Spelling”. This is a short, accessible and eloquent case for why we should do the obvious -- teach our written word works.


Click here for this video on how morphological and etymological families work. This video is a collaboration between myself and Marie Foley. The video goes into many details about this topic that is so important for anyone teaching from an SWI frame.

 

Contact: Peter Bowers  PO Box 295 Wolfe Island, ON, Canada  K0H 2Y0

Phone: (613) 385-2084 

Email: peterbowers1@mac.com







































Copyright Susan and Peter Bowers 2008http://www.wordworkskingston.com/Site_46/WordWorks_Family_Update.html

Structured Word Inquiry:

(Scientific Word Investigation)

“Word Scientists” look for the deepest word structures that make sense of the greatest number of words.

Click HERE for background on SWI.

Marcia Henry on WordWorks:

“Pete & Sus Bowers are great ‘wordsters’ who provide teachers with an in-depth understanding of the English language.  Teachers can gain so much practical knowledge  from their teacher resource book, "Teaching How the Written Word Works" and their impressive and informative online WordWorks newsletter.  I'd love to attend one of their workshops!  Observing classrooms of teachers who have worked closely with WordWorks was a highlight of my visit to Kingston. Students were so involved and fascinated by investigating words. How fortunate they are to have wordsmiths like Sean Lonergan and Skot Caldwell as their teachers!”



Marcia Henry is past president of The International Dyslexia Association

and former director of the Center for Educational Research on Dyslexia at San Jose State University

 

sign + al → signal

re + sign → resign

de + sign + ate → designate

sign + ate/ + ure → signature

do + es → does

do + ne → done

do + ing → doing

go + es → goes

go + ne → gone

go + ing → going

Making sense of how words work by investigating morphology, etymology and phonology.

English base <sign> from Latin root signum

"mark, token, indication, symbol”


Applying the Principle of Backwards Design from UbD to Structured Word Inquiry

Click here for a WordWorks article on developing

enduring understandings of how the written word works.

"This article by Pete Bowers makes some interesting connections between UbD, Real Spelling and the development of critical thinking skills in students."

Bill and Ochan Powell - Education Across Frontiers

 

Resources for Spelling-Out and Writing-Out Word Structure with Word Sums

REVISED (May 25, 2018)

  1. BulletA free WW resource: “Spelling-Out Word Structure”

  2. Click here for information on spelling-out word sums including a free pdf guide for teachers who want to use this process for learning, instruction and assessment.

  3. BulletSpelling-Out Word Structure: Targeting Central Concepts, Assessment & Instruction

See a new article and video addressing these ideas all building on a practical lesson growing from a Grade 1 student’s question, “Why is their an <h> in school? You don’t hear it.”

Click here for a video of an on-line Skype session addressing this topic with Grade 2 teachers and an article addressing how this topic links to the UbD.

 

Tools for making matrices

Free trial versions of matrix making software for morphological analysis available for download

Word Microscope: Tutorial Video & User’s Guide

Click here for a “User’s Guide” for working with this computer tool including links to tutorial films, complementary resources and links to related research. 



Video introducing the new “Mini Matrix Maker”


Watch this video to see how teachers and students can easily create matrices from word sums on Mac or PC computers with Neil Ramsden’s “Mini Matrix Maker”.


 

About WordWorks

See an introduction to WordWorks and Structured Word Inquiry

(including videos) here

  1. BulletOn-Line Resources Supporting    Structured Word Inquiry

  2. ✦Etymonline

  3. ✦Word Searcher

  4. ✦Word Microscope

  5. ✦Mini MatrixMaker

  6. ✦Latdict (Investigate twin bases!)

  7. BulletClassroom Blogs

  8. ✦Lyn Anderson’s Early Years blog

  9. ✦Skot Caldwell’s Grade 1 Class

  10. ✦Skot Caldwell’s current 4/5 Class

  11. ✦Jen Munnerlyn’s Grade 1-5

  12. ✦Dan Allen’s Grade 5 Class

  13. ✦Mrs. Steven’s Grade 5 Class

  14. ✦Ann Whiting’s Grade 7 Class

Key Links

  1. BulletRelated Websites

  2. ✦Real Spelling Tool Box 2

  3. ✦Real Spellers

  4. ✦Beyond the Word 

  5. (Lyn Anderson, AUS)

  6. ✦LEX (Gina Cooke)

  7. ✦Rebecca Loveless

  8. ✦Mary Beth Stevens

  9. ✦Literacy Dr. (Jennifer Petrich)

  10. ✦Language Insights

  11. ✦Word Torque (Fiona Hamilton, Bangkok)

  12. ✦Learning About Spelling (Sue Hegland)

  13. ✦Sound Literacy

  14. ✦WW on YouTube

<s> → /s/

E.g., sign, signal, assign


<s> → /z/

E.g., design, resign,

does, goes

  1. BulletWordWorks Teacher Resource Book

  2. BulletWordWorks Newsletters

  3. BulletBeneath the Surface of Words (Sue Hegland)

  4. BulletBackpocket Words (Gail Venable)

  1. BulletWorkshop Fees & Services

  2. (On-Line & On-Site Workshops & Tutoring)

  1. BulletGetting started

  2. ✦About WordWorks (practice & research)

  3. ✦Structured Word Inquiry (SWI)

  4. ✦In the Classroom K - 2

  5. ✦In the Classroom 3 - 4

  6. ✦Spelling-Out Word Structure

Explore Lyn Anderson’s excellent blog with illustrations and resources about structured word inquiry for all ages at this link .

Lyn has been developing her understanding and practice in this area for over a decade.  Her lessons and ideas  for morphological instruction from the start are just exceptional.

Structured Word Inquiry at

The Nueva School











Click HERE to see the page on the Nueva School website describing how Structured Word Inquiry has transformed the instruction at this top US private school. It includes a video illustrating how this work is integrated across the grades.

WordWorks Literacy Centre

Spelling it like it is!

Nothing motivates like understanding

More WordWorks Resources






Revised <sign> Lesson in “Teaching How the Written Word Works”

I have posted a pdf at this link on Real Spellers with a revised <sign> lesson after learning that what I had presented as an <-ify> suffix can be analyzed further. That pdf shares the evidence that convinced me to make this change. I also use this learning experience to share a key feature about matrices and word sums.

Books printed after May 2013 already include the revised lesson. You know you have the revised version if you see on <ify> suffix on the <sign> lesson on page 8. Even if you have the revised version, I recommend you download this pdf to gain from the explanation that helped me understand why this revision was needed.

 

Free SWI Digital Drop In Sessions Monday’s 5pm EST

Monday Sept 23 marks the 200th Monday Session!


Click THIS LINK for details.

I began offering this free weekly session at the beginning of the COVID pandemic in an effort to ensure teachers and parents had a place to pose questions about SWI whether or not they could afford to attend more formal on-line courses.

The response has been so rewarding (and fun) that I’ve only missed a handful Mondays since the first session on March 23rd, 2020. I plan to continue indefinitely even once we are past the pandemic.

There is no sign up, just a regular date and time to join. Most weeks we simply address questions people bring. Some weeks we have a special guest, or planned investigation to share.  Every week has novices and experts who come to share their questions/experience, or just listen in.

Click THIIS LINK for a document reflecting on learning from the first session that is filled with links to free resources to build understanding of scientific word investigation.

 

Upcoming SWI Sessions with Pete

Click HERE for a flyer with all this information


  1. •Mon Sept 23,  5-7 pm pm EST Special 200th Free SWI Digital Drop In! (Zoom link here)

  2. Presentations on a great new SWI implementation guide and new video from Marie and me.

  3. •Sept 26, 2024 7-9 pm “Hot Topic Webinar” Hosted by Reading with TLC“Vocabulary Development for All Ages and Abilities using Structured Word Inquiry”

  4. (Live and Recorded) video is available for a month after session for participants.

  5. Click HERE  to register. ($40 USD). Click HERE for a flyer to share.

  6. •Click HERE to rent my previous Hot Topic Webinar “SWI in the early years (PreK - Gr 2)”

  7. Other “Hot Topic” webinars hosted by Reading with TLC include sessions by figures including Maryanne Wolf, David Kilpatrick, Louisa Moats, and Jan Hasbrouck.

  8. •Two courses hosted by EduSpark (real-time and recorded) starting in October

  9. •General SWI Course (Five 1.5 hr ea) Weds Oct 2, 9, 16, 23, 30  (7:30-9:30 EST) $ 240 USD

  10. Click HERE for more information and to register. Detailed course description is HERE.

  11. •Tools of SWI Course (Three 2 hr ea) Thurs Oct 31, Nov 7, 14 (7:30-9:30 EST) $ 150 USD

  12. Click HERE for more information and to register. Detailed course description is HERE.

  13. •Introduction to SWI Friday Oct 11 (3-5pm EST; 1-3pm MST) Hosted by NRLC in Alberta

  14. Click HERE for more information and to register. ($90 CAD)

  15. •Spelling-out orthography course (Two 2-hour sessions)

  16. Saturdays Oct 12 & 19 (9:45 - 11:45 EST)  $  90  USD Detailed course description is HERE.

  17. Real-time study only, no recordings. Email me peterbowers1@mac.com to register.

  18. •In-person full-day workshop Washington State (2hrs from Seattle) Sat nov 16, 2024

  19. Sunfield Waldorf School in Port Hadlock is hosting this full-day workshop. More details soon. Space is limited. Email me to inquire/reserve a spot. See and share this flyer with more info




Latest WordWorks Newsletter #113 Sept 23, 24

Introducing “combinatoriality”


Click HERE for Newsletter #113

It points to multiple new resources for teachers working with SWI including:

  1. •A new SWI teacher guide book

  2. •A free chapter for an SWI framed chapter from a great children’s book ‘Dr. Peanut: 12 Nutty Tales

  3. •An introduction and background on a new orthography film by me and Marie Foley and the concept of “combinatoriality.”

I go into detail about how this film fits with a major new work “Blueprint for a universal theory of learning to read: The Combinatorial Model” by David Share (in press). This article  was my introduction to the concept “combintorialiity” as a feature of all languages. In our soon-to-be-released video and this newsletter, I show how our study of grapheme-phoneme correspondences in the context of morphology with the matrix and the word sum is perfectly in line with not just English, but languages in general.



Recent Videos on Research & Practice


See newly posted video of my April 12 talk on SWI research, theory and practice for the “Bristol Conversations in Education” series from the University of Bristol

Click HERE for my talk.

Click HERE for a page on the Bristol University site with notes on the talk, and links to resources for further study.


My video on how to construct a matrix from word sums


Click HERE to see this “how to” video on a process for teaching how go from word sums to construct your own matrix. I also use this video to help people understand why this morphological analysis is necessary for understanding how grapheme-phoneme correspondences work in English.




Video of interview on “Spelling-Out Orthography”

                                         

For more on this key practice in SWI lick HERE for a recent video in which Shawna Pope-Jefferson interviews me on “Spelling-Out Orthography.”

This is an in-depth hour-long talk that includes discussing videos of young students using this process. To jump directly to that part of the video, click HERE.

See my webpage with many resources and videos on this topic HERE.

Click the image at left to see one of the videos you can find on that page with students and teachers using this practice of “spelling-out” for reading, spelling, and vocabulary learning.  




     

  1. Click THIS LINK for details about my on-line and in-person PD, fees etc. 

  2. Click THIS LINK for descriptions of all my on-line courses.


WordWorks Newsletter  #112

Resources, Courses & Remembering William VanCleave 

May 21, 2024





WordWorks Newsletter  #111: Ripples of Orthographic Learning Courtesy of Michel Rameau

February 5, 2024





Explore my archive of WordWorks Newsletters and Special Publications at THIS LINK.

Here are a couple of recent special publications about learning in my courses with many orthographic concepts and resources to support your learning.

Click HERE for a story about frustrated 9-year old dyslexic who finally gets traction with English spelling when his tutor changes gears to great effect an they go on the hunt for suffixes.

Click HERE for a story about A 7-year old dyslexic and his tutor new to SWI are determined to make sense of English spelling

Click HERE for my most recent special publication of a teacher new to SWI having great success with her pull-out group.