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. ✦Structured Word Inquiry: An implementation guide for teachers

  7. ✦Rebecca Loveless

  8. ✦LEX (Gina Cooke)

  9. ✦Mary Beth Stevens

  10. ✦Literacy Dr. (Jennifer Petrich)

  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


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.

 

WW Newsletter #114:

Understanding what SWI is and what it is not (Feb, 2025)


Click HERE for the first WW Newsletter of 2025.


SWI has been receiving more attention in formal and informal research venues recently. In this newsletter I highlight ways in which this increased attention can foster misrepresentations of what SWI does and does not claim. I address some examples of common misrepresentations and misunderstandings presented in high profile spaces in the last couple of months.

I also point to an ever growing number of resources for SWI including a brand new one on Vocabulary & Morphology using SWI and a new video on tips on how to use the Real Spelling Tool Box 2 and much more.


Upcoming SWI Sessions with Pete

On-Line Courses / Conferences

  1. •DTI’s 9th Annual Dyslexia Virtual Conference February 24 – March 14, 2025

  2. I present a new talk, “The Morphological Matrix Matters Because Language is Combinatorial”
    Click HERE for more information and to register.


  4. •5-Session On-Line “General SWI Course”
    March 5, 12, 19, 26, April 2 (7:30 - 9:00 pm EST)
    Click HERE for a flyer with details.

  5. •3-Session Working with Tools of SWI & Teaching How the Written Word Works
    April 1, 8, 15 (7:30 - 9:30 pm EST)
    Click HERE for a flyer with details.

  6. •2-Session Spelling-Out Orthography Course March 2025
    April 10 & 17  (7:30 - 9:30 pm EST)

  7. Click HERE for a flyer with details.

In-Person Workshops/Conference Presentations

  1. •April 4-5: 2-day workshop in Halifax, hosted by the Scottish Rite Charitable Foundation for Halifax. 

  2. Click HERE for a flyer with details.


  1. •April 22-23: 3rd Annual Reading League Summit

  2. Invited speaker for for panel 2: Language Comprehension: Consensus and Critique moderated by Dr. Tiffany Hogan.


Annual Summer SWI Workshops Open for Registration

  1. •12th Annual SWI Nueva Institute with Pete Bowers & Rebecca Loveless June 16-20, 2025 (On-Line Real-Time & Recorded) Click HERE for details and registration.

  2. •Annual Wolfe Island SWI Summer Retreat (July 22-25) Click HERE for a flyer with details. In person only!
    See images from previous courses at end of Newsletter.

  3. Email Pete <peterbowers1@mac.com> to inquire/register.

Literacy Podcasts / Archived Talks on SWI with Pete (and some others)

  1. •Interview on SWI on Anna Geiger’s Measured Mom ‘Triple R Teaching” Podcast

  2. Click HERE to hear my discussion with Anna.

  3. I was was particularly impressed with the clear research Anna did before our discussion. I received a lot of good feedback about this discussion, including from people who are often critical of SWI.

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

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

  6. •Click HERE for a video of my April 12 talk on SWI research, theory and practice for the “Bristol Conversations in Education” series from the University of Bristol

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



Videos on Research & Practice


See this NEW VIDEO (Bowers & Foley, 2025) on the ‘Nested Combinatorial Structure of English Orthography’ and how the matrix and word sum guide instruction fits that universal of oral and written language.


This video builds on David Share’s major new article “ Blueprint for a Universal Theory of Learning to Read: The Combinatorial Model. that is still in press, but accepted for publication by Reading Research Quarterly. The pre-print of that article is available HERE.


The graphic at right shows the nested combinatorial structure of English orthography. Going forward, this concept is going to be a central reference for SWI, and hope and expect literacy research in general. It is already integrated into my workshops and presentations like the one I did for Everyone Reading Illinois. I shared the video with David Share before publishing and was delighted that he said that it gets at the essence of combinatoriality. I’m also almost to submit an article I was invited to write on morphological instruction and orthographic depth that uses concept as the organizing framework.


A 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”

                                         

Click HERE for a video in which Shawna Pope-Jefferson interviews me on “Spelling-Out Orthography.”

This is an in-depth 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.  



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.


Email Pete <peterbowers1@mac.com>  to be added my WordWorks Newsletter mailing list.