Words Their Way: Word Study for Phonics, Vocabulary, and Spelling Instruction, 4th Edition (Book, CD & DVD)
This book would be very useful for both university reading courses and classroom teachers.  I use Words Their Way both in my first grade classroom and with college students as a way to implement word study.Kristi McNeal, CSUFresno  Words Their Way’sdevelopmentally-driven, hands-on instructional approach has been a phenomenon in word study, providing a practical way to study words with students.  The keys to this research-based approach are to know your students’ literacy progress, organize for instruction, and implement word study.  This streamlined text and the DVD and CD-ROM that accompany it gives you all the tools you need to carry out word study instruction that will motivate and engage your students, and help them to succeed in literacy learning.  Ordered in a developmental format,Words Their Waycomplements the use of any existing phonics, spelling, and vocabulary curricula. Knowing Your StudentsStreamlined Chapter 2 provides step by step guidelines for assessing students.NEW! Words Their Way Word Study Resources CD: Assessment Planning and Additional Interactive Word Sortscontains computerized assessments to gauge students’ developmental levels.Word Study with English Learnersections in each chapter help you organize and adapt instruction to meet the needs of students whose first language is not English.Organizing for InstructionNEW!Words Their Way DVD Tutorial: Planning for Word Study in K-8 Classroomsreinforces and illustrates classroom organization and management, as outlined in Chapter 3.Word Study Routines and Managementsections in every chapter give you practical guidance on managing and implementing word study in your classroom.NEW!Tech Notesthroughout chapters pinpoint opportunities for you to use the DVD and CD-ROM to prepare for instruction.Implementing Word StudyClassroom-proven, research-driven activities end each developmental chapter, giving you the instructional practices to get your word study instruction up and running immediately.NEW! Words Their Way Word Study Resources CD: Assessment Planning and Additional Interactive Word Sortsprovides more than just assessments.  You’ll also find hundreds of additional word and picture sorts, games and templates, and an interactiveCreate Your Ownsection.The Appendix at the back of the book contains a comprehensive bank of word lists, word sorts, picture sorts, games and templates.  The theory behind and practice for word sorts allows even the novice teacher to understand how to use the assessments to organize instruction.  The organization of the last five chapters creates a useful resource for teachers.  Each begins with a research-based description and moves into sound instructional practices, giving the teacher a complete understanding of how to meet the needs of students.Cathy Blanchfield, CSUFresno  Meet the AuthorsDonald Bearis Director of the E.L. Cord Foundation Center for Learning and Literacy at the University of Nevada, Reno, assessing and teaching students who experience difficulties learning to read and write.  A former preschool and elementary teacher, Donald currently researches literacy development with a special interest in students who speak languages other than English, and he partners with schools and districts to consider assessment and literacy instruction.Marcia Invernizziis 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 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 knowledgeFrancine Johnstonis 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.