Words Their Way: Word Sorts for Derivational Relations Spellers - Brossura

Responses from the field...

A strength of each chapter is the Notes for the Teacher section that introduces each set of sorts.  This reminds teachers about developmental appropriateness and pacing variations based on learner needs.  Clearly the gradual release of responsibility model of guided instruction is promoted and reinforced throughout the text.

Barbara Pettegrew, Otterbein College

Chapter layout is excellent.  Format is designed to include anything that might be needed for the lesson, and each takes you step by step through the process being taught, allowing time for students to internalize and firm up the skills and strategies.

Susan K. McCloskey, California State University, Fresno

Meet the Authors

Shane Templeton is 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 knowledge.

Francine Johnston is 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.

Donald Bear  is director of the E. L. Cord Foundation Center for Learning and Literacy where he and preservice, Master’s and doctoral students teach and assess children who struggle to learn to read and write. Donald is a professor in the Department of Educational Specialties in the College of Education at the University of Nevada, Reno. Donald has been a classroom teacher and he researches and writes about literacy development and instruction. He is an author of numerous articles, book chapters, and books, including Words Their Way ®, Words Their Way ® with English Learners, and Vocabulary Their Way.

Marcia Invernizzi is 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