Review: WISE Guide Enrichment Activity Worksheets N-Z by Elizabeth FitzGerald, M.S.
Background:
We currently have students in sections N, U, and
W, and a beginner in Steps 6 & 7 of Spell to Write and Read. I am also teaching a group of second and third graders using SWR methods at a homeschool co-op this year.
My Review in a Nutshell:
So far this resource is a good thing for us; it
is challenging both my students and myself to a greater understanding of the
English language. Our students are asking for these worksheets! I believe they
like the intrigue of putting their knowledge to work. I soon plan to purchase
the A-M volume for reference and review.
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| None of these books pictured are published with coil bindings, I had that done after I purchased them. |
Note: I will refer to the
curriculum, Spell to Write and Read, as ‘SWR,’ to its Teacher’s Manual as ‘SWR Teacher’s Manual,’ to the WISE Guide for Spelling as ‘WISE Guide,’ and to WISE Guide Enrichment Activity
Worksheets N-Z as ‘Worksheets.’
The Content:
The contents of these Worksheets are well integrated with the scope and sequence of Spell
to Write and Read; they are not for stand-alone use. A few times, I even opened
SWR Teacher’s Manual and the WISE Guide to make sure the “why” I was
thinking was correct before explaining it to my student.
Even though this is my sixth year teaching SWR,
there are times that I freeze up while teaching a reference page because I feel
a need to follow the script in the SWR
Teacher’s Manual. I’m afraid of leaving out a step or saying something
wrong. These worksheet pages reinforce what is taught on the reference pages,
but without a script from which to work. For me, this relieves the pressure and
allows me to use what I know (and look up what I don’t) to explain the concepts
being practiced.
Students are asked to apply multiple rules that
would not necessarily be matched together without spelling enrichments. Therefore,
I can see the value of this resource for all types of students. Average
students, struggling students, and advanced students will all
- excel further with more practice.
- grow with opportunities to converse about concepts outside of dictation with now familiar words they learned during dictation.
- profit from synthesizing their knowledge to complete the tasks.
- benefit from “real world” applications of their spelling and grammar learning.
Furthermore, I believe this resource is an
excellent tool for students who naturally memorize words by sight—even advanced
words. Their eyes and brain seem to glaze over while they go through the
motions of dictation during which they write the words correctly so a teacher
may falsely believe they are mastering the concepts. In completing these
worksheets, these students will interact with their spelling words to prove and
strengthen their understanding.
The Structure:
These Worksheets
are a timesaver! We had previously not been doing many of the enrichments along
the bottom of the WISE Guide. When we
did, they were done in the students’ Everything Else Book. I would need to give not only instructions on what to do, but
where to write the words on the unformatted page. Mrs. FitzGerald has
streamlined this process. And now, it is even easier for visual learners since
they may read the directions along with, or to, the teacher.
This is a terrific tool for multi-level
teaching. The other day, three students at three different levels were ready
for enrichments. We all sat at the table together. I explained the instructions
to the first student and asked her to complete the first two lines while I
started the next student, and so on. I went around the table checking work, encouraging,
correcting, and explaining. It worked quite well. This was one instance for
which the Post-It tabs mentioned below proved helpful!
I made a note to myself to read all the
teachers’ notes on a particular worksheet before beginning it with a student.
On page 170, the teachers’ notes say to read the spelling list U-1 in order while
the student listens for the beginning sounds of the words. It’s even in bold. I
did not read that before I started, and therefore chose to give the words
randomly so they are in a different order than when written in the Learning Log. This created some
confusion for me. I was reading them off the worksheet answer key, but didn’t
want to read all of one category in a row so I was trying to randomize them.
About the third word I started lightly pencil marking the words as I read them
to avoid reading them again. About the fifth word, I noticed the teachers’ note
to read the words as they occur in the WISE
Guide. If I had taken one more moment of preparation before jumping in with
my student, it would have saved me from the confusion of which words to read in
which order. It also would have saved you from having to read and try to
understand this paragraph. So, read the instructions for the teacher as well as
those for the student—before engaging your student! (That should be a given,
but apparently, some of us *ahem* need
reminding.)
I appreciate that this resource is packaged as
it is, with the teachers’ key being printed and bound and the students’
worksheets as a pdf. The author could have chosen to publish both editions
electronically. If that were the case, I would probably have loaded the
teachers’ manual on my iPad from which to teach. However, with a printed copy
in my hands, I can jot down notes about things I want to remember to do the
next time I use the page. For example, I drew a red star on page 170 next to
the instruction to read section U-1 in order.
Making it Work Better for Us:
The Post-it tabs in my WISE Guide for the different sections we are studying are still working
out magnificently. Some people choose to tab all the sections like an external,
visible index. I prefer to simply tab the ones we are working on, moving the tab
as a student advances. I have a different color for each student. And I used
tabs of the same colors to mark the corresponding places in the Worksheets.
I put the pdf of student worksheets directly on
my computer for quick and easy access. No finding and fumbling with the cd to
access the file.
Questions and Recommended Improvements:
I would like to know how to guide students to
form derivatives that are real words without giving away the answers. I
encountered this dilemma previously, and now again with page 223 of the Worksheets. It can be disheartening to a
student to fashion a page of derivatives from spelling words and prefixes
and/or suffixes only to be told they aren’t real words. I tried to soften the
blow by saying words such as “associator,” “resourcism,” and “architecty” could
be used in very creative writing. In
the “How to Use These Worksheets” pages, the author writes, “Students will need
your help determining if a word they’re building is a legitimate English word.”
She suggests using “a good dictionary or online resource,” but does not go into
detail about how to do so. Perhaps this is a topic for an advanced seminar.
I hope in a future printing Extra Attention
words might receive a footnote with a reference to where in the SWR Teacher’s Manual and/or WISE Guide an explanation may be found.
For example, “starring” and “starred” on Worksheets
page 34 are listed as “1-1-1 words needing extra attention” on page 158 of SWR Teacher’s Manual, which are examples
of a type of advanced challenges to consider two pages back. I did not remember
the particulars of those derivatives needing extra attention so my sweet
student sat waiting while I found the explanation.
I would suggest splitting the one pdf into
several different files to make accessing the desired section more efficient.
Perhaps using the chart on page 64 of SWR
Teacher’s Manual would be a good way to divide the document. If I were
working with one student, this may not be a problem because my computer reopens
pdfs to the same location as when closed. But with students at different
levels, it is mildly annoying to scroll back and forth over one hundred pages.
I experienced some difficulty opening the cd on
my computer. I think it may be a problem with the optical drive as it would
spin up but not recognize the cd at all. I put it in my husband’s older
computer and it worked nicely.
Keeping the cd in the pocket inside the front
cover makes the front cover stiff and difficult to thumb through the early pages.
But it’s a minor detail hardly worth mentioning and definitely would not keep
me from purchasing the package.
LITHBTH Educational Services (swrtraining.com), Elizabeth FitzGerald's website
I received this publication at
no cost in exchange for my published opinion, which was influenced by no one.