Words Their Way is a developmental approach to phonics, vocabulary, and spelling instruction. Guided by an informed interpretation of spelling errors and other literacy behaviors, Words Their Way offers a systematic, teacher-directed, child-centered plan for the study of words from kindergarten to high school. The keys to this research-based approach are knowing your students' literacy progress, organizing for instruction, and implementing word study.
The 7th Edition features a new chapter (9) on organizing word study in the classroom, as well as new activities, progress monitoring materials, and sample lesson plans. With its newly designed website that includes automatically scored spelling assessments and over 130 interactive sorts, Words Their Way, provides a complete word study curriculum that will motivate and engage your students while helping them to succeed in literacy learning.
About the Author: About our authors Donald R. Bear is Professor Emeritus in Literacy and Director of Literacy Centers at Iowa State University and University the University of Nevada, Reno. A former elementary teacher, Donald currently researches literacy development with a special interest in students who speak different languages and he partners with schools and districts to think about how to assess and conduct literacy instruction.
Marcia Invernizzi is Henderson Professor of Reading Education in the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia. She and her multilingual doctoral students enjoy exploring developmental universals in non-English orthographies. A former English and reading teacher, Marcia extends her experience working with children who experience difficulties learning to read and write in numerous intervention programs, such as Virginia's Early Intervention Reading Initiative and Book Buddies.
Francine Johnston is retired from the Department of Teacher Education at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro where she served as Director of Graduate Studies, Coordinator of the Reading Masters Program, and ran a clinic for struggling readers. Francine worked as a 1st-grade teacher and reading specialist for 12 years before getting her doctorate at the University of Virginia where she first learned about a developmental approach to word study and worked with Dr. Marcia Invernizzi to develop word study materials and activities. She consults with school districts across the country and frequently serves as a professional development speaker. Francine is a coauthor of many books, including Words Their Way: Word Study for Phonics, Vocabulary and Spelling Instruction.
Shane Templeton is Foundation Professor Emeritus of Literacy Studies in the College of Education at the University of Nevada, Reno. A former classroom teacher at the primary and secondary levels, he has focused his research on the development of orthographic and vocabulary knowledge. He has written several books on the teaching and learning of reading and language arts and is a member of the Usage Panel of the American Heritage Dictionary.
Francine, Donald, Marcia and Shane are the core authors of the Words Their Way(R) series.
