The document provides an overview of the word study curriculum for grades KG2-5 at the American Community School of Abu Dhabi. It outlines the curriculum for 26 weeks, with a focus on systematically teaching word structure and spelling patterns. This includes teaching concepts like prefixes, suffixes, vowel sounds, consonant sounds, syllable counting, compound words, and exceptions to spelling rules. The goal is for students to understand how words work and be able to analyze new words using their knowledge of word structure and patterns.

1. AMERICAN COMMUNITY SCHOOL OF ABU DHABI
Word Study
YEAR ONE- REAL SPELLING/STRUCTURED WORD INQUIRY TEACHER TRAINING

2. Word Study at ACS KG2-5
ACS ELA Curriculum documents: “Word study skills and strategies are
taught intentionally and based on student needs with a variety of resources
that are systematically used throughout the school.”
Word Study: The systematic study of words and how they work leads to students who have
strong vocabularies, a spelling consciousness, and the ability to transfer and apply their
knowledge to day-to-day reading and writing tasks.
American Community School of Abu Dhabi
Turning Dreams Into Reality
MISSION STATEMENT
The American Community School of Abu Dhabi is a nonprofit, college preparatory institution driving
by student learning. Our American-based curriculum promotes excellence in academics, athletics
and the arts. In a challenging learning environment and in partnership with parents we empower
students to define and shape their futures. Our dynamic education approach prepares a culturally
diverse student body for a lifelong commitment to learning, service and global citizenship.
ACS Profile of Graduates:
Mission: Thinkers: Critical, Creative, Reflective, Independent
Responsible: Organized, Risk-takers, Open-minded, Respectful of Self, Others, and World
Well-rounded: Balanced, Inquisitive, Adaptable, Knowledgeable, Effective Communicators
Leaders: Diligent, Motivated, Confident, Principled, Collaborative
2011-2012:
Launch: Word Study will be taught using the Real Spelling resources across
the school. For this year, a suggested curriculum and pace will be used by all
teachers to provide a common framework for “teacher learning” around these
new practices. Pete Bowers will be consulting across the year (ERD- Sept, On
site- Nov, ERD- May) to help facilitate our launch and to train teachers. Other
ERDs throughout the year will be dedicated to word study work. Word Study
team members will continue to work as a group, leading their teams in this
implementation and planning for parent communication.
Update/Refine: The order in which the No Excuse words are distributed
may be changed to better match our direct teaching of those words. Similarly,
grades KG2-2 will move to using the “Fountas and Pinnell Phonics Kits” as
resources to enhance Real Spelling themes taught.
Cornerstone Assessments: The Words Their Way Spelling Inventory will
be used to assess student progress twice a year. It will provide teachers data
for differentiation. These assessments will be analyzed at our vertical Data
Analysis meetings. As a school, we will not test students using lists of words
or weekly spelling tests.
“A good speller is not a person who has successfully memorized
the most words, but rather someone who knows ways to figure
out the logic of words and can construct them as needed.
Spelling is problem-solving with letters, sounds, patterns, and
meanings.” (Phenix and Scott-Dunne, 1991)
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3. Ideas from The Real Spelling The User’s Self-Training Manual Chapters A-H by Melvyn Ramsden ACS- 2011
Word Study IDEAS to remember!
The english Spelling represents meaning.
spelling
system evolved
to represent As early as possible, learners need to
the meaning of know the names of letters. They also
the already need to know that a letter may represent
existing oral several different sounds.
language.
(/c/ can say <k> and <s>)
Early learners should
Teach the REAL ‘building blocks’ at first only learn the
of words- MORPHOLOGY: lower case letters.
Introduce early
Base element- The “kernel” of a word learners to the term
initial since upper case
Prefixes- may be found before the base letters are almost
element always only used as
initial letters. Make a
point of asking
Suffixes- may be found after a base students not to use
element upper case letters
unless they know
*The terms base element, prefix, suffix and there is a good reason
compound word must constantly appear in your to do so. (Informed
teaching and be thoroughly understood even by intent rather than
your youngest students. whim.)
The English spelling system is not, nor can be primarily one of
representing sounds. Phonemes are the sounds that mean something.
Etymology= Word Origin Words which share common origins have
meanings in common too, and are likely to share similarities in their spelling.
There Basic Word Structure
are t wo
models of word
structure depending prefix(es) base element suffix(es)
on whether the word
is basic or
compound. Compound Word Structure
base element base element suffix(es)
prefix(es

4. Ideas from The Real Spelling The User’s Self-Training Manual Chapters I-M by Melvyn Ramsden ACS- 2011
MORE Word Study IDEAS to remember!
Dictionaries are crucial.
But in terms of spelling there is an important fact which you must understand.
You can only check spellings in a dictionary with any efficiency when you already
know how to spell since every correct detail about a target word needs to be
known in order to locate it.
Writers have the right not just to be told
what a correct spelling is but also why it is Ability to spell
so.
Teachers have a duty not just to mark
is not just a
and correct, but also to give reasons and question of raw
justifications for correct spellings.
memory of
Mobilize HAND and VOICE memory isolated
symbols--it’s the
Whole-class lessons on
spelling are wholly ability to think
appropriate! There is room in an
for the cautious and the orthographical
ambitious, the tentative and
the confident, the
way.
inexperienced and the expert.
ONLY A RELATIVELY SMALL PROPORTION OF THE WORDS IN
CURRENT USE IN ENGLISH HAVE SOME ESSENTIAL POINT OF NON-
CONFORMITY WITH REAL SPELLING CONVENTIONS.
You must
firmly Detailed analysis
establish a of correct and
incorrect spellings
positive affirm the notion
attitude to of the proper
spelling behavior of words.
mistakes.
Teachers don’t/can’t/won’t know everything.
It is more important that you are willing to learn, explore and try...in front of
your students.Teach how words work and the function of the orthographic system
using “structured” inquiry. Model posing a question.
Then make a hypothesis and test it out.
Lead by example. Learn as you go.

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1
Week 1- Set Up
Words Their Way Assessment- Q1 No Excuse Words- Getting Structured Word Inquiry
Notebooks Ready
2
Week 2-
Kit K/Theme!" Early Etymology The Families of <hear> and <two>
The way words are written is fundamentally a way of representing what they mean. To spell
a word we have to be able to answer the following questions: 1. Mean? 2. Structure? 3.
Relatives? (Spelling Steps chart introduced.)
3
Week 3-
Kit K/A Writing and Recognizing the Vowel Letters
There are six letters that are more important than all the other letters of the alphabet
because there is at least one of them in every word we write. (Vowel hand introduced.)
4
Week 4-
Kit Pre-K/ Theme A Early Word Building
Words belong to ‘families’ that are related by structure. (Vocabulary introduced: base
element, prefixes, suffixes) Entirely an oral activity in preparation for later themes.)
Kit K/Theme K Early Etymology 2: the family of <one>
Connected spelling can indicate connected meanings, even if there are variations in the
pronunciation. The real reason for its spelling is because the spelling retains the links with
the other words in its family.
(Simple word webbing/new use of the term word family.)
5
Week 5-
Kit Pre-K/Theme C Homophones- same sound, different meaning, different spelling
The first purpose of an orthographic system (English) is to represent a language in writing
to those who already know and speak that language. (You can’t begin to write a word until
you know what it means!)
*Deeper Homophone lesson in Week 18
6
Week 6-
Kit K/Theme E
Counting Syllables
Counting syllables the right way- tap not clap- helps us to check that there are enough
vowel letters in a word. Counting syllables can help us decide whether or not <y> is a
vowel letter
(Terms: monosyllable and polysyllable introduced.)
Kit 2/Theme L (DISK)
Naming the Days of the week
While it is important for children to know what the spellings of the days of the week are, it is
part of our duty as teachers that they should know why they are spelled as they are.
7
Week 7-
Kit K-Theme L
Early phonetics: ‘tasting for consonants’
When we are building a base word we need to be able to work out what important speech
sounds it has in it. We are going to learn about phonetics by concentrating on what we are
doing with our mouths while we speak.
*Teacher Ref: The User’s Self-Training Manual, Chapter F
8
Week 8-
Kit 1/Theme J
Phonological matrices -2-
When we want to spell a word the first thing we must do it build its base word. There are
several ways we can do this. We re going to do some building of base words by using a
special sort of matrix
*KG2-G2 will work through Kit K/Theme G Phonological matrices -1-
9
Week 9-
Kit 1/Theme G
Long and Short Vowels and the Single Silent <e>
Vowels can be ‘long’ or ‘short’ or a ‘shewa’ or ‘silent’. In English a change between a ‘long’
and a ‘short’ vowel can change meaning. The spelling system needs ways of representing
the change because they can affect what a word means.
10
Week 10-
Kit K/Theme D
The Phonology of <c>
The letter <c> can represent the phonemes /k/ or /s/; the letter which follows <c> governs
which of those phonemes it is representing; <c> is never written at the end of a base
word…
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11
Week 11-
Kit 1/Theme A
The <i /y> conventions: the basic pattern
The letters <i> and <y> are a ‘team’—they can swap places with one another. However sometimes
they don’t swap places. There are simple patterns, which govern these modalities. (No complete
English word can end with the letter <i>.)
12
Week 12-
Kit 1/Theme B
Plurals -1- whether to use <-es> or just <-s>
English uses a suffix to make words into the plural. This plural suffix has a short form <-s> and a
long form <-es>. There are patters for deciding whether to use the short or the long form of the
plural suffix.
*Teacher Ref: The User’s Self-Training Manual, Chapter K, “Notes for teachers” for Kit
K/Theme E.
13
Week 13-
Kit K/Theme B
The Suffixes <-ly> and <-ful>
Using the common English suffixes <-ly> and <-ful> to establish the basic patterns of real word
structure. We should think in groups of letters (letter stings and graphemes) not single letters when
spelling. (Introduction of the word sum.)
14
Week 14-
Kit K/Theme C
The Suffix <-ing>
The suffix <–ing> is extremely useful for establishing several basic patterns of spelling. It is an
interesting suffix because it can make things happen to the last letter of the word that you are fixing
it to. (Single silent <e> flow chart)
*Teacher ref: The User’s Self-Training Manual- Chapter L
15
Week 15-
Kit K/Theme H
The Suffix <-ed>
The special interest of <-ed> is that it is always spelled the same however we pronounce it. It is an
excelled illustration of the axiom of real spelling that words or parts of words, that mean the same
are spelled the same—even if they are pronounced differently. (Double the consonant flow chart.)
16
Week 16-
More practice with word building (Return to previous Kits) Cornerstone Assessment(s)?
17
Week 17-
Kit 2/Theme F
Two families- ‘wh- words’ and <them>, <they>, <their>
The digraph <wh-> can be used for /w/ at the beginning of a base word as an alternative to just
<w>. The spelling of <they> (rather than <*thay>) follows from its connection with <them>, which
can only be spelled with <e>.
*Teacher ref: The User’s Self-Training Manual-Chapter G
18
Week 18- Structured Word Inquiry
Kit K/Theme F
Diagraphs (Graphemes) for long <e>
Whether a vowel is ‘long’ or ‘short’ can make a difference to the meaning of the word. (The letter
<e> itself, the digraph <ee>, the digraph <ea>, the digraph <ie>, the digraph <ei>, digraph <ey>,
“liquid” consonants: /r/ and /l/, and BEWARE: “I before E isn’t a rule!”)
19
Week 19-
Kit K/Theme J
Diagraphs (Graphemes) for long <a>
Whether a vowel is ‘long’ or ‘short’ can make a difference to the meaning of the word. (The letter
<a> itself, the digraph <ai>, “liquid consonants /r/ and /l/, digraph <ay>, the digraph <ey>)
20
Week 20-
Kit 1/Theme E
Introducing the grapheme <igh>
The three-letter grapheme <igh> is an important and common element of the spelling system.
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21
Week 21-
Kit 1/Theme I
Homophones
The homophone principle—words which have the same pronunciation but different
meanings will, if possible, have different spellings too—is fundamental to the spelling
system.
22
Week 22-
Kit 1/ThemeK
Learning from Love
The word <love. Is one that many youngsters arrive at school already knowing how to spell.
It is also one of the many short and common words, which are not ‘phonic’. It is an
excellent springboard for meeting, revisiting or discovering patterns of real spelling.
23
Week 23-
Kit 4/Theme C
The <o> / <u> partnership
The vowel letters <o> and <u> are a ‘team’. There are times when <o> is used when you
might expect <u>, when you can’t use <u> you use <o> instead, they combine to form a
single grapheme <ou>… (<i> and <y> flow chart, huge word web for out)
24
Week 24-
Kit 1/Theme H
Compound Words
A real compound word will have a meaning, which is related to the meanings of the words
from which it is compounded. (double base words, making compound word webs)
25
Week 25-
Kit 1/Theme C
When suffixes force doubling -1- monosyllables
Adding a suffix that begins with a vowel letter can force the consonant letter before it to
double. (The suffix patter about doubling, adding suffixes flow chart.)
*Other Themes Which May Come Up- Consider teaching after spring break.
Kit 4/Theme A: When suffixes force doubling -2- polysyllables, The digraph <qu>
Kit 2/Theme H: When the last letter before the suffix is <w> or <x>
26
Week 26-
Kit 1/Theme D
Suffixes and the single silent <e>
A single silent <e> at the end of base word can indicate that the previous vowel is ‘long’, a
vowel suffix will replace a single silent <e>, spelling needs to be able to indicate a ‘long’ or
a ‘short’ vowel since meaning can be changed by the length of the vowel.
27
Week 27-
Kit 1/Theme L
Digraphs (Graphemes) for the ‘long’ <o>
The letter <o> alone can be ‘long’ and there are also graphemes of more than one letter for
‘long’ <o>: the digraph <oa>, the digraph <ow>, the digraph <oe>
28
Week 28-
Kit 1/Theme F
Early word webs
Building word webs reinforces our understanding of the way spelling links words that
belong together in word families.
29
Week 29-
30
Week 30-
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