Description
Our goal is to provide teachers with the tools and resources to teach all children to decode and spell in a manner that leads students to become joyful, skilled, independent, and metacognitive readers and writers.
Word-Wires is a comprehensive word analysis program that fosters a classroom environment where all students are honored for their personal strengths and literacy instruction meets them at their individual levels. Using Word-Wires, teachers can make instructional decisions that reflect a deep knowledge of linguistics, best teaching practices, and the individual needs of each student. We equip students with generalizable and transferrable skills for reading, spelling, and vocabulary acquisition.
Word Wires Book Two builds on the earlier books and continues to expand students’ word knowledge. It is organized into three units. The first two units review the linguistic structure of English using Mouth Cards and a Vowel Key as key tools and phonetic concepts with an emphasis on reading. To make this meaningful for second grade students, the program immediately introduces multisyllable words and special strategies so that students are able to review phonetic patterns in the context of reading longer words. The final unit emphasizes spelling and introduces a weekly routine that moves through the introduction of phonics concepts to word practice, phrase application, the introduction of prefix and suffixes, and skill assessment.
The Word-Wires Two Curriculum is aligned with the Common Core Second and Third Grade foundational skills. While some of the lessons may work with older children, we recommend teachers use the Wired For Reading® intervention program instead, as the tone and pacing of the Word-Wires One Curriculum is designed for use in a Core, Tier 1 Second or Third Grade classroom.
Scope and Sequence:
Linguistic Based Phonological Processing
- Feel and hear all consonant sounds
- Feel and hear all vowel sounds
- Blend, isolate and manipulate three to six sounds
- Correctly sequence sounds in there to six sound words
- Segmenting and Isolating the vowel sound in each syllable in a multi-syllable word
Foundational Concepts
- History of English and Word Origin
- Homophones
- Homonyms
- Compound words
Phonics for Reading
- All vowel patterns in multisyllabic word reading
- Breaking written words into syllables using the strategy of Vowel Yanking
- Schwa
- Flexibility between vowels that say their name and short sound – wind, wind
Morphology for Reading
Emphasis on the meaning for all morphemes
- Breaking words into morphemes (chunking prefixes, roots, and suffixes)
- Prefixes: un, mid, mis, fore
- Suffixes: er, est, ly, ed, ful, less
Spelling
Emphasis on the meaning of all morphemes
- Sketchpad words
- All syllable types in multi-syllable words
- Spelling pattern ff. ll, ss, zz, dge, tch
- Spell words with morphemes:
- Prefixes – mid, un, in, over, under, non, re, fore, mis, pre, post, con, com, cor, col, co, im, ir, il, ex, dis, uni, tri, bi
- Suffixes – ing, er, s, ish, en, ful, less, y, ward, ed, ist, est, ly, ture, tion, ment
- Spelling Rules:
- Double before adding a vowel suffix
- Drop the silent e before adding a vowel suffix
- Y to i and add es and other suffixes
The curriculum set includes:
Three Volumes
- Part 1 (Units 1-2),
- Part 2 (Unit 3),
- Appendices (Black Line Masters)
Teaching Tool
- 1 Mouth Mat Folder (A high quality file folder with the mouth pictures printed on the inside and a blank grid on the outside to speed up set-up for mouthy games. Includes two sheets of mouth pictures to cut out and adhesive dots for assembly)
