


Word Study is a widely research-based spelling approach whose purpose is to “examine words in order to reveal the logic and consistencies within written language system and to help student achieve mastery in recognizing, spelling, and defining specific words” (Words Their Way, Bear, et. Effective spelling methods do not rely on rote memorization, but are developmentally appropriate and hands-on. Teaching kids to spell includes much more than a list of spelling words students should memorize and write on a spelling test each week. Label Card 3¾x 1 in 9.5 x2.5 cm.Short Vowels 3.x provides the best developmental approach to effective spelling using the word study method. Printed on thick plastic, cut and all corners rounded. Using real pictures each item is clearly identified so children can begin seeing the difference between short and long vowel words:can/cane, mat/mate, tub/tubeand more. This set of materials contains two sets of cards with each set containing 8 combinations of short and long vowel words for a total of 16 sets. Here are a few examples of a long vowel: face, even, lie, toe, use.

Long Vowels: Long vowels have a straight line above themƒÅ,ƒì,ƒ´,˜ç,˜´. Here are a few examples of a short vowel: bun, bop, bed, bin, bat. Short Vowels: For older kids, short vowels are often written in a pronunciation dictionary as having a curved symbol above themƒÉ,ƒï,ƒ?,˜è,˜?. Children need to be able to recognize and produce these soundsbeforethey are able to learn the rules for reading and spelling them. For example, the shortiin the wordbigsounds very similar to the shorteinthe wordbeg, and the shortoin the wordcopsounds similar to the shortuin the wordcup. Short vowels tend to be more challenging for students to understand because they sound very similar to one another. For example, the longosounds like theoin the wordocean, and the longasounds like theain the wordacorn.

Long vowels are the easiest of the two for students to learn because they have the same sound as their name. The first step to mastering the vowel sounds is to understand the difference between both short and long vowels.
