Words Their Way for Parents, Tutors, and School Volunteers (Words Their Way Series) - Softcover

Learn how to develop a child’s word knowledge and understand its relationship to reading, writing, spelling, and vocabulary.

Words Their Way® for Parents, Tutors, and School Volunteers  is designed to provide friendly instruction in phonics, spelling, reading, writing, and vocabulary development. In this book, the authors describe the five stages of literacy development and how they are interconnected, while also offering a host of fun and purposeful activities. Step-by-step guidance is provided for teaching the essentials of word study including stage-specific explanations of what each parent, tutor, school volunteer, and child needs to know about how sound, pattern, and meaning work in words. The authors also include numerous writing and spelling samples, frequently asked questions, book lists, activities, and guidance on how to talk to children about spelling and its relationship to reading and writing. This book is an ideal companion to Words Their Way®: Word Study for Phonics, Vocabulary, and Spelling Instruction.

Michelle Picard is the K-12 supervisor of English Language Arts in Arlington Public Schools in Virginia. She holds both a Masters and Doctoral degree from the University of Virginia focused on literacy education, research, and leadership. She spent over a decade teaching elementary and middle school followed by positions as a K-12 Literacy Specialist, Director of Early Childhood and Elementary Education, adjunct professor, and director of a summer graduate reading clinic. Her background and interests focus on word knowledge and its relationship to reading, writing, and spelling, literacy development K-12, intervention, and children’s and adolescent literature. She authored the 2011 CODiE award winning professional learning course Words Their Way Online .

Alison Meadows is the assistant principal of Lyles-Crouch Traditional Academy in Alexandria City Public Schools in Virginia. Alison is a former second grade teacher, special education teacher, and reading specialist. She has also served as an adjunct professor for the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia and continues to work with schools as a literacy consultant. Her background and interests focus on literacy development, developmental spelling, reading intervention, and professional learning for educators.

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 first 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.

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.