Word Inquiry Training

"The limits of my language are the limits of my world." ~ Ludwig Wittgenstein

What is Word Inquiry?

Word study conducted at each grade level is inquiry based. Students investigate principles of morphology (word structure), etymology (word origins) and phonology (the units of sound that give meanings to words) to reveal the consistency of the English orthographic system. Real Spelling is the foundational resource.

Word study is developed around the following premises:

• Spelling miscues are not deliberate.

• Students should know the laws, conventions and patterns of the English spelling system.

• Students have a right to know not just what a correct spelling is, but why it is so.

• Teachers analyze student spelling miscues to inform teaching.

When writing or reading, rather than relying on pronunciation or visual memory, students consider three key questions: 

1. What does the word mean? 

2. How is it built? 

3. How is it connected to other words?

When engaging in word inquiry, students are:

• thinking critically - researching, analyzing, explaining, comparing

• making cross-disciplinary connections

• learning valid transferable laws, patterns and conventions of written English

• building skills and understandings that support reading and vocabulary development

• using reference tools and graphic organizers (e.g. dictionaries, flow charts, word webs)

What is Real Spelling?

Real Spelling is the foundational resource for word inquiry. 

Real Spelling presents the following underlying principles and facts about English word structure:

• The English spelling system is used to indicate in writing what a word means.

• English spelling is consistent, logical and has a high degree of order and predictability.

• There is an identifiable reason for every English spelling.