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Students need opportunities to engage with words. Open and closed syllable sorts, breaking words into "chunks" and coding words can help students identify the parts of words and how they function. Teaching syllable types and helping students understand how to break words apart can improve reading fluency. Dry erase boards and LED tablets are great tools to use. Magnetic letters and Scrabble tiles can also be used to study spelling patterns.
Word study activities can be very beneficial to students. When students gain an understanding of how words "work", they'll be able to identify similarities and differences in words that they read.
Index cards are a great tool for word study. Students can write words on cards and search for "chunks" that have a particular sound. They can circle these parts and compare them to other words with the same spelling patterns. Digital games can also be used.
Compound word matching activities are also an effective word study activity. Write out compound words on index cards. Cut the words into the two parts. Have students match the parts to form the compound word. Students also love trying to form new words.
Studying prefixes, suffixes, and root words will also help students understand word meanings. While teaching root words and their meanings, you can have students create their own make-believe word based on the meanings. For exxample: "hydro" means "water", "scrib" means "to write". Students could form the word "hydroscribing". Although it's a nonsense word, students can determine the meaning as "writing with water".
To build background knowledge, students can be taught how to categorize words. Before reading a text, students can be provided with a word that relates to their text. They can brainstorm words that come to mind when they think of the given word. After the words are written, they sort them into categories, then determine a heading that relates to those terms.
Word gradients are another form of word study that can build vocabulary. Provide students with word cards that contain related words. (For example: scalding, hot, warm, cool, cold, frigid) Students would place the words in order from the coldest to the hottest.
Syllable division activities, word study activities involving inflection endings, and spelling patterns, word building activities, sound walls and syllable sorts can improve phonemic awareness, build word knowledge, and improve reading fluency and comprehension.
Thinking maps, sequencing activities, text evidence searches, fact/opinion sorts, cause and effect activities, and technology integration are some ways to build reading comprehension.
Story webs, thinking maps, story sequencing activities, and graphic organizers are all great ways to build vocabulary and improve reading comprehension. Venn diagrams can be used to compare and contrast characters in a story or two different texts.
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