A professional development model: Building word knowledge for middle level teachers

This paper presents a professional development model to support the implementation of word study in the middle school grades. The first section provides a rationale and considerations for the model. The following section discusses the theory and instructional methods of word study focusing on word sorting and word hunts. To confirm the developmental stages of middle level students as outlined in the literature, the next section focuses on a sampling of middle level students' spelling using the Developmental Spelling Assessment. Then the professional learning community is described as a means of implementing best practices in word study taking into account and building upon middle level teachers' current knowledge, beliefs, and practice.