It is assumed that students who are reading Shark Beneath the Reef are working in the "Syllables and Affixes" stage of Word Study as described in Words Their Way, Bear, Invernizzi, Templeton, and Johnston. The sequence of word study suggested here is based upon objectives in Table 8-3, Sequence Of Word: Syllables and Affixes in Words Their Way, page 226. The lessons start at the beginning of this stage.

A list of words for sorting is included for each chapter. The teacher may write these words, along with any others that fit the pattern on the reproducible form that is included. There are games and activities suggested for many sorts that may be adapted for use with a variety of sorting lists.

Students need to understand when to add -s and when -es is the necessary plural ending. Many of the following words have been harvested from the first chapter in Shark Beneath the Reef. Write the words on the reproducible form included in this packet and include any other words that are meaningful in your classroom situation.

Lead the children to the understanding that when a word ends in double s, sh, ch, x, and often o, you must add es to make the word plural.

The second objective in the Syllables and Affixes Stage of Word Study deals with compound words. It is important for students to look at compound words carefully before they begin the process of examining multi-syllabic words. Looking at compound words helps students see how syllables come together to form longer words. Following is a list of compound words contained in chapter 2 of Shark Beneath the Reef. The separate words of each compound word should be copied onto word cards. Students should work with partners to put them together. It is helpful to give partners a list of questions to think about similar to the one below to help direct their thinking. Students may also enjoy coming up with silly pairs.

1. How is the meaning of the compound word related to the smaller words it contains?
2. What happens to word patterns such as vCe, vv, blends, and digraphs when the words come together? (It is important to discuss this as it will form a basis for syllable understanding later on.)
3. How many different compound words can you make from the smaller words?

Students should go on a word hunt and find as many compound words as possible. Make a long list of these and stretch it out in the hall. Measure your list and let Miss Maggie and Dude know how long it is. Take a digital picture and send it to us.

Looking at what happens to a word when an inflectional ending is added is another beginning objective in this stage of Word Study. Following is a list of words found in the third chapter and related topic words that have endings added to them. The words should be written on word sort forms and students sort the words to discover the rule about when to double the ending. I like to explain that in a one syllable word that ends in a single consonant you usually have to double the final consonant to "protect" the rest of the word from the ending. Have students note that there are usually two consonants before the -ed or -ing.

Students should next be taught when a final e is dropped before adding the ending of a word. Following is a list of words from the first four chapters that will allow students to discover the e drop rule. Write the words on the template, distribute them to students, have them cut apart, sort, and then articulate the rule.

The final inflectional ending objective in this stage of Word Study involves changing y to i before adding the ending. Following is a list of words from the first five chapters and related words to help students discover this spelling rule.

It is time now for students to explore cases where the final y does not change to i before an ending. The following word list leads students to conclude that a y is not changed if the word will result in a double i (e.g. fly - flying) or if a vowel comes before the final y (play, playing).

It may be helpful, depending upon the level of your students' understanding to include words from the previous chapter where y is changed to i. The students' level will be the best determiner of how to present this concept.

Students should now look in greater depth at the question of why consonants are doubled before an inflectional ending and what happens in a word of more than one syllable. Below are two word sorts that lead students to the conclusion that a short sound in a consonant must be "closed" with a consonant, much like the beginning CVC patterns they learned in first grade. This word list is designed to show likenesses between what the student already knows (double the consonant if the vowel is short before adding an ending) and the new concept of what must happen in the spelling of a word if a syllable contains a short vowel (it must end in a consonant, thus resulting in a double consonant in many cases). We begin by looking at words with like double consonants.

After students have examined these words and concluded that to have a short vowel a syllable must follow the same early CVC pattern they learned in the primary grades, have students make up sentences to teach to younger students. Plan to have your students clap the syllables with younger children. For example: It is bet-ter to grin than to cry. Have your students look at familiar patterns of one syllable words in these sentences and compare these patterns to the multi-syllabic patterns to see that the concept is similar.

Students next should explore the important concept of open versus closed syllables. The first word sort, done with words from the book, will lead students to the conclusion that closed syllables have a short vowel sound that is "enclosed" by consonants. Open syllables end with a vowel and have a long vowel sound. This is a prerequisite to many of the spelling understandings in this stage.

Because the understanding of open and closed syllables is so crucial to this stage of Word Study, it is helpful to review this concept again so that students feel comfortable with open and closed syllables. Following is a list of words from this chapter to review this essential idea.

The tic-tac-toe game may be repeated for these words and the following game can be applied to either list.

Comparing open and closed syllables with the VCV pattern is a next step in Word Study. Students should note that the syllable division determines the vowel sound and thus the spelling. Short vowels are found in closed syllable words (ending in a consonant) and long vowel sounds are found in open syllables (ending in a vowel).

After students have discovered this rule, participated in timed sorts, and copied the words into their word study books, have them play the following game:

Since the VC/V and V/CV can be difficult concepts for students, another word sort is presented with this chapter to help cement the concept. Play Word Call as described above and add these words.

Students should review the word patterns of the previous lessons. Elicit from them the varied patterns and their importance for spelling. Then have students make a chart of the word patterns and go on a word hunt. Students may work together in groups and see which group finds the most words. Put the lists together and e-mail Miss Maggie and Dude your list. We 'd like to see what you come up with and we could share lists among schools. Remember that one good place to look is the poetry site on Miss Maggie's Earth Adventures! 

In the vocabulary for this chapter, the noun refuse is presented. Students may initially read this word as the verb refuse. This is a good opportunity to introduce students to the role accent plays in our language through the study of homographs. Write the following words on the word sort template. It is helpful to write them twice as they may encourage your students to look at the words in more than one way. Lead them to the conclusion that the verbs are accented on the second syllable while the nouns have a first syllable accent.

Give students a folded piece of paper and have them illustrate the two meanings of one of the homographs. See if your students can add to this list. Display the illustrations on a bulletin board.

Students have been exposed to homophones in the primary grades and are probably already familiar with to, too, and two, etc. The vocabulary list from this chapter contains a two syllable homophone (plaintive - plaintiff). Since this is a concept that students in this stage of Word Study need to grasp, a list of homophones and ideas for activities are presented here.

Write the following le or el words on the reproducible word sort form. Many of these words are found throughout Shark Beneath the Reef. Lead students to the understanding that the / c l/ sound can be spelled el or le. These endings do not follow a particular rule, but must be memorized. However, usually if c precedes the ending, the ending is spelled le.

After the students have written their words in their Word Study notebooks, have them play the following game.

If you wish to print this page, download the PDF document below.		To get Adobe Acrobat Reader free, click on the icon below
Word Sorts - DOWNLOAD (4k)