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If You have a question not on this list please email us.
Q. Is WordSort primarily a remedial tool?
A. No. WordSort is for any student who is at the correct developmental stage. It is for any student who is a beginning reader, emerging through transitional stage.
Q. For how long should a student use WordSort each day?
A. We suggest that students use WordSort about 10 to 20 minutes at a time, preferably every day, but at least 3 days a week. They should not work past the point of fatigue.
Q. How many words does WordSort teach?
A. WordSort does not teach "words", it teaches word groups. It teaches the different ways to spell the various vowel sounds. Conversely it gives practice in identifying and decoding the various vowel patterns. What WordSort teaches using simple one-syllable words can be applied to all words.
Q. What should I do when a student cannot read the words to be sorted?
A. Students must be able to read the words in order to sort them. There is a set of Sorts supplied with the program that uses words for 1st and 2nd grade level readers. All other sets of Sorts contain words for grade level 1 through 4. You can preview words before you sort them using one of the WordSort options. For readers that are able to read most but not all of the words to be sorted, a careful read through the words first will be necessary. Or print out some cards and work with them one-on-one. Students who cannot read or do not know the letters should try the beginning consonant sound pictures sorts.
Q. What do I do with a student that blazes ahead with little difficulty?
A. The best thing to do is nothing. The Sorts get harder towards the end. Near the end they are challenging for almost anyone. If you like you may reduce the amount of time allowed to sort the words. But do not skip students ahead. A lot of practice with the easy Sorts is the key to doing the harder Sorts.
Q.Okay so I disagree with the /a/ in fang being a short or the same sound as in hand -
have you put this by a linguist or speech pathologist or ITPA transcriptionist? I know its nasalized but not so sure it approaches a short a. Couldn't resist the comment.
A. What to do with preconsonantal nasals in a word sort is a problem precisely for the same reason that they present a problem for kids. (Kids learning what to do with them is a recognized milestone in their development). The junction between the end of the vowel sound and the beginning of the consonant sound is very indistinct. Plus in some of them the vowel sound really does change in some dialects. "Bank" for example can have a genuine long "a" sound and so we leave that one out entirely. However in "fang" I would argue that the "a" sound is short but that it just ends in an odd way. If you tape record someone saying "fang" and then erase the "ng" part and then play the recording I'll bet that you couldn't tell whether the word was supposed to be "fat" or "fang".
Preconsonantal nasals like "fang" are introduced late and treated separately in the "Word Families" sorts but they are put together with the other short vowels in the "Within Word" sorts. "Fang" doesn't sound just like "fast", but it is clearly not like "fate". I guess the question is does the student benefit more from drawing attention to the differences in the two or in trying to affirm the similarity? We decide to jam the preconsonantals in with the others because there are already enough categories in the English language.
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