WordSort is an educational software program based on the work of the late Dr. Edmund H. Henderson of The University of Virginia. Dr. Henderson was International Reading Association Outstanding Teacher Educator in Reading in 1990, director of The McGuffey Reading Center and an authority on reading and spelling. Many of the editors of major reading and spelling series in the United States received their degrees at McGuffey. Shane Templeton, Don Bear, Richard Gentry, Ron Cramer, Jim Beers, Jerry Zutell, Tom Gill, Darrell Morris, Mary Abouzeid, Marcia Invernizzi, and Jeffrey Cantrell all received their degrees with Dr. Henderson.

          Dr. Henderson was an advocate of "Word Study" as a means of teaching reading and spelling. WordSort automates a series of Word Study lessons. It uses the task of sorting to reveal to the student the essential differences and similarities between groups of words, presenting a series of lessons in which they are asked to match words with a selection of example words.

          We call a single WordSort lesson a "Sort" and a series of lessons a "Study". WordSort can use different Studies just as a tape recorder can use different tapes. The VowelPattern Studies, which come with WordSort, contain lessons designed to teach the various sound/pattern groups to beginning readers. There are 7 different Studies in all, containing about 350 Sorts. The words used are single syllable words of grade levels K through 4 or pictures representing words. The Sorts cover all the vowel and consonant sound/pattern groups, from beginning consonant sound Sorts using pictures, to word family (rhyming) Sorts, to within word vowel Sorts. They are suitable for students in the emergent reading stage through the transitional stage and beyond.

          To learn to read and spell well, children need to be able to relate the sound and spelling patterns of new words to the sound and spelling patterns of words they already know. The ability to recognize spelling patterns instantly is the key to this ability to categorize words. In a VowelPattern Sort students are asked to sort 20 words into groups by their spelling pattern and sound. Their ability to sort quickly indicates that they are thoroughly comfortable with the patterns involved. This practice teaches them the patterns of letters used in words and helps them to use what they have learned automatically. The key goal is automaticity, or the ability to complete a task accurately and without conscious thought.

          Words for the VowelPattern Studies are high frequency words commonly encountered by middle elementary school readers. WordSort is an appropriate teaching tool for any student from pre-reader through the transitional stage and beyond. It is not just for remedial students. In some Sorts words may be sorted simply by visual attention to letter patterns. For example, "late" and "name" would be in a group together, while "rain" and "train" would form another group. In later, more difficult Sorts, students cannot depend solely on sight because the spelling patterns in different groups are the same. Instead students must sort words based on their different vowel sounds. Such a Sort might include categories of words with such sound/patterns as "bead", "head", and "beard".

          WordSort has been on the market for more than 10 years in various forms. It is well debugged and reliable and we have made every effort to make it easy for the teacher to use. We have versions for the Macintosh, Windows, and Dos. Our address is 1500 Hamilton Road, Louisa, VA 23093-4645. Or use email, "wordsort@cstone.net". Or see our web site 'http://HendersonEdSoft.com'.