Anyone skip or modify the Wordly Wise "E" sections?

[pitterpatter]

We used Wordly Wise (Book 3) for the first time last year. DD enjoyed it and I thought it worthwhile. The "A"-"D" sections were fairly quick and painless. But, the "E" sections took way too much time to complete as written. My DD is dyslexic, which significantly slows her down when writing/spelling, so I read the articles aloud and scribed her answers in complete sentences. Even so, the whole process took upward of 30 minutes. In some cases, we hit an hour, which put us behind and in a bad, rushed mood the rest of the day. DD likes the articles very much, but we just can't commit that kind of time again this year. And, I really want to avoid this kind of frustration all the way around.

 

Anyone had a similar problem with Wordly Wise? What was your solution?

[Mandamom]

The school (learning disabled, dyslexia, adhd,)l that I work for uses this series and it depends on the student on how I modify it.

 

First, my students are required to be able to read all of the vocabulary words and know the meanings within about 1 week (Tuesday-Tuesday). We use instructional level to determine which level the student uses. . We also use the test books. So, the exercises are supplements to learning the words. Most of my students, are able to complete parts A, B and C. Exercise D (I think that's usually the Word Roots section) we are a allowed to skip. For some students -- those who can read the words but not understand (language comprehension weaknesses) can usually get through and are allowed to complete it over 2 days. 

 

For my dyslexic students, I don't always have them read the story and sometimes don't have them complete section E. I usually find that the stories are ether at frustration level. I will have the student draw pictures (sketches) of the words, a synonym /antonym activity, etc. in order for them to learn the material. They are also reading a literature book and have a separate book for homework, so if they don't read this particular story they are still getting plenty of reading. 

 

Another idea, is to have you read the story out loud and then have the student read the story out-loud. If your child has good listening comprehension, then having the background knowledge will assist in the reading process. 

 

Hope that helps. 

 

 

 

 

[BusyMom5]

I think part E is the best part!   But my kids aren't dyslexic.  I do take 2 weeks to do a lesson, though.  I tried it in one week last week, and ODD just couldn't hack it.  She said it was too much, too fast, and asked this week to just do the ABC&D this week, then write each word in a sentence.  I find using the word in a sentence to be a good exercise.  Next week we will review them, do part E, and then the test. 

[pitterpatter]

Our schedule last year was:

 

Monday - Intro to words via Wordly Wise app + Sections A & B

Tuesday - Quizlet review + Sections C & D

Wednesday - Quizlet review + Section E

Thursday - Quizlet review + Test

Friday - Off (Not so much off, but another subject was scheduled in this time slot.)

 

I did modify some directions so it wasn't writing-intensive. All days, except E days, took 15 minutes tops, including review.

 

DD did real with it all and we both liked E, except it just took too long to complete the questions. In flipping through Book 4 for this year, most E sections have 15 short answer questions. I can see it easily taking 45-60 minutes to get through it. Directions say to write in complete sentences, but I'm just thinking about completing E orally and letting DD answer with quick phrases in most cases. She has short answer questions she completes in other subjects. We need to spend our bigger chunks of time on spelling, writing and math.

 

I think part E is the best part!   But my kids aren't dyslexic.  I do take 2 weeks to do a lesson, though.  I tried it in one week last week, and ODD just couldn't hack it.  She said it was too much, too fast, and asked this week to just do the ABC&D this week, then write each word in a sentence.  I find using the word in a sentence to be a good exercise.  Next week we will review them, do part E, and then the test. 

 

[silver]

I do that section orally, no scribing. 

 

I also take two weeks to do a lesson, spanning 6 days.

 

Week 1

Day 1: Listen to words and sample sentences online. Do section A.

Day 2: Using the list of words in the book (not the pages with definitions, just the lists on each page of the lesson), give an original sentence using each word. This will often show when the concept of the word is understood, but not the nuances of usage.

Day 3: Do section B.

 

Week 2:

Day 4: Section C

Day 5: Section D

Day 6: Section E, orally. I ask the questions aloud and I do not write down the answers. I'm not even a stickler for using complete sentences. 

[Jyhwkmama]

We loved the stories in Section E, but I never had him write out the answers to the questions. I would skim through them and ask him the ones that seemed most helpful orally.

[arliemaria]

We are nearing the end of Book A.  This is really neat to see how you all use this.  I like the idea of using two weeks to review the words.  I've thought of taking the words and making Anki cards to review more.

[Porridge]

We split E over 2 days. My child is not dyslexic, though. You could also split it even more. Maybe do A + 4 E questions on day 1, B + 4 E questions on day 2, etc....

[IMustBeCrazy]

Grateful for these thoughts.  We did Wordly Wise two years ago, and my kids DESPISED section E.  We ended up not using it at all last year.  I find that although I feel very free to choose whatever curriculum I want, I often don't give myself the freedom to skip things in the curriculum I choose.  We do lots of reading in other places and don't necessarily need this particular assignment in Wordly Wise.  I had been wanting to go back to it and unsure how to pull it off with other priorities.

[icngirl119]

We also split E into 2 days.  I like that it requires the student to use a vocabulary word from his word list in the responses that don't have a vocab word in the question.