How to Become a Word Scientist
*This course is intended for upper elementary students
Class Schedule
Sundays 9:00-10:00 am PST
November 1, November 8, November 15, November 22,
(no class November 29), December 6, December 13
Note: Classes are listed in PST, click below to convert time to your time zone.
Course Overview
In this six-week course, students will investigate the fascinating connections between words through Structured Word Inquiry (SWI) (Bowers & Kirby, 2010), a scientific approach to literacy instruction that examines the surprisingly logical way English orthography represents the pronunciations and meanings of words. The founder of SWI, Dr. Pete Bowers will guide students through investigations of words that take them through the interrelation of morphology (bases and affixes), etymology (history), and phonology (pronunciation) on which our spelling system works. Instead of having to memorize “irregular spellings” students will become word scientists, asking questions, gathering evidence, testing hypotheses, and uncovering the relationships hidden inside words.
Each week, students will build their own word matrices, investigate words that have always puzzled them, and use evidence to uncover patterns they may never have noticed before. Participants will be encouraged to bring words and texts they want to study, and Pete will bring texts to help students learn how to use SWI to deepen understanding of concepts and terms in any subject area. Along the way, they’ll discover that studying spelling can open doors to vocabulary, etymology, history, science, and deeper understanding.
Students will leave the course with a new way of looking at words and the tools to investigate words they have never encountered before.
Student Outcomes
- Investigate words scientifically by asking questions, gathering evidence, and testing ideas about spelling and meaning.
- Construct and interpret word matrices to reveal meaningful relationships between words.
- Identify meaningful word parts and use them to understand connections among related words.
- Use morphology and etymology to deepen vocabulary and understand unfamiliar words.
Student Experience
Pattern Seeker
Researcher
Scientist
Your Teacher: Dr. Pete Bowers
Pete Bowers, PhD, is a teacher, researcher, author, and founder of WordWorks Literacy Centre. His research on morphological instruction and "Structured Word Inquiry" and his practical work with schools are transforming how researchers, teachers, tutors, and students around the world understand and study English spelling. His workshops and presentations at education conferences have taken him to Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, the Middle East, and North America. He was a visiting scholar at the Nueva School for the 2015–2016 school year to support their work with Structured Word Inquiry. His research in major journals is widely cited.
To get a taste of the understanding targeted by SWI see this TEDx talk by Pete that gives a “big picture” of how spelling works, and this video showing how spelling represents the interrelation of pronunciation and spelling.
You can explore Pete’s website at www.wordworkskingston.com, and his YouTube Channel with many videos about this learning in action.