Making Words on the iPad

Cunningham's Making Words activities provide an instructional approach and application experience for students to develop an understanding of and recognition of words and word features.

Making Words lessons are guided discovery lessons that provide structures and opportunities for students to develop their phonetic understanding and application of strategies to read and write words.  In a Making Words lesson, students are guided in recognizing, identifying, and applying strategies to read and write words through the manipulation of a set of letters.  Understanding is further encouraged through word sorts and application is promoted through post lesson transfer activities.

The First Grade Butterflies engage in Making Words lessons during Word Study in the classroom.

preparing for a Making Words lesson
For each Making Words lesson, a SMARTboard notebook is created with each word in the lesson on a separate page (as a "word card").
A page containing the relevant "letter cards" is created for the final "mystery-secret word" of the lesson.
For each word sort, a page is created that includes all of the "word cards" from the lesson for student manipulation of the "word cards" on the SMARTboard.

a Making Words lesson
The Butterflies engage in the Making Words lesson on the iPad with their Word Work Partner.

Utilizing the "movable alphabet" on the Word Wizard iPad app, the Butterfly Word Work Partners cooperatively use the letter tiles to create the words in the lesson.  The individual letter sound capability is turned "off" and the word sound capability is turned "on" for Partners to monitor the accuracy of the word attempted and revise or confirm the word attempted.

Interactive Modeling is used to support the Butterfly Word Work Partners in manipulating letters and making words "cooperatively" with a partner for the active engagement, participation, and optimal learning for each Butterfly.

For the final "mystery-secret word" of the lesson, the Butterfly Partners organize the relevant letters across the top line of the app page.  The letters are manipulated to create the "mystery-secret word" in  one of the middle rows.

For the word sorts, the SMARTboard is used inclusively.


Butterfly Word Work Partners cooperatively
manipulating letters on the Word Wizard iPad app
during a "Making Words" activity