Are you a reading teacher who has been looking for a quick but high-impact digital activity that aligns with the science of reading research? In July 2023, that was me. I was planning lessons for my summer tutoring students. I tried to find an online game my clients could use between their sessions with me. I knew that word chains are an effective way to combine phonemic awareness and phonics and that word chains can be selected to focus on specific phonics skills. So I searched the internet for interactive word chain activities that I could send to my families. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find what I was looking for. Here’s what I found instead:
- I found word chains that were unleveled, mixing CVC words with advanced vowel teams.
- I found word chains that relied on picture cues and required students to have extensive vocabulary knowledge to figure out the next word.
- I found word chains with distracting visuals and music you could not turn off.
- I found word chains with hard-to-read fonts.
- I found tons and tons of printable word chains, but very few interactive, online versions.
This was when the idea for Paws and Spell was born. I needed an online word chain game that was leveled by phonics skills, didn’t require extensive vocabulary knowledge, had no distracting visuals or audio, and was simple enough that students could use it independently. I asked, “What if I made it myself?” A few times over the past year, I thought I was crazy for attempting this project, but I’m proud to say that Paws and Spell has been built, tested, and officially released!
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What is Paws and Spell?
Paws and Spell is an online word chain activity that incorporates phonics and phonemic awareness into one high-impact, no-prep activity. Paws and Spell asks students to complete what are commonly called “word chains” or “word ladders.” Students drag letter tiles to change one sound in a given word to make a new word. Each word chain includes ten words.
What are the benefits of completing word chains?
Word chains are a high-impact activity, meaning they offer several benefits in one simple activity. Completing word chains requires students to practice several phonemic awareness skills in one activity: segmenting, blending, substituting, adding, and deleting. It also includes the phonics skills of decoding (reading) and encoding (spelling) because letters are involved. Lastly, word chains promote the orthographic mapping process because students make direct connections between the sounds in words and the letter(s) used to represent them.
Which students should use Paws and Spell?
Any early reader will benefit from using Paws and Spell! It’s ideal for typically developing early readers, older students who are building foundational skills, multilingual learners, and students with dyslexia or other reading disabilities.
How are the word chains organized?
There are 11 skills-based categories:
- CVC Words
- CVC Words with Digraphs
- Bonus Letters/ FLOSS Rule
- Initial Consonant Blends
- Final Consonant Blends
- Initial and Final Consonant Blends
- Open and Closed Syllables
- Silent e
- R-Controlled Vowels
- Long Vowel Teams
- Diphthongs and Other Tricky Vowel Teams
Each category includes 10 word chains, for a total of 110 word chains.
How can I use Paws and Spell word chains with my students?
Paws and Spell can be used as a warm-up for literacy lessons, independent work, an exit activity, or a whole class lesson.
Teachers say their favorite way to use Paws and Spell is with an interactive whiteboard! Picture this: students gathered around the interactive whiteboard, fully engaged as they manipulate letter tiles projected from your computer.
Calling all interventionists! Whether you’re a special education teacher, a reading specialist, a Title I tutor, or a private tutor, Paws and Spell is your secret weapon for student success. Join the ranks of educators who are transforming phonemic awareness skills, one word at a time!
Virtual tutors can also use the game! Imagine this: your student tackling word chains independently while you prep materials, or seamlessly guiding them through the game with shared screens. It’s the ultimate tool for personalized learning and remote support.
Homeschool parents also love Paws and Spell! It’s super simple for parents to log in on their child’s device, and then the child is ready to play!
Please note: Research shows that short, regular doses of phonemic awareness instruction work best. To make the most of Paws and Spell, consider having your students tackle one to two word chains a few times a week.
Am I supposed to include letters when I teach phonemic awareness? I thought phonemic awareness was just an auditory task.
Yes, we should include letters! The National Reading Panel’s report, Teaching Children to Read, highlights the incredible impact of phonemic awareness instruction when letters are involved. Dive into some excerpts from this report:
“Instruction that taught phoneme manipulation with letters helped normally developing readers and at-risk readers acquire PA [phonemic awareness) better than PA instruction without letters.”
“Teaching children to manipulate phonemes with letters created effect sizes almost twice as large as teaching children without letters.”
“PA training makes a stronger contribution to reading and spelling performance when the training includes teaching children to manipulate phonemes with letters than when training is limited to speech.”
“Teaching students to manipulate phonemes with letters yields larger effects than teaching students without letters, not surprisingly because letters help children make the connection between PA and its application to reading.”
“The NRP findings indicate that PA instruction may be most effective when children are taught to manipulate phonemes with letters…Teaching with letters is important because this helps children apply their PA skills to reading and writing.”
Louisa Moats, author of Speech To Print: Language Essentials for Teachers, recognizes that there are circumstances that require students to work on phonemic awareness in a solely auditory way, but not for a long period of time: “use letters and graphemes to represent sounds as soon as young students have a clear concept of what they represent.” Younger students should participate in oral-only phonemic awareness activities, but once they understand that letters are used to represent sounds, we should include letters in our phonemic awareness instruction.
Reading Rockets supports the use of phoneme manipulation tasks (adding, substituting, and deleting sounds) like the ones students complete when playing Paws and Spell:
Manipulating sounds “is the pinnacle skill [of phonemic awareness]. Keep in mind that poor phonological awareness is the most common area of weakness for struggling readers. Students who master this skill are on a solid footing for reading success.”
What devices can I play it on?
Paws and Spell is a browser-based game. It will work on desktop computers, laptops, and Chromebooks. Please note that it is not currently compatible with mobile devices like tablets or smartphones.
What are the subscription options?
We’re excited to offer you a one-year subscription for $5 or lifetime access for $10. As a thank you for reading my blog, you can use the code KRLBLOG24 at checkout for a 20% discount on the lifetime subscription.
Ready to give Paws and Spell a try?
Imagine your students effortlessly boosting their phonemic awareness, reading, and spelling skills with just one to two word chains a day using Paws and Spell. As they play, they become expert “mappers,” forming strong connections between letters and their sounds. Who could say no to that?
We’re offering five free word chains for you to test out. If you love it (and we think you will!), you can snag a subscription to unlock all 110 word chains. Click here to try Paws and Spell!
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