A study examined the effect of word study on second-grade students' application of spelling and phonics in their independent writing. Subjects were 19 second graders from a school in a north-central Indiana region marked by a broad range of social and economic levels. Data included a spelling inventory, independent writing samples, and student surveys. Subjects were divided into four groups based on ability and met two or three times a week for 45 minutes at the end of the school day. Activities for student discovery and application included word hunts, word sorts, games, making words, and reading books and poems at the appropriate developmental level. Results indicated that: all students progressed in their knowledge of words; the greatest gains were made by the English-as-a-second-language students; and students of all academic levels found word study to be meaningful and enjoyable. Findings suggest that word study was a valuable tool used as part of a larger literacy framework in this second-grade classroom. Appendixes contain evaluation measures; a spelling inventory; a list of characteristics of the developmental stages of learning to spell; 12 charts of data; and student dictation sentences. Contains 8 references. (RS)