Spelling... How to practice it?

Spelling Questions:

How do you practice spelling?  How do you make spelling practice  fun?  When are mistakes good?  How does one avoid making spelling practice straight rote-memorization?  How do you incorporate learning styles into spelling, other than just writing it five times?  What are some ways to get my child to practice spelling independently?  How do you wholeisticly learn to spell?

My Response:

Spelling does not equate with intelligence, but misspelling can sure make you look foolish.  Spelling is something we have to teach our children.  Spelling is not my strong suit.  I am awful at it, ergo “the ones who can’t, can teach!”  Well, I don’t really even like to teach it, I tend to view it as a necessary evil; however, with all the questions coming in on this topic, I decided to make a spelling practice challenge for myself.  What would I like to do?  What would not make me bored?  This month I will be implementing all of the posted strategies in our classroom for our children and myself then I’ll let you know what worked for our family.  Please let me know what you have tried and what works for you.

To teach spelling wholeisticlly, children must learn the meaning of the word. It is difficult for a child to work with words that have no semantic meaning. By the end of learning their lists they should know the definition and be able to use it in a sentence or story.

http://dictionary.reference.com/

This is my favorite dictionary site because it is in an easy to read format.  This site has a dictionary, word for the day, thesaurus, encyclopedia, crosswords, various jargon box to broaden your scope of knowledge (this week has the fashion industry), word games  (what a great way to strengthen your meaning of a word and practice spelling it , I have enjoyed meaning fall it is sort of like a hangman but word meaning hints are given and miss. spell’s class… {these games I would play first myself and then determine if they are at your child’s frustration level…)}.

When to respect “good mistakes” :  those which use letter patterns.  They need to make the right sound, even though they are not right for that particular word.  So, for “purpose”:

• “purpus” would be a good guess – like “focus”
• “prupose” would be a less good guess

Obviously when your child is learning a spelling list, this is not going to work, they need to spell that list correctly.  This technique is something I would use when grading a paper or paragraph.

Here are a list of 30+ ways to practice spelling without using rote memorization, using all learning styles while making it fun!  Most are independent, a few are better suited as a group game or guided practice…but modify away, make it fit to your family’s style, schedule & budget.

1.  http://www.resourceroom.net/readspell/6waysspelling.pdf the trace, copy, recall method this site offers directions for a folding chart to use with individual practice

2.  write your words in peanut butter or whip cream with your finger, yum!

3.  write your words in sand or dirt with your finger, fun!

4.  translate your words into Morse code

5.  if you are right- handed use your left hand to write words or vice versa

6.  secret agent words: write words in lemon juice then have mom check by heating up the paper (candel{flamable}  hair-dryer{less flamable}) you used.

7.  write a TV commercial for your words, act it out for the family, or video tape it.

8.  make a power point on your words with definitions or synonyms / antonyms

9.  use string to spell out your word in cursive tape it down and trace it with your finger.

10.  http://sd5.k12.mt.us/elrod/multiage/downloads/SpellingComics.pdf this site has ready to print blank blocks to make a comic strip for your spelling words

11.  http://sd5.k12.mt.us/elrod/multiage/downloads/SignLangLetterChart.pdf here is an easy to use sign language chart.  Use it to practice.

12.  draw a keyboard on the ground with side walk chalk and jump to the letter key to spell your words

13.  take water and paintbrush and “paint” on the side of the house or on the concrete to practice worts

14.  use old newspapers or catalogues to cut out letters to practice spelling

15.  look up your word in the dictionary and write a sentence based on its meaning, or create a riddle

16.  write your words in alphabetical order then reverse the order

17.  type the words in a large easy to read font on the computer then print out your list, next use your favorite color of glitter glue and go over each letter with a thin line, when it dries trace with your finger.

18.  use glow in the dark magnet letters, find a great cozy dark place to practice spelling your words on a cookie sheet

19.  http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/ this site allows you to create a word search or another kind of puzzle with your spelling words

20.  use different colors to write your spelling words in chunks… this works really well if you have the sequintial spelling curriculum  ex:  all tall stall install installment.  if not, then choose one color for the consonants and one for the vowels, when you are finished, close your eyes and try to visualize your word in its colors.

21.  tape record your voice spelling your words (try using a singing voice)  then play it back to yourself listening to the words being spelled.

22.  use scrabble or banana gram tiles or letter beads to spell out your words.  You can also print out pictures that represent the word and have the child place the letter tile/beads on the correct picture.

23.  find your words in books, magazines, newspapers.  then highlight or circle them.

24.  Swat spelling:  (two ways to play)

1.  write words on paper and hang up on a line, read definitions to child and have them swat the correct word with a fly swatter.

2.  write the alphabet (each letter gets a separate piece of paper) and child swats the letters to spell the word

25.  bake some sugar cookies, and use a food marker to write words on different cookies, (yum!)  need a healthier version… food markers can write on any smooth food surface… cover an orange or a banana with your spelling words before devouring it.  try writing them on your plate before your meal is served, each bite might uncover your word.

26-30.  techie ways to practice:

http://www.funbrain.com/spell/index.html  a simple spelling game, you can choose the levels of easy to hard

http://www.kidsspell.com/  love that its free, love that you can create or choose a game list.  Depending on what you choose  the site will then enter it into all the games it has to offer, way cool.

http://www.spellingcity.com/  create a list & choose activities to practice

http://superherosquad.marvel.com/create_your_own_comic  this is  a marvel kids site that allows kids to design comic strips using characters, good way to put spelling words into usable sentences.

http://tuxpaint.org/  a free program to create drawings for words