My wonderfully creative Sprite is not a strong speller. We have lots of family jokes about her spelling fiascos such as “You are the beast dad.” She takes it in stride. She realizes she has other strengths.
Now that she’s in 3rd grade, I thought I should get a bit more serious about spelling though, so I’m using Spelling Power. I like it! It incorporates a detailed sequence of steps for studying each word. I’ve seen some improvement during the six weeks we’ve used this program. One of the neat parts of the program is the variety of spelling activities that are suggested. I’m a huge fan of variety. I think it really helps to improve motivation and keep interest! Here are a few ideas that work well for us.
We’ve been making pictures with the words to help Sprite remember the spellings. Here is off with the TWO (not one) f’s creating the filament in a lightbulb that should be turned OFF.
This is a simple comparison of does with goes. They are spelled the same (adding -es) but are pronounced differently so that makes them tricky.
This one indicates “ice is nice” on a sunny day. Nice has ICE inside.
These kinds of visual cues help Sprite a lot!
Now for her absolute favorite spelling activity — jump spelling!
I scatter letters on the floor, call out words, and she has to “jump” the spellings. This crazy and very simple activity is so fun for her! She doesn’t want to stop spelling. So yesterday we both extended our spelling time by making up new words with the letters on the floor. I joined in and jumped around too!
For more great ideas, visit this great spelling post by LaPaz Home Learning. I will be adding some of her hints into our spelling activities.
I’ve collected all my favorite spelling ideas on a new lens: Spelling. It has these same ideas above plus some new ones. And there’s a link to a free list of spelling activities. Keep it with your HS planner and always have a new, fun spelling activity idea handy.
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