Spelling Words Practice

I send this home at the beginning of the year. I hope it helps! Lori

Here are many ways to have fun practicing Word Book and spelling words! They have been gathered from many sources.

1. Paint with water- Dip a Q-tip in water and practice spelling the words on the chalkboard. The words will disappear like magic, leaving the chalkboard clean!
2.2. Shaving Cream Practice-Let your child finger paint on the table tops. Have your child practice their spelling words in the shaving cream.
3. Scratch n' Sniff- Use a new sensation to teach the alphabet or spelling words. Write letters with glue on paper, them sprinkle with Jell-O. Makes a super scratch n' Sniff when tracing over the letters.
4. Adding Machine Tape Spelling-Children get tired or writing their spelling words the same way every time. Try having the students practice their words on adding machine tape.
5. Fishing for Words- On 3"x5" cards print the students spelling words, fold in half, and fasten search with a paper clip. Place the cards in a large fish bowl. Using a toy fishing pole or a long stick, place a magnet on the string. Go fishing for a spelling word to practice.
6. Finger paint Bags- Freezer strength zip lock bags and fingerprint make great writing slates. Place a dab of finger paint (Tempera paint can work, although, not as well. Hey, look a use for all that semi-dried up paint!) in the zip-lock bag, tape the bag closed for extra strength. Then lay the bag flat on the table, write the word on the bag. The word will disappear like magic.
7. Record a Word- Have your child use a tape recorder to practice their spelling words.
8. Disappearing Act- Help your child perform a real disappearing act. Children write their spelling words with chalk on black construction paper. Then you can spray and watch their words disappear and return.
9. . Word cubes- Write letters on small wooden blocks and have your child arrange them and to spell their weekly words.
10. . Spelling Magic- Try a little magic to teach spelling words! Have your child write words on white construction paper with white crayon. Then paint over the paper with watered down tempera paint. Words appear like magic!
11. Read and Grow- Encourage flashcard practice with this growing flower. Cut a large, colored, construction paper flower with a yellow circle glued to it's center. Use an X-acto knife to make two parallel slits in the center of the flower. Cut green tag board strips the width of the slits, and insert the strip though the flower from the back. Write the spelling words on the stem for the children to practice.

12. Egg Spellers- The parent writes the weekly spelling words on small pieces of paper and place them inside plastic eggs. (Now you know what to do with all those plastic Easter eggs after your kids are bored with them.)Your child picks the eggs from an Easter basket., then must write that word.
13. Spelling Dice- The teacher writes the weekly spelling words on dice made from inverted milk cartons. The student rolls the dice and whatever
the dice lands on they write 5 times.
14.. Individual Whiteboards- Have your child practice writing their spelling words on small whiteboards or chalkboards. They love it! (I have some you may borrow!)
15. Tissue Paper Tracing- The teacher writes the weekly spelling words on a large piece of paper.
16. Magnetic Words- The parent arranges assorted magnet letters on a cookie sheet or magnetic white board. Students use the letters to form the weekly spelling words.
17. . Computer Words/Typewriter Fun- Have your child type their spelling words ten times each on the computer. Use different colors and fonts and print it out!
18. Paint Your Words- Have children use small paint brushes to paint their words.
19 . Salt Box Spelling-The parent pours salt in the lid of a box (approx. 1/4"). The child then practices the words in the salt.
20.Alpha-bit Spelling- Children use cereal to reproduce their spelling words. Don't forget the have a snack with the words you make.
21. Pudding Practice- Try using instant pudding as a finger paint to practice spelling words.
22. Sandy Words- Have your child write their spelling words in glue, sprinkle sand over the glue. The child can then trace over the words with their fingers for practice. They make terrific flash cards! (Colored sand makes I even neater!)
23. Rainbow Words- Have your child practice words with felt pens, alternate colors for a rainbow look.
24. Put It In Print- Have children cut out the letters from a newspaper to spell the weekly spelling words.
25. Crazy Spelling. Use small objects like fabric scraps, leaves, flower petals, etc. Let your hcild write their words in glue and glue the objects to your words!

I hope these help.

Spelling Hints

A child does not learn to spell by being tested on his spelling words. He learns to spell by practicing and repeating them.
Auditory learners may learn spelling best by repeating the letters verbally by syllables, as in “un, u-n; der, d-e-r; stand, s-t-a-n-d.”
Visual learners may prefer reading the spelling word over and over. Use a dot or space between syllables.
Kinesthetic learners can learn to spell by forming words with magnetic letters or letter tiles, flannel-backed letters or cards with letters written on them, or other manipulative learning aids.
· Any child can profit from worksheets or workbook that has him write the spelling words over and over, often in a fun format.
· You can combine spelling and penmanship by practicing them together.
· Grouping words that are spelled similarly or contrasting homonyms is helpful.
· A program that teaches phonics principles along with spelling is best.

12 reasonible reasonable suggestions

There are exceptions to most rules of spelling, but the following 12 suggestions can be useful in spelling many words correctly. 1. Make it "i" before "e" except after "c" or when sounded like "a" as in neighbor and weigh. Notable exceptions include: caffeine, codeine, eider, either, feisty, heifer, height, heist, leisure, neither, protein, seismic, seize, stein, weird and words with "re" as a prefix and a root that begins with the letter "i" such as reinforce.
2. To add a suffix to a word ending in the letter "y," change the "y" to "i" (angry, angrily) unless the letter preceding the "y" is a vowel or the suffix begins with an "i" (annoy, annoying).
3. A final silent "e" usually is dropped before a suffix beginning with a vowel (advise, advising) but retained before a suffix beginning with a consonant (awe, awesome). The silent 'e' is retained on words that might be confused with other words if the "e" were dropped (singe, singeing). The silent "e" is dropped before a suffix beginning with a consonant in some common words (judge, judgment). A few words ending in "ie" in which the "e" is silent change "ie" to "y" before adding "ing" (die, dying).
4. The letter "k" is usually added to words ending in "c" before a suffix beginning with "e," "i" or "y" (picnic, picnicking). 5. Words of one syllable or words with the last syllable accented and ending with a consonant double the consonant when adding a suffix beginning with a vowel (stop, stopped, occur, occurred).
6. Words ending in a final consonant preceded by two vowels do not double the final consonant (need, needed).
7. When two words are combined and the first ends with the same letter with which the last begins, include both letters (withhold).
8. Words ending in "able" generally are formed by tacking "able" onto the entire word (accept, acceptable), but words ending in "ible" generally are formed by tacking "ible" to the root of the word that cannot stand alone (forcible).
9. When the plural of a noun is pronounced as another syllable, add "es" instead of "s" (church, churches).
10. Create the plural of a noun ending in "o" preceded by a vowel by adding an "s" (radio, radios). For a noun ending in "o" preceded by a consonant, add "es" (potato, potatoes). In some circles this is known as the Dan Quayle Memorial Rule.
11. In choosing between "ede" and "eed" spellings, remember that only five common words use the double "e": deed, exceed, indeed, proceed and succeed.
12. In choosing between "ify" and "efy" endings, remember that only four commonly used words end in "efy": liquefy, putrefy, rarefy and stupefy.

Oh, the best way to learn to spell correctly? Read!

Do you mean 31 Ways to Practice Spelling?

1. ABC Order – Write your words in alphabetical order.
2. Reversed Words – Write your words in alphabetical order – backwards!
3. Rainbow Words – Write each word in three colors.
4. Cheer Your Words – Pretend you are a cheerleader and call out your words!
5. Backwards Words – Write your words forwards, then backwards.
6. Picture Words – Draw a picture and write your words in the picture.
7. Silly Sentences – Use all your words in ten sentences.
8. Pyramid Words – Write your words adding or subtracting one letter each time. The result will be a pyramid shape of words.
9. Ransom Words – Write your words by cutting out letters in a newspaper or magazine and gluing them onto blank paper.
10. Words-in-Words – Write your words and then write at least two words made from the letters in each word.
11. Magazine Words – Use an old magazine or newspaper and find your word. Cut it out and glue it onto blank paper.
12. Story Words J – Write a short story using all your words.
13. 30 second Words J – Write a TV commercial using all of the words from your list.
14. Popsicles – Make your words using Popsicle sticks to make each letter.
15. Secret Agent Words – Number the alphabet from 1 to 26, then convert your words to a number code.
16. Etch-A-Word – Use an Etch-A-Sketch to write your words.
17. Telephone Words – Translate your words into numbers from a telephone keypad.
18. Sound Words – Use a tape records and record your words and their spelling. Then listen to your tape, checking to see that you spelled all the words correctly.
19. Words You Can Eat – Write your words by arranging alphabet pasta or Alphabits cereal.
20. 3D Words – Use modeling clay rolled thinly to make your words.
21. Bathtub Spelling Practice – Using foam letters, make your words by sticking the letter to the side of the tub.
22. Sidewalk Spelling – Use sidewalk chalk to write the words on the sidewalk or driveway.
23. Poker Chip Spelling – Write all the letters of the alphabet on poker chips. Use them to spell your words.
24. Scrabble Spelling – Play a game of Scrabble using the spelling words.
25. Go Fish – Each time you spell a word correctly, eat a Goldfish cracker for each letter in the word.
26. Word Processing Practice – Use the computer to type the words. Use different colors, fonts, and sizes for each word.
27. Spelling Word Finds J – Create a word find
28. Crossword Spelling J -- Create a crossword puzzle with your spelling words using the words’ definitions.
29. Spelling Puzzles – Write each spelling word on an index card. Cut each card in half and mix them up. Then match the two parts of the word.
30. Finger Paint Bag – Pour a little bit of finger paint into a Ziploc bag and close it tight. Lay the bag flat on the table and use a finger to spell the word.
31. Spelling Squares – Write your word on graphing paper, putting one letter in each box.

I attended a conference last summer. Here are some of the ideas we were given. I sent this home to my parents at the beginning of the year. I told them that this would be a creative way to study their spelling. This is copied from my letter I sent home. Hope this helps.

WORD DRILL
Read the words on weekly spelling list out loud and ask your child to write each word after you have read it. Stop after each word and check to see if he or she spelled the word correctly. If not, have the child take a good look at the word. Ask him or her to touch each letter in the word, and to say the letter out loud. Then have your child write again without looking. Spelling is mostly a visual process, so it is very important that your child is allowed to “look” a lot.

STORIES OR SENTENCES
Another effective way to study at home is to have your child use all or some of a list of spelling words in a story or sentences. This way you will know that your child is able to use his or her spelling words in pieces of writing. After all that’s why we have spelling!
It’s for writing!

HOPPING ON ONE FOOT
Ask your child to hop on their left foot while spelling their “green” words and their right foot while spelling their “red” words. They can hop on both feet for any “blue” words.

BEDTIME STORIES
Before retiring for bed, write your child’s spelling words on separate pieces of paper. Hide them in different places in your child’s bedroom (i.e.; under their pillow, in their medicine cabinet, where they keep their toothbrush, and etc.) When they find any of the pieces of paper they must give the paper to you and spell the word correctly that is written on the paper. If they can spell it, they get to keep the paper. If not, they must let you hide it in another place the next evening. The object is to collect all the words (papers) before the end of the week.

I do all sorts of crazy things with spelling/vocab/word wall words. Nothing requires any preparation...just kids, energy, and their bodies.

Snap and Spell: Say in a chant: "We're gonna snap and spell cap. C-A-P cap" Snap on each letter, clap when you say the word at the end.

Stomp and Spell: Same as above except you stomp on the letters and jump when you say the word.

Cheerleader/Football Players (yes, I know it's sexist...sorry) Girls are cheerleaders, boys are football players. Girls say: "Give me a C" Boys say "C". continue spelling whole word...then Girls ask "What does that spell?" BOys say "CAP!"

Super Star Spelling: I give each child invisible stars that they hold in their hand(ok, it's really air, but they love it anyhow). By spelling the whole word, they make their stars twinkle. Each time we say a letter to spell the word, we throw a handful of stars into the air. Then we say the word that we just spelled at the end and we hold our hands way high in the air and wiggle our fingers to "twinkle" like super spelling stars.

Then there's the timeless trick of spelling like giants, robots, teeny tiny mice, ghosts, or ANYTHING that comes to mind. I let the kids come up with those ideas, and then whoever had the idea gets to lead the class. They love that!

OK, that's just some ideas. They don't require any work ahead of time, and they are great for those five minutes before it's time to line up for lunch and you need a filler. The kids LOVE all of these, but their favorite is stomp and spell. It gets a little out of control sometimes, so we don't do that one very often. They are thrilled to get to snap and spell, though. That's a hit.

If you want any more crazy ideas like these, I have a bunch. I'd be happy to post more if anyone wants them. Let me know...happy spelling!

Here is a copy of my Spelling contract. All my students seem to love it. I always put one required activity on there, such as a workbook page. They get to choose 3 other activities to complete.

Name __________________________
Spelling Contract

After you complete the 4 activities; staple them together and turn in to the homework box on Friday morning. No late Spelling contracts will be accepted.

Required activity for the week ____________________________________
Place an X by the 3 activities you are choosing to complete.

______ Type your spelling words and print them.
____ Write your words in 3 different colors.
____ Write your words in reverse ABC order.
____ Take a pretest from an adult.
____ Use all your words to write a letter to Superman or another super hero.
____ Make flashcards to study your words.
____ Design a bookmark and write your list of words on the bookmark.
____ Make a word search.
____ Write your words in shapes. Put all the shapes together to make a picture.
____ Make a crossword puzzle using all your words. Be sure to include clues.
____ Scramble your words and have another person solve.
____ Write the alphabet on a piece of paper. Under A, write $1.00, under B,
write $2.00, and so on. Figure up the dollar amount of each of your words.
_____ Cut letters out of magazines and newspapers to spell your words.
____ Draw a picture of 15 of your words. Label your pictures.
____ Look at your words. Arrange the letters of each word in alphabetical order.
For example, the word is broken. b e k n o r
____ Write a poem using your words.
____ Classify the words according to the parts of speech.
____ Make up a rap or song using all your words. Perform it for the class!
____ Make up a code. Write your words in your code and give it to another person
to solve.
____ Write sentences with your words.
____ Sandpaper words. See me to get the sandpaper.
____ Define 15 of your words.
____ Pick 15 of your words and tell what language they originated from. You
should be able to find this in the dictionary.
____ Pick 15 words. Use a Thesaurus to list other words for your spelling words.
____ Write your words 3 times each.

I have used spelling notebooks in my classroom now for three years and I plan on using them next year. My students use a wireless notebook or a compostition notebook for their spelling.

I go over the spelling unit for the week on Monday morning. For each section I have someone give me an answer and they write it down in their notebook for that section. I go over how to write each part of the spelling unit step by step for two weeks in the beginning of the school year. Once they have it down I just double check when I check their notebooks on Friday morning. I give them the whole week to get the work done. They can work on it when they have free time that way if they have a question or need help I am there to help. Friday morning I call each table up to my desk and I check the journals to see if they have done the work. If they have then I stamp the journal with a thumbs up stamp I have and mark 30 points in my grade book. If it is not done then they go out into the hall to work on it until I have finished checking homework and ready to give the spelling test. If it is still not done then they loose recess until I get and they are marked half the points for not doing it on time. Then as a class we go over the answers and then take our spelling tests. This system has worked very well for me and it has saved me loads of time with less the hassle.

I have a spelling center. In the center are games (Scrabble, Boggle) and assignment cards. Assignments from the cards are worth 20 points each. Kids have to do 3 assignments, but can do up to 5. Some of the assignments are -
** Write one sentence with each word
** Write a story using all of your spelling words
** Make spelling flash cards
** Complete a spelling word crossword puzzle
** Complete a spelling word search
** Review your spelling cards three times with a buddy (buddy has to sign off each time it is done)
** Play a spelling (Scrabble or Boggle) game using as many spelling words (old or new) as you can. Write the words you spell on a sheet to turn in.

In addition to the center. Each child has to add the spelling words to his/her portable word wall him his/her agenda each week (I write the words on the board). I make puzzles using teachnology web site. Also, as a class, we play hangman once a week using spelling words we have had from the year so far.

I use a marble covered notebook for Word Study. The first 13 pages we make an individual dictionary, a letter of the alphabet on the front and back (xyz on one page).

The middle of the notebook is for vocabulary words. Sometimes we work on Greek and Latin roots. Sometimes we have content vocabulary and sometimes we work with 5 new interesting verbs, nouns, etc. Essentially the middle of the notebook is to learn new words and their definitions with less of a stress on spelling.

The last 5 pages I use for individual spelling lists which the children study and work with each week. I only use a 10 word list so the students put 4 lists on a page.

As I look over weekly written work, I highlight misspelled words which the student enters into their personal dictionary. I also have a "Lexicon Line" hanging across the classroom (my version of a word wall for 5th grade). As I hang new words on the line each week, these words are also written into the personal dictionary.

When children make their own individualized list each week, they may use their personal dictionaries for words. After each spelling test, any words not mastered are highlighted in the list in the spelling section and then also entered in the personal dictionary also highlighted. The students are encouraged to try these words again at a later time and when they are mastered they are circled.

On Fridays I send home a stapled work packet for the week and I give the children time to find those highlighted misspelled words and to enter them in their dictionary.

I taught second last year and here are some ways we practiced our spelling.
Rainbow Spelling-Writing the words over and over in rainbow colors
Basketball Spelling-Kids(as a whole group) stand up say the word then pretend to bounce the basketball while saying the letters of the word when the word is finished they jump to pretend put the ball in the basket and say the word (my kids loved this)
Hickety Pickety- A spelling rhyme
Hickety Pickety Bumble Bee can you say this word with me---------
First we say it-------- (letter by letter)
Then we clap it-------- (letter by letter)
Then we stomp it------- (letter by letter)
Hickety Pickety Bumble Bee can you say this word with me---------
Another activity I did after my words were put on the word wall was Guess the Word. I'd say I'm thinking of a word it begins with--. Then give them another clue or a sentence that it would fit in. The kids would write these down and then we'd check them together.
I hope this helps. I'm moving to 4th grade this year and I need to think of some fun ways that they can practice spelling. Any ideas?

Hi all,
Another resource for spelling is 'Words Their Way'. You assess their developmental spelling stage, then target words that are appropriate for them. These are in addition to the ideas mentioned of high frequency words, words from their writing, etc. I used Word Matters for some of the groups this year, but this book goes farther. It's a bit of a juggling act on the first day to model the various minilessons but worth the effort.
A spelling notebook of about 40 pages (there are ones that are sewn, just like the marble composition books, just a smaller size and number of pages) works well, the front is for weekly words, the pages are folded in half for two word lists on each page. In the back, the last 13 pages can be used as an ongoing personal dictionary, by labeling the pages from A-Z, then recording their words on the appropriate pages. A volunteer could easily do this at home on the weekend.
Mine have between 10-15 words depending. Remember all these are words the child is learning for the first time, so you might find that 20 is too many. (In a traditional program with everyone doing the same words, most children would have some they can already spell.) You'll start with words that are closest to being conventional, then move on to the more complex ones as they become more proficient. Best of luck all!!! ;-D

Thank you so much Elaine for clearing "spelling contracts" up for me. Here is a list of things I do for Spelling...

**Write your words by cutting out letters in a newspaper or magazine and glue them on paper. (I bought a box of paper letters--written in different styles--at our local teacher store. I use these as well.

**Write your spelling words forwards, then backwards.

**Write your letters in three rainbow colors (beginning, vowel sound, ending)... or color code however.

**Convert your words to Morse Code, Braille, or choose a few and convert to American Sign Language.

**Write your words substituting a smiley face for the vowel sound.

**Translate your words into numbers from a telephone keypad.

**Let your partner "write" the words on your back using his/her finger (going slowly so you can say each letter).

**Number the alphabet 1-26 then convert your words to a number code.

**Use playdough and letter cookie cutters to make your words.

**Make your words from magnetic alphabet letters (I use them on a cookie sheet).

**Use letter tiles to make your words (I bought these at Wal-Mart for around $3. That beats our teacher store that had them for around $20! Ugghh!)

**Use Pasta to make the words (I use to could find the alphabet in pasta but have had a hard time finding it now).

I think this is about it. If I think of something I left out, I'll be back to post it. Hope these have helped!