Spelling & Word Matters

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Home : 2002 : March : 17

Spelling & Word Matters
By Debbie

Hi Julie,
I'm using a model similar to GR & W for spelling. Students have a spelling notebook, with the words they're working on in the front. It's just a small sewn notebook (smaller than their writer's notebooks).
Each week, I look thru their writing as well as their high frequency word list (tested at various points in the year). They get 6-10 new words, plus I do a spelling mini lesson weekly and they choose a few words they'd like to learn from there to add to their list. They are matched with a buddy with similar spelling needs to give each other the pre and post test. Day 1 is 'Look, Say,

Cover, Write, Check', Day 2 is magnetic letters, Day 3 is the pretest and the child practices in any helpful way on those words missed, Day 4 is analogies (VERY powerful strategy) and Day 5 is their final test. If they miss some from the week, they go on the next week's list. I try to choose words with useful links so there are two similar words each week. I've been wanting to put all their words in the back from A-Z (the last 13 pages front and back) so they have a mini list of words they've learned as a reference, but I haven' gotten far on it. I did use Word Matters for some lessons; the book I've been using to help craft most mini lessons is 'Word Their Way Word Study for Phonics, Vocabulary and Spelling Instruction'. It's published thru Prentice Hall, which is now a part of Pearson Learning. I skip the games, etc. Hope you find it useful. ;-D