I just typed these up for someone, and thought it was worth sharing here, too. My oldest really struggles with spelling sometimes, and I thought these were great tips (taken from a Scholastic book for grades 2-4 called “Spelling Secrets”). Hope it helps someone! _____________________________________ Play with words: Ask student to look at their spelling word list and do the following: -List all the words that end in silent ‘e’ -List all the words that start with a vowel -List all the words that end with a consonant -List all the words that include the long ‘a’ sound -List all the words that have two syllables (Add your own ideas to the above list) By reviewing the words over and over again and writing down those that match your criteria, students will become familiar with the words. Put it in writing: Invite student to write a short story using all of the week’s spelling words. Create a word hunt (there are free sites to do this online) that utilize the week’s words. Chant it out: Rhythm and repetition are wonderful tricks for remembering how to spell challenging words. Each day, choose a few words from the list to chant or cheer together. For example, you can use this old cheerleading cry with any word: Give me a C. C! Give me an A. A! Give me a T. T! What does it spell? CAT!!! You might also try having kids shout out the spelling of a word while touching their toes for each letter. Or invite the student to spell the word aloud in a funny voice. For example: -Spell the word with a tiger growl -Spell the word in a whisper -Spell the word while holding your nose -Sing the letters out like an opera singer might -Use sign language letters to spell the word -Say the letters as if you’re calling out winning lottery numbers -Spell with an exaggerated accent -Say the spelling very slowly, stretching out each letter These little tricks may sound silly, but they help kids find a hook in their memories on which to hang the difficult word. The next time students need to remember the spelling of a word, they might just hear that tiger voice or whisper in the back of their minds!
