May 24, 2011

Super Spelling Ideas

Over the years I have tried several different ideas for my spelling center. Each year I add and change some of the activities to meet the needs of my students. Below is a list of some of my and my student's favorites that I feel really benefit them. Some of these I've come up with on my own, some I've borrowed from other teachers. Hopefully these help you with your own students as well!

1. Alphabet Macaroni Spelling - I have a large bin with alphabet macaroni noodles. Students get to spell their words with the noodles. I have them lay them out and then put them away when they're done, but you could also have them glue the noodles to paper as well.

2. Alphabet Stamps- I've accumulated 3 sets of alphabet stamps throughout the past few years. I have my students use the stamps to stamp out their words. (They love this one because they get to use the stamp pads!)

3.Spelling Staircases- Students use our markerboards to write their words one at a time as stairsteps for example:
s
st
sta
stair
stairs
stairst
stairste
stairstep

4. Glue Letters- This is one of our new favorites. I filled 5 Ziploc freezer bags about 1/3 of the way full with white glue and add a few squirts of tempra paint. Mix the glue and paint together. Squeeze out all of the air and seal the bag shut. I then taped the bag shut with packing tape to make sure my students don't try to open the bags. Students then lay the bags flat on their desk and write their spelling words in the glue using their fingers.


5. Rainbow Words- Students first write each of their spelling words in pencil, then they trace over each word with 3 different colored crayons to practice spelling them. I have a worksheet I found years ago that I use, but you could easily make up your own as well.


6. Sign Language Spelling- At the beginning of the year I teach my students how to sign each letter of the alphabet as we review their sounds and learn their spellings. By Thanksgiving, most of my students can sign the entire alphabet. For spelling, I have my students sign a word to their partner, then the partner has to decide what word they're spelling.

And last but not least - Spelling City!
Have you used Spelling City in your classroom? What a fantastic resource this website is!
Description from the site:
"SpellingCity is a free, interactive educational website that enables students of all ages and learning differences to practice their spelling and vocabulary words at home or at school while playing a variety of exciting learning games, all of which are compatible with interactive whiteboards and most of which are also printable!"
I've been using this website for the past few years, and this year became a premium member. The site provides so many resources for my students to use both at school and at home to help them with their spelling. You can also print word lists and other worksheets to use with your students.
If you've never been to this site, I reccomend checking it out!
Click the link below to go to the site:

What spelling activities do you use in your classroom? I'd love some new ideas! Do you use any of these already? Leave some comments below please! :)

2 comments:

  1. Hi Kristen,

    I love your spelling staircase idea and will definitely use it in my classroom next year. My kids really enjoyed playing a game called Winning Word Roll. I got some big foam cubes with dry erase faces. You can find there here: http://www.amazon.com/Learning-Advantage-Large-Dry-Erase/dp/B001033B6G

    Or just google dry erase dice.

    They would write their words on the faces of the cube. Roll the cube and write the word that was facing up on the game board. They would play until one word reaches the finish line. Sorry it's so hard to explain, but I will post it on my blog as winning word roll so you can see the game board.

    Thanks again for sharing all your stuff. Your blog is awesome!

    Nicole
    www.flippingforfirstgrade.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Can't wait to use your blog as a resource for home schooling-GREAT job!!@

    ReplyDelete