I teach fifth grade and am looping with my current class. I have one student (well two) that is labeled. I will be changing his spelling list to involve words that would be of more use to his writing rather than with our basal. My other students do assignments during the week with their spelling workbook. I would like to give him opportunities to practice his words as well as earn points. I am only in my second year of teaching and need ideas for him. He is extremely gifted in the area of science and can build a remote control car out of nothing, but when it comes to the basics, whew. Does anyone have ideas on what kind of assignments I can give him without them being too babyish and ones that will give him practice with the words? Thanks!
P.S. A parent told me about this website and I am just amazed. I am getting so many ideas of how to change my curriculum for my students.
Six ways to practice spelling
Go to LD In Depth and to “for Teachers” and look for the spelling strategies ;)
Re: Spelling Ideas help!
Cathy, giving a list of various words to practice is not teaching a child how to spell. A child like you’re talking about needs a structured phonetic spelling program. The Scholastic Spelling that Beth mentioned is a great one. My hat’s off to you for trying to seek effective strategies!
Here is a very good article to read on spelling:
http://teacher.scholastic.com/professional/teachstrat/foorman.htm
Janis
Re: Spelling Ideas help!
Another terrific spelling program is AVKO sequential spelling. An aide could do this program with him. It takes about 15 minutes every day to do this program. My kids are flying with this spelling program.
Nan
Re: Spelling Ideas help!
Hi Cathy,
I may have a solution to your problem. I am a special education teacher who has developed a research-based, multisensory spelling program called Looking Glass Spelling that also improves decoding and vocabulary for intermediate and secondary students who are reading & spelling 2 or more years below grade level. The materials were originally designed for a fifth grade dyslexic student and my students in grades 5-8 have been very successful with it. The format of the book is quite mature to avoid embarrassing the older and/or included student and the words are age-appropriate. The great thing is that the student can work independently in the book because it is designed for students with learning disabilities in terms of the directions, the layout, and the work. Each unit covers only 12 words, but there are 12 pages of material to provide adequate practice and opportunities for generalization of skills. The book is sold as a binder with 20 units that can be reproduced, enough material for an entire academic year. I can send you more information, a sample chapter, etc. or you can check out my website at www.gwhizresources.com.
Hope I can help.
Fern
My son is in fourth grade but is just learning to spell. I convinced his teacher to let him use a different program than the school. He is using Scholastic spelling which is written by Louisa Moats. He is using the second grade book which is about where he is at (his reading is close to grade level though). I can see his spelling improving. It has a variety of exercises in it.
Beth