It is time for a change in the way kids learn spelling words! Research indicates that when students are active and engaged in learning their neural pathways are strengthened and their ability to retain information is improved. The following four activities have been designed with that notion in mind. Use these activities with your favorite spellers and ensure the days of writing spelling words “ten times each” are history!
1. Hopscotch
For this activity you will need to draw a hopscotch board outside or use masking tape to create one inside. Students play hopscotch following the traditional rules with one twist. With each hop they have to spell the spelling word letter by letter. An adult or leader can determine the spelling word for each student or the student can choose which spelling word he/she wants to spell. Depending on how familiar the students are with each word all the students chant the letters together as someone jumps or give the jumper a chance to study the word before they jump. This way the game serves more as practice than as an assessment.
2. Acrostic Poems
Each student is assigned a spelling word. They write the letters of the word vertically on their paper. For each letter they come up with a representative word that begins with that letter. Each of the poems can be illustrated, shared with the class and then displayed on a bulletin board. Students can use the words in the poem as clues to get their partners to guess the spelling word and then spell it. The poem clues can serve as prompts during an assessment for students who need extra help.
3. Sparkle
This game is a great way for a group of students to review for a spelling test. Students stand in a circle and take turns giving the next letter in the spelling word. After all the letters in the word are given the next person says “sparkle.” For example, for the word cow, the first student would say “c”, the next “o”, the next “w” and the last “sparkle.” If a student gives the wrong letter he/she has to sit down. Teachers or parents can adapt the game to meet different needs by choosing words based on where the students are standing or allowing some students to have “ask a friend” lifelines.
4. Cloze Paragraphs
For this activity you will need a student or teacher-written paragraph containing a majority of the spelling words. The students are given the paragraphs with blanks where the spelling words should be. They have to insert the correct word with the correct spelling into each blank. This activity is great as an assessment because it is a more authentic evaluation of students’ knowledge then a traditional spelling test. To differentiate the assessment for different ability levels the first letter of the word can be provided in each blank, the number of blanks in the paragraph can be modified or the words being tested can be altered.
Have fun with all the activities and remember- spelling doesn’t have to mean boring!
For more spelling activities read Spelling Word Practice Tips!
