Spelling: Not a Spectator Sport

Learning is often disguised as play in our classroom. What better way to engage and involve our kids, all while having fun?

Graphic courtesy of  technology rocks. seriously

In our Grade 1 spelling program, the students are exposed to 125 core words. These are words we use most often as beginning readers and writers, such as "and" or "her". While Spelling Quizzes are important, the goal is to read these words with ease and spell these words correctly in our own writing. 

As we learn words each week, the words are placed on our Word Wall, which is front and centre in our classroom!

We play several engaging games to practice our spelling words! Have a look!

Head Hunters
Each student sticks a spelling word to their noggin'. Everyone receives a chart with all of the classmates' names. Then off they go, recording the spelling words stuck to their friends' heads in their chart!

Roll and Read
Find a buddy and roll the dice! Read any word from the row you rolled!

Shaving Cream
Always a hit! Spread it on our desk and get spelling! Bonus? Our desks are lemony fresh after!

Spelling Center Bins
Inside these 14 bins are hands-on ways to interact with our words! These centers also focus on strengthening our fine-motor skills by involving those important small muscles in our hands. 

Have a peek at a few games!

Again, the idea behind our weekly spelling words is to encourage the students to interact with foundational words in an engaging way...and doesn't this look engaging?