Tips and Tricks for Practicing Spelling Words

My middle son does not like to study his spelling words. Unfortunately spelling is not a natural gift of his. We've been looking for creative alternative to practicing spelling words. I wanted to share three with you.

The first is technology oriented. It's a website called spelling city. They teach spelling words for their readers through games, flash cards, and other activities. It's free, and the kids really liked it.

When we study together we found two strategies that are working well for us this fall. The first is tandem spelling, where we take each spelling word and spell it together going back and forth. For example if we were selling the work truck I would say to my son “T”, he would add “R”, and eventually we would finish with the letter K. It takes some of the pressure off spelling perfectly, yet still lets children practice.

 The third tool that has been working well for us this fall is spelling hangman. My son creates a hangman board and I try to guess the spelling word. I get to look at the spelling list so it’s not incredibly time consuming for me, but it's fun for him to try to trick his mom. And when I guess a word correctly, he has to complete the word in writing. He gets the visual reinforcement of seeing the word as well as he gets to write the word.

We'll see if these strategies continue to work, and if we see his spelling grades improve. Meanwhile I would love to hear your tricks and tips  for practicing spelling words!