How do I use Spelling Workout?

[TC5]

How do YOU use Spelling Workout? This probably seems very basic, but I'm sure I'm missing something, and my son needs me to do this correctly!

 

I'm switching my 2nd-grader from SWR to SW this year. We just started with SW-A yesterday. He didn't get very far in SWR last year, which is why we switched, but SW is very easy so far (we orally went through lessons 1-6 yesterday and just did lesson 7 today, and I expect to do one lesson each day for a while).

 

I did not get the teacher's guide and realized I don't really know how I'm supposed to do this. The format in SW does appear to be more like Spelling Power (which I have used with my older son) than SWR.

 

Should I pretest my 7yo? If he spells all the words correctly, should we skip the lesson? Post-test at the end of the lesson? Review? I know there are review lessons, but what do you do?

 

Also, how do you use the Spelling Notebook at the back of the workbook? I had my son write the Lesson 6 words in it today, as a kind of quiz. I planned to have him write the Lesson 7 words there tomorrow before he does Lesson 8.

 

Any scheduling ideas or tips on general usage would be very helpful.

 

Thanks a lot!

[Harriet Vane]

What I Do:

 

Day 1--Discuss tip, do half worksheet pages

 

Day 2--Do second half worksheet pages

 

Day 3--Write words 2x each

 

Day 4--Test

[jpklehm]

SW-A is very easy and my son went through it quickly because most of it was review for him. We made it through SW-A and more than half of B in his first grade year and that's what SWB suggests. So go through the lessons with your son (don't skip any lessons, just work through them as quickly as you see fit) and move onto SW-B when you're finished with A.

 

**Once my youngest son was in SW-B, this is the schedule we followed. In SW-A, we just did a lesson every day or two to move through it.**

I have used SW with both my boys, ages 12 and 7. I've never used another spelling program. I orally go through the rules and examples of each lesson with each of my boys on Monday, as well as any other examples I can think of. I then ask them to read the first page and do the next page on their own, all on Monday. I check their work to make sure they understand and then have them do page 3 of each lesson on Tuesday. For Wed and Thurs of each week I try to find something interesting and fun for them to do to practice their words (make word finds, use www.spellingcity.com, have them write a creative story using all the words, etc.) and then they take a spelling test on Friday. (Sometimes we do the last page of a lesson and sometimes we skip it.)

 

It all sounds very "un-intense" and it is. Both boys do well with the program and are good spellers, both with the program and in their own writing, so I'm pleased with our choice.

 

I just posted a thread recently to find out what others do to make spelling more fun and here is what was shared:

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=197908

 

I hope this answers your questions!

Pam

[Pata]

We are using Spelling Workout B, awhile back I wrote a blog post on how we use it. This format has worked very well for us.

[jpklehm]

We are using Spelling Workout B, awhile back I wrote a blog post on how we use it. This format has worked very well for us.

 

Great examples of how you use SW, Pata. I especially like the weekly form you use. I'm planning on typing out my own version...you've given me inspiration! :)

 

Thanks,

Pam

[Tam101]

What ended up working for us is:

 

Day1: Read the first page and do the 2nd

Day2: 3rd page

Day3: 4th page

Day4: Quiz, write missed words three times

 

Pretty much the same pattern for the review lessons, but day 3 gets the last two pages. If he bombs the test then I'll make up a word search, or some type of word puzzle for him to do and re-test.

[TC5]

Wow! Thanks so much! I thought I'd get some help on how to do this, but I didn't expect to get excited about spelling! I really appreciate all of your help.