if you make your own spelling curriculum

[susankenny]

Would you mind sharing what that looks like? Also, where do you get your word list from? There are SOOO many choices! I am entertaining the thought of dropping AAS, (as we've finished our current level) and just kind of going with our own list. I'd like a peek into how it's done though & what words you chose and why.

 

Thanks!

Susan

[MsAlimar]

:lurk5:

 

I would be interested to know this also. I'm off to search for more spelling threads because what we are doing isn't going to work for us.

[AudreyTN]

I tried this for a while with my ds. I used the lists from Natural Speller. I made a worksheet for each day of the week.

 

Day 1: copy list in print, then cursive

Day 2-4: One activity sheet each day. word shapes, word search, word scramble, etc.

Day 5: Test -- any missed words had to be copied 3x.

[kathkath]

reading teacher's book of lists is AWESOME for this. Just go through the list and pretest til 10 are wrong, make those the spelling words for the week, and keep it going.

[FO4UR]

I use SWR...sort of....

 

I like to pull words from future reading selections for my struggling reader. It just makes reading practice easier if he's had the opportunity to analyze the word to death before seeing it in print.

 

I'm not going to stay with my current set-up forever though...lack of $$$ is driving this spelling method, if I'm honest.;)

[mammaofbean]

i started this year with word lists from phonics II flash cards from the dollar spot at target. we would go over the blend or digraph then the words then i would have her help me come up with a couple of more words that would belong on the list. she would write them two times each. possibly she would play around with them on spelling city, she would let me know when she wanted to test. we whipped through those, sometimes going over the rules more than the words because she could spell many of them but didn't know the rules. i added a few lists as i saw fit- like covering all of the r controlled vowels instead of just two of them. i am now using the rules from SWR to create lists so we can start up again. and i am sure i could have filled the rest of the year just by using rules i know and google, but i had the SWR rules offered to me.

 

i try to remind her that she knows a certain rule so she can correct her own spelling. this works great.

[crazyforlatin]

I'm using AAS, but I recently came upon William Swan's The Spelling book which is free. I like the layout of this book and may take a closer look when I have some extra time. I'm not entirely thrilled with AAS, but DD seems to be doing fine with it.

[NanceXToo]

I do this.

 

When my daughter does writing assignments (or any writing, really) in a given week, I jot down a list of the words she spelled wrong.

 

The following week, those are the words I assign to her for spelling review.

 

Because there often aren't all that many, I will pull a few more from a "___th grade spelling word list" (just google, in her case, it's a 5th grade spelling word list) online.

 

Then, on Mondays, I'll ask her to review them with "bubble letters" (she'll write down the words, making the initial letter of each a fancy bubble letter, and then she'll decorate/color that letter with colored pencils.

 

On Tuesdays, I'll ask her to review them with "construction cutouts"- she'll draw little pictures or shapes on construction paper, write the spelling word in the picture or shape, then cut them out and tape/glue them into her book.

 

On Wednesdays, I'll ask her to write the words 5X each.

 

On Thursdays, we'll toss a ball back and forth to each other while chanting the spelling words.

 

On Fridays, she'll get a quiz.

 

She almost always gets every word right on her quizzes.

 

I try to keep spelling review on the fun side, because she's also given a list of vocabulary words each week, and she has to alphabetize those, write definitions for them, and use them in sentences.

 

So spelling we keep more creative/fun. In 4th grade she's also done things like: writing them in chalk on the sidewalk, making a small town map and naming the streets and buildings after spelling words, making a simple windsock from a paper plate and some crepe paper streamers and writing the words on the streamers and so on.

 

I never have seen any need to buy a separate spelling curriculum but maybe it's because she's a pretty decent speller to begin with so I don't feel like we're constantly floundering with spelling or anything. I don't know what I'd do or how I'd feel differently if her spelling skills were a lot weaker. As it stands now, though, this works just fine for us.

[Laurel]

I use the lists from Natural Speller.

 

Day 1: Pretest on the white board. I give her words to spell until she has 5 or so wrong.

Day 2: Copywork. She copies each word 2-3 times.

Day 3: Spellingcity games

Day 4: Test

 

After a few weeks have passed, I make sure to include past spelling words on her pretest, to make sure they stuck. And if there are words in her own writing that she is consistently misspelling then I add those as well. She is a natural speller with a very good visual memory, and this easy low-key approach works for us.

[susankenny]

Oh my goodness, my daughter is going to love some of your suggestions! Great ideas!

 

 

AudreyTN, I love the idea of having to write it in cursive too! That is something we'll definitely incorporate!

 

NancyXToo - The games you mentioned will be a blast for my daughter! She loves bubble letters & crafty stuff - so this is a great idea.

 

Crazyforlatin, thanks for the link. I'm going to go and look at it right now.

 

As for the spelling list, I can incorporate words she misses (great idea!), and I may continue to stay with the AAS spelling lists. They posts them for free at their website. Do you think their list is comprehensive enough? (specifically grade 3)

 

http://www.all-about-spelling.com/free-spelling-lists.html

 

 

THe other choice that I've found & love, are the super teacher worksheets, but again, I'm curious about the words.

 

http://www.superteacherworksheets.com/spellinglevelc.html

 

 

I'd love your thoughts!:bigear:

 

 

Thanks,

Susan

[romeacademy]

I've got several books from which I pull words.

 

Angling for Words (brown and green)

How to Teach Spelling

Spelling Power

 

I set up a lesson which I think would be similar to how AAS does it, meaning that I pick out up to 12 phonograms or patterns based on what I've seen them misspell in daily work on on the last spelling list, then pick out words.

 

I didn't realize AAS posted all their lists on the website. Now I have another source to check out.

[brownie]

I have ds10 using spelling city this year. I entered lists using the nat'l spelling bee study lists. He's almost through those. Then I think I will pull words from ABC's and all their tricks. I love how they are organized by sound and explain frequency and origin of sounds.

 

I got tired of traditional spelling lists for him. We have Spelling Power, but he knew so many of the words and it took so much time to identify words he didn't know. Brownie

[2squared]

I think we are AAS drop-outs for my 3rd grader. I like the concept, but we aren't loving learning spelling/phonics rules in isolation, and my dd *always* asks about words that are exceptions to the rules. Apparently we can't handle rules that are made to be broken. ;) I am guessing that my 1st grader will have similar issues.

 

We are going to go Ruth Beechicky with spelling for a while. I'm going to teach the primary spelling rules (per Beechick) through WWE copywork and dictation and work on her specific spelling errors as they come up. We're attacking grammar the same way. This method was working for us in 2nd grade, but I think I spent too much time on the WTM boards before planning 3rd grade.

[DragonFaerie]

I use the Zaner Bloser lists and just make up my own assignments.

 

http://www.zaner-bloser.com/spellingconnections/practice-pages.html

 

For spelling on Monday I have them write each word 3x. Tuesday is for alphabetizing, and Wednesday is worksheets. Thursday is test day. DS7 also uses Spelling City (10 minutes each day). DD9 uses these same lists for her vocabulary, too, so in addition to the spelling exercises, she also looks up the definitions in the dictionary and writes sentences with each word.