Perogi Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 What are your strategies for practicing the AAS words? So far with my oldest we've just done them the day that I teach the lesson and we move on. That's been fine so far but now in Level 5 I think she could use the extra practice of working with the words more than once. Also, my second dd is doing Level 2 and really requires review and reinforcement to make things stick. I entered all the Level 2 words into lists on spellingcity.com last night but I'm honestly not sure where we're going to have the time to get to another thing on the computer (the kids already do Dreambox and the eldest does typing). I don't want to switch programs at this point but I like the sound of something where the kids work with a group of words for a week at a time while learning the appropriate spelling rules. I'm considering R&S for 5th grade next year. How do you handle the spelling words with AAS? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angelmama1209 Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 we don't do aas, but these are some super fun ways to practice words. i just printed them all out this morning and can't wait to use them! they're fun, colorful, and easy to use! oops! http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Word-Work-Task-Cards-Recording-Sheets Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perogi Posted October 6, 2012 Author Share Posted October 6, 2012 I hadn't actually realized I could print worksheets from Spelling City - that might be better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 Are you using the word cards? The practice can fit right into your spelling time--it doesn't have to be something extra. After you finish a step, all of those word cards (and other new cards) go into the daily review tab. Start your lesson time with just a couple of minutes of review. I like to do 2-4 of the new word cards per day so that they don't just get the first one right & base the rest on a pattern. Also when you do reviews you can shuffle them with other recently learned cards to do a mixed review. They should be able to spell the word quickly and easily (without having to stop & think or self-correct etc...) before you move it to the mastered section. I like to wait until a Monday to move a card to mastered so that they have to remember it over the weekend--long term retention is more likely then. Merry :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perogi Posted October 6, 2012 Author Share Posted October 6, 2012 Are you using the word cards? The practice can fit right into your spelling time--it doesn't have to be something extra. After you finish a step, all of those word cards (and other new cards) go into the daily review tab. Start your lesson time with just a couple of minutes of review. I like to do 2-4 of the new word cards per day so that they don't just get the first one right & base the rest on a pattern. Also when you do reviews you can shuffle them with other recently learned cards to do a mixed review. They should be able to spell the word quickly and easily (without having to stop & think or self-correct etc...) before you move it to the mastered section. I like to wait until a Monday to move a card to mastered so that they have to remember it over the weekend--long term retention is more likely then. Merry :-) I haven't been using them. My oldest is a natural speller who really hasn't been too challenged by the AAS words up to now. I felt confident that she really could spell the words. This year, Level 5, she has to be a little more mindful as she's spelling and actually think about it. My next student will need more review. It's cumbersome to keep the word cards around for all the levels I'm teaching (youngest is also starting AAS). Maybe I'll have to pull them out this weekend and figure out a way to work it into our routine. We are sometimes doing 2 or 3 lessons a week so it doesn't give a lot of time for review. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixjen Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 Review doesn't have to take very long. Just grab 5-10 of the cards and do a quick review. If you take 5 minutes every school day it can help them stick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perogi Posted October 7, 2012 Author Share Posted October 7, 2012 Of course now I can't find the word cards for Levels 1 and 2. I know they are somewhere in this house..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess4879 Posted October 7, 2012 Share Posted October 7, 2012 We build the words using the letters on the white board and at the end of the lesson I also have DD read the word cards for that day back to me. Then we write the words on paper. Later on that day we do the dictation sentences and we also do several of the spelling words again, but this time I only have her write the words on the table with her finger. (I like to leave some time between the first half of our lesson and the last half. I find this really helps to cement the concepts. Each part only takes about 10 mins) If they are words she knows very well, we will skip some of these steps as needed. If she struggles with a particular word I go back to how I was taught in public school and I make her write that word 10 times, either on the table or on paper, whatever she picks. At random times we will review some of the word cards. If she struggles with a word I usually give it to her later and ask her to write a sentence, look it up in the dictionary, etc. Anything that gets her using the word again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnMomof7 Posted October 7, 2012 Share Posted October 7, 2012 We only practice the missed words when they are behind the review tab. We do them, I remind of rules if she needs prompting, she writes it twice, I put it back. We review until mastered. I find the ongoing review in the dictation sentences keeps the rest fresh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perogi Posted October 7, 2012 Author Share Posted October 7, 2012 We only practice the missed words when they are behind the review tab. We do them, I remind of rules if she needs prompting, she writes it twice, I put it back. We review until mastered. I find the ongoing review in the dictation sentences keeps the rest fresh. I think that is like my experience with dd 9yo so far. She is such a natural speller that she gets the words on the first go and then the dictation kind of keeps reviewing things for me. Now though, in Level 5 there have been a few words that need more than that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsH Posted October 7, 2012 Share Posted October 7, 2012 When our review tab starts to get a little too big, I do two things: 1) slow down the pace of our lessons, and 2) have dd10 study the words as "homework." She'll take the cards and go through them on her own. Usually she reads the word on the card, says it out loud, then turns the card over and writes it in the air. If it's giving her trouble she'll then write it on paper a few times. Not fool-proof, but she does it each day for about 10 minutes and really masters the words that way. I love the sentence dictation for review, and when she makes mistakes in that, I add the card for that word back into the review section. Usually i just write it on a blank index card, too much effort to find it in the large pile of mastered cards! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nukeswife Posted October 7, 2012 Share Posted October 7, 2012 Every Day our AAS lesson looks like this Review phonograms, sound and key cards behind review tab (5 min tops) 10 Random Words (this is what my oldest calls it) where I take 10 words from behind the review tab and he spells them (sometimes on paper, sometimes on a whiteboard, sometimes out loud, again 5 min tops) Follow lesson in AAS TM (sometimes I'm starting at the beginning sometimes in the middle, sometimes it's the new words for that lesson, sometimes it's just dictation) 10-15 minutes, the time for this is based on how much of our 20 minute spelling time is left. I never do more than 20 minutes of AAS on any given day. Even if my son spells the words all correct in the lesson, they go into the review section, if the next time it comes up in 10 Random Words he gets it without having to puzzle over it, then it goes to the mastered section. I always shuffle the word review deck before pulling the 10 cards for the 10 Random Words. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colleen in SEVA Posted October 8, 2012 Share Posted October 8, 2012 (edited) I don't use the green review word cards regularly, there are just TOOO many to deal with (I have 5 kids in 5 different levels of AAS, I stopped using the word cards when we added in the 3rd kid). Instead: I have them write their AAS tests in the blue level Spelling Power books. We use the right hand side of the page for daily lessons, I write in the new rule or phoneme at the top and we use the 14 lines for tests. If a word is missed, he uses the practice area on the left hand side of the page (so he can still see that day's test) to do the 10-step review (a SP thing). On the lines below that, I combine sentences from the AAS dictation portion into 2 longer sentences. I use a Post-It note to mark my page in the book, and if a word is missed on the test I write it in pencil on the note. Each test, I give him the 10 words from the book plus 4 review words (which can be from the note, or I flip through the book and pick random words). When a word from the note has been spelled correctly on a test multiple times, I erase it. I store all 7 levels of red, yellow, and blue cards in the review box, with only one set of future/review/mastered tabs for each level (I don't have separate tabs for each type of card, it's easy enough to tell them apart). When a kid moves into a level, all of the cards are moved back to the future tab (I combine all 3 colors of cards and place them in order by lesson # so they are ready to go). When a child has a lesson that does not have test words, I use the review box instead, going over any cards that are in front of their current spot. So, for example - for my son on lesson 16 in book 3, I would quiz him on all of the cards behind the "3 review" tab, plus a few random cards from levels 1 & 2 (keeping the cards in the same exact spot, wherever the kid in the lower level is). In theory, I have the green cards stored in a box by level that my boys can quiz each other for fun... but they never have. This format works for my kids because they don't need the constant review. They get some review in the word analysis at the beginning of new lessons and through the dictation, and they get the occasional review of the rule & phoneme cards, and that has proven to be enough for them. AAS is a WONDERFUL program (in fact, it is pretty much the ONLY curriculum that has worked for all 3 of my oldest who have completely different learning styles requiring vastly different materials in every other subject), but I have had to tweak it a little to make it large-family-friendly. I'm sure typing it all out makes it sound more complicated that it really is :) Edited October 8, 2012 by Colleen in SEVA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perogi Posted October 8, 2012 Author Share Posted October 8, 2012 This is an interesting approach. I feel overwhelmed by the cards already with 3 kids doing AAS and I haven't even started using them yet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colleen in SEVA Posted October 8, 2012 Share Posted October 8, 2012 It's much less overwhelming without the green cards. :) I was planning to type out all of the words for each level on a spreadsheet and use that as a bookmark so I would have a comprehensive list of which words each kid has missed... but they miss so few that the Post-It has sufficed for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 I haven't been using them. My oldest is a natural speller who really hasn't been too challenged by the AAS words up to now. I felt confident that she really could spell the words. This year, Level 5, she has to be a little more mindful as she's spelling and actually think about it. My next student will need more review. It's cumbersome to keep the word cards around for all the levels I'm teaching (youngest is also starting AAS). Maybe I'll have to pull them out this weekend and figure out a way to work it into our routine. We are sometimes doing 2 or 3 lessons a week so it doesn't give a lot of time for review. Hope you can find them! If you are getting to words that she has to think about more, you'll probably want to slow down and not do as many steps per week--then the review time will fit easily into your spelling time. Merry :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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