King Alfred Academy Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 I am going to start this program with my 2nd grader this week and I have a couple of questions. During the 10 Step Study portion, what if he doesn't make it though all of the words he needs to study before the 5 minutes is up? When does he study those words? Should I forget the 5 minute thing and just have him study the words until he is done? Do you have your students write the words in a sentence like the program suggests? Writing...the physical act of it...is a struggle and I feel he does plenty of writing throughout the rest of the day. Is it okay to skip this part, or is it vital to the study procedure? Thanks for your time. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy loves Bud Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 Spelling Power is not recommended till 3rd grade. That said, I started DD8 on it in 2nd. If it takes more than the allotted time to do the study steps, then stop the spelling list when he misses x number of words. I always stop my kids at 5 minutes or 3 missed words. When I allowed 5 missed words it was sometimes very frustrating for them. They have advance very well even though we only allow 3 misses per session. We don't write the sentences, but we do the activities in the back. HTH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Alfred Academy Posted February 23, 2009 Author Share Posted February 23, 2009 Spelling Power is not recommended till 3rd grade. That said, I started DD8 on it in 2nd. If it takes more than the allotted time to do the study steps, then stop the spelling list when he misses x number of words. I always stop my kids at 5 minutes or 3 missed words. When I allowed 5 missed words it was sometimes very frustrating for them. They have advance very well even though we only allow 3 misses per session. We don't write the sentences, but we do the activities in the back. HTH! This is very helpful and a great idea! The ideas in the back look like fun and I also have the large index card box of activities. After I posted this I read further in the book and looked at the "Study-Test-Study" Approach she suggested using with younger kids or kids who placed in A/B. With some "tweeking" I think this approach would be good as he progresses through Level B. (His placement test put him in D, but barely. I never did a phonics program with him and I really don't think he is ready for Levels C or D yet.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sara in WA Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 Greetings :) I say stick to the 5-minute rule. We have a fun red timer that dd uses to time our spelling tests and her studying. It makes it all a little more fun. I, too, stop if she misses 3 or else it gets too cumbersome. As for the sentences, sometimes I challenge her to write the words all in one sentence and I usually don't say anything about handwriting style. Or else I give her another activity like spelling with magnets (we have the ones from OPGTR). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marylou Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 (edited) I use SP with my twin third grade girls. We started the year doing the 5 misses and with only one child at a time (the other child would go to another room and read). But the 5 words were too much, so we switched to missing only 3. And then they wanted to do it together, so I tweaked it more. I read the list and the first one to reach 3 wrong would end the test session (so a lot of times one child might have 2 or less words to study). I think the friendly competition helps! As far as the sentences go, I had them tell me their sentences and I wrote them on the board. They would then copy them on the paper. That is fun for them b/c they are writing about something that interests them. Now that we are this far into the school year they don't ask me to write sentences on the board anymore. I guess they have enough vocabulary now to write without help. Donna Edited February 24, 2009 by dmmosher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenNC Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 You may find the tips here useful: http://www.redshift.com/~bonajo/SPmenu.htm We've modified it a good bit. My daughter (8) is a natural speller, but not such a natural writer:). I started her with it in mid 2nd grade after we finished Explode the Code 8. We do the pretest orally (often while she's bouncing up and down on a bouncy ball ;)) because writing was more of a struggle. Then she studies the words she misses. Stopping at 5 missed words has worked for us, but I don't worry so much about the timer. She also likes trying to come up with a sentence that uses all the missed words so she only has to write one. Another favorite for her is to ask me to make the sentences using the words (in the pretest) into a silly story as we do the test. That one gets interesting:). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Alfred Academy Posted February 24, 2009 Author Share Posted February 24, 2009 Thanks Donna and Sara :001_smile:! I am glad I asked. Seems like the overall consensus is 3 misses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Alfred Academy Posted February 24, 2009 Author Share Posted February 24, 2009 Thanks Karen...looks like we were typing at the same time!...I will definitely check out that link! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omma Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 My dc both tested in level E, which I think is ridiculous... so I started them each toward the end or even the middle of level B, which I think was the right level for them. My ds is in 3rd grade and my dd is an older 1st grader. I really wonder if those placement tests are really accurate.... Brenda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenNC Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 My dc both tested in level E, which I think is ridiculous... so I started them each toward the end or even the middle of level B, which I think was the right level for them. My ds is in 3rd grade and my dd is an older 1st grader. I really wonder if those placement tests are really accurate.... Brenda[/QUOTe] It was pretty accurate for us. She rarely misses more than a few words in most of the lists at her placed level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy loves Bud Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 My dc both tested in level E, which I think is ridiculous... so I started them each toward the end or even the middle of level B, which I think was the right level for them. My ds is in 3rd grade and my dd is an older 1st grader. I really wonder if those placement tests are really accurate.... Brenda Luke went from Level C in fourth grade, to test into level G in fifth grade. I doubted it, but it was right on. His reading really took off during that time, too. The tests have been accurate for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macrina Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 My dc both tested in level E, which I think is ridiculous... so I started them each toward the end or even the middle of level B, which I think was the right level for them. My ds is in 3rd grade and my dd is an older 1st grader. I really wonder if those placement tests are really accurate.... Brenda DD 7 tested into D, I didn't trust it and took her to B. We just wasted three months of spelling where she wasn't challenged, the test was accurate and I now have her in D. We do the five min rule right now, she gets 3-5 misses that way at the moment. We don't do sentences. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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