If you are not a good speller, the explicit teaching of words in terms of identifying the phonemes (sounds), the letters and letter combinations representing those phonemes (graphemes), the morphemes (prefixes, suffixes and stems) and understanding any relevant rules are critical first steps. However, in addition to this, poor spellers need multiple opportunities to practise writing the word. The better activities are ones that actually require some form of ‘writing’ and can be completed quickly.
Below are some activities you can use to practise the spelling words. As children are engaged in the activity, it is very important that they do the following:
- Say the sounds out loud as they are forming the word.
- Say out loud the linking key picture for more complex graphemes (e.g., ‘street’=/s/-/t/-/r/-/ee/ as in tree-/t/).
- Say out loud any relevant rules at the relevant place (e.g., ‘letter’ – /l/-/e/-/t/ – double the ‘t’ to keep the vowel short-/er/ as in flower).
- Over pronounce vowel sounds that are pronounced as schwa in everyday speech (e.g., pronouncing the ‘er’ in ‘flower’ as /er/).
- Say the morphemes first before sounding out (e.g., ‘unlikely’ – it begins with the prefix ‘un’- /u/, /n/, then add the stem ‘like’-/l/-/ie/ as in kite-/k/, next add on the suffix ‘ly’ -/l/-/ee/ as in sunny).
- As the child becomes more competent move from sounds to syllables.
Activities
- Write the words with pavement chalk on the pavement or on a chalkboard.
- Paint the words with watercolour paints.
- Write the word with your finger in a sand or salt tray or on a tabletop.
- Write the word with your finger in the notes app on a smart phone or iPad.
- Write the word on the window (or a whiteboard) with a whiteboard marker.
- Write the word with your finger in shaving cream on the shower screen at bath time – or spray a little on a cookie tray at other times.
- Write the word using different scripts for every sound, syllable or morpheme.
- Write the word using different colours for every sound, syllable or morpheme.
- Use a laser pointer (or a torch at night or in a darkened room) to ‘write’ each word on the wall.
- Paint the word with water on a wall.
- Put the words onto an app like A+ Spelling or Bitsboard (make sure you say the sounds in the word as you are recording – click on the A+Spelling link for more information).
For Variety but not so Powerful
- Form the letters of each word with your body.
- Stamp the word onto paper with letter stamps.
- Make the word using letter stickers.
- Type the word on a computer.
- Form the word using magnetic letters on the fridge door or using alphabet stones.
- Thread the word using letter beads.
- The child writes the letters of the word onto craft sticks (one grapheme or letter per stick). Jumble the sticks up and then remake the word.
- The child writes the letters of the word onto post-it notes (one grapheme or letter per page). Stick the pages randomly on a cupboard door and then remake the word.
- While travelling, find the letters that spell the word in the environment (car number plates, signs, etc.).