Word Hunt and Bananagrams

Although I certainly haven't been consistent, I have been trying to do as many spelling activities with my students each week that support their spelling lists for the week.  Since we have two lists because of the two different grade levels in my classroom, the lesson has to include both.  The lesson below is a review of a mini-lesson we had last week about changing verbs that end in "e" to the "ing" suffix version of the word.  It also incorporates Timothy Rasinski's Word Hunt into it, which I would like to use regularly with all of the patterns/rules we have posted around our room.  Here is the lesson we are doing today that utilizes the Double Bananagrams I recently bought for our classroom.  At some point, I'd just like to leave some of these letter tiles out on my back table so students can show me how they think a word is spelled when they ask me how to spell a word.  They can create 2 different versions, and decide which one looks correct.  Here it is:

Directions for Today’s Version of Bananagrams

·       Teammates will take turns being in charge of spelling a word. 

·       Turn all the letters upright so you can see them.

·       Choose one person to be the first one to spell the word.  Once that person has spelled the word the way he/she thinks it is spelled, the rest of the team will check it. 

·       If they agree, go on to the next step.  If they don’t agree that it’s spelled correctly, they will help the person spell it correctly.

·       When done spelling the word correctly, and the group agrees, the person doing the spelling shouts Wordo!

·       I will check the spelling of the word.  If it isn’t spelled correctly you will have until one team gets it spelled correctly to revise it so it’s correct. 

·       The first team to spell the word correctly gets a point.  The person in charge of that word must also spell it correctly aloud so the other team can hear the word.

·       You can also earn a point by going on a word hunt.  If a team discovers that any of the words fit the rule for verbs where you take away the “e” from the base word to create the verb with “ing” at the end, they should send someone over to the poster to spell it correctly. 

·       The first person to spell it correctly on the paper in the middle of the room, he/she will earn an extra point for their team.

Will spelling still be taught in 10 years?

I have heard someone say that spelling will not be taught in 10 years because we will all be relying on computers to spell our words correctly.  This assertion concerned me, so I posed it to one of our district technology specialists.  He said we would always need to teach spelling in the classroom, and he gave me an example from his own son's life.  He said that his sone was writing a paragraph where he was trying to write, "he divorced her".  Instead of that phrase, he actually wrote "he devoured her."  It was a funny example, but the point is rather serious.  Computers don't know what each of us is trying to say.  They just identify words and whether they are spelled correctly.  Computers do not have the capability of making sure our words make sense.  I was happy to hear that spelling will still need to be taught, and one of my goals for this project is to provide a toolbox of ideas for other teachers that they can use in their classrooms to ultimately teach spelling. 

Words, Words, Words...

From all the research I've been doing, I've discovered that the best way to teach students spelling is to have a multitude of words posted all around the room.  So every time we do a spelling activity, the words that we brainstorm together are posted on the walls for students to see.  If there is a rule or a pattern on the poster, students are encouraged to add more words that fit each rule when they come across them in their readings. 

Last week we did a mini-lesson on changing verbs that end in "e" to the form of the word that ends in "ing".  The rule was that we take away the "e" and add the "ing".  Some of the students' spelling words for the week fit the pattern so we looked at those first:  dancing, staring, and pleasing.  We identified the base word, and then the students changed that word into the form using "ing".  Then we brainstormed other verbs that end in "e" and added those to our list.  This was the 4th grade list, but the whole class was involved in the discussion.  The same held true when we examined the homophones the 3rd graders were being tested on.  We looked for clues in the words that would help us know the difference in some of the words.  For example, "hear" has the word "ear" so we can associate that with listening or hearing.  The word "there" has "here" in it, which is a place.  And the word "their" has the word "heir" in it, which is a person so we can associate people with this word.  At the end, we broke up into two groups.  The 3rd graders played Sparkle with their list, and the 4th graders played Sparkle with theirs.  I also typed up the word lists students created and posted them on the walls of the classroom so they had another resource to help them spell words correctly.

Sparkle has also been a regular game in our classroom lately since we've been studying the states and capitals of the different regions of the United States.  Here's how we play it.  I will say the state.  Then the first student gives the first letter of the capital (and they must say "capital" before the letter in order to get it right since capitalization counts).  We go around the circle until the capital has been spelled.  Instead of saying Sparkle, the final student says the name of the capital city, and then the next person sits down.  This has become a fun and quick way for all the students in the class to practice spelling the capital cities together for each region. 

Even with this emphasis on spelling the capitals correctly, I know there are a few 3rd graders who are not ready to spell these words correctly AND learn the names of the capitals, especially when there are typically 12 capitals to learn for each region.  They are already challenged by studying for the weekly spelling tests so, for these few students, I have them take a matching quiz.  Next week there are only 4 states in the Southwest region so I have told these students that they must memorize the spelling of these 4 capitals.

Every week I post a website where students can practice learning the capitals and the spelling of the capitals.  One game that relates directly to spelling is called Unscramble.  You can play it here:  Unscramble.

Students are also frequently reminded to use their books (reading, social studies, science, etc.) to help them spell words correctly. They are told that there is no reason for them to spell words incorrectly that are already spelled  in the book.  This is especially true of vocabulary words when students are asked to use them in a piece of writing.  If they don't practice using the resources they have before them now to make sure they are spelling words correctly, then they will constantly be guessing at the spelling of words they could have written correctly to begin with.  It seems so simple, but I constantly need to remind them so that this becomes a part of their routine when taking notes.