*and tips

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13 Interesting Ways to Support Spelling in the

Classroom

#1 - Use Spelling City

Use  SpellingCity.com to create online spelling lists to use on your IWB, or for the children to access at home. The website automatically generates games and activities to help children learn their spellings as well as the meanings of the words.

You can also use the website to print homework sheets, as well as handwriting worksheets that use cursive fonts.

@cthomas18            Watch a video on using Spelling City

#2 - Group by word roots

This document provides suggestions for vocabulary development, spelling and handwriting practice by providing lists of words grouped by their root.

It covers over 25 word roots, providing a list of words for each. This is from an American site so you need to check the spellings (see honor, opposite) and may not be able to use it directly from the pdf.

@claire_barnes

#3 - Concentration Spelling GameA simple whole class or group game that encourages the children to listen and concentrate as they spell a word together.

1. Organise the children into a circle or around a table.

2. Tell the group the word to spell, who is starting off and in which direction turns are being taken.

3. Each child spells a letter of the word, after the word is spelled out the next child says "spells" and the next child says the whole word again.

4. S-U-B-M-A-R-I-N-E "Spells" "Submarine"5. Turns can continue around a small group.6. If children get the wrong letter or make a mistake

they are out or sit down (as a whole class we play standing up) Return to the start and begin again.

7. Child left standing is the winner.@tombarrett

#4 - Geo Greeting

Encourage the children to go Geo GreetingIt uses overhead imagery of buildings and natural features that are in the shape of letters.Letters are displayed providing a link to the locations of the item being used to represent that letter. You type in a phrase or word and it spells them out using a map.

@dmantz7

#5 - Spell With Flickr

Spelling with FlickrThis tool is very similar to Geo Greeting.  The difference is in the images.  This resource uses images posted to Flickr to create your word/phrase.  The site provides you the ability to change individual images by clicking on them. This would be a good way to start a visual literacy unit.

@dmantz7

#6 - Interactive White Boards & Spelling

Use an interactive whiteboard to help students learn to spell words, i.e., Spelling Tic-Tac-Toe, Word Scrambles, Build a Word, ABC Order Games... Here are some examples that I've made using ActivStudio or ActivInspire for the Promethean Board:    http://www.gstboces.org/iss/iss/Activ/gr2spellingU11.flp  @cheryltice

• Use the Screen Shade to "flash"words to students. (Reveal then cover)

• Then have them write the word on their small whiteboards/chalkboards.

• Pull the screen down to reveal the word and have students check their spelling.

• Then I have students spell out-loud and point to each letter.•  Recover word with Shade for next session.• Students Erase their boards and go to next word.

#7 - Spelling Fast FlashRob Reynolds >> Download Example Notebook file

#8 Highlight the hard parts

Write or type the word list and highlight the difficult bit, using different coloured pens, highlighters, or font colour and size. Make a mental picture of the word, read it aloud and spell it aloud, changing the way you *say* the hard part, maybe saying it louder, maybe putting on a silly accent. This strategy is good for teaching a spelling rule like "ie"

separate   surprise   believe   grieve   achieve

@claire_barnes

#9 Mix it up a bit

I was bored of Look, Cover, Write, Check and so were the children. So we made some spelling cards. The children chose different cards every morning and learnt their spellings in that way instead. This encompassed different learning styles too. Motivation was through the roof and so were their spelling results.

Click here for the cards@ianaddison

Write your words very small

Write your words very big

Writeyourvowelsindifferent colours

Write a MnemonicSaidSallyAnneIsDancing

#10 Mystery Word GamesOne of my pupils' favourite ways of practising spelling and improving visual recognition of words are our mystery word games:

Game 1 - Invisible InkChange the IWB background and pen colour to the same colour and then write one of the current words to be learned - children try to identify word just by watching the letter formation.  Then change background to contrasting colour to reveal.

Game 2 - RevelationPrepare a set of IWB slides with the words to be learned in a large font in the centre of the page.  Set the blind/screen shade to cover all slides.  Select a pupil to slowly reveal the word - choosing which direction to reveal from.  This allows for letter by letter building (revealing from left or right) or whole word visualisation (revealing from top or bottom).  I find this really helps those who were only focusing on seeing words as a left-right string to realise there were other ways of looking at words.

@realllara

#11 Pivot Stickfigure A huge favourite in my class is creating the

letters in pivot man and watching them appear on the screen.  They predict the next letter and enjoy watching the letters

formThis is a free download for PC.

@stephcamp

#12 - SMART RESPONSE

I use my SMART Repsonse system to have the students input their spelling words in the clickers for the spelling test.  The students like doing this.  It is just like text messaging.

#13 - ICONSCRABBLE

Try Iconscrabble, an art project by Tim Isenheim.Spell your word in icons.

Colleen Young (click link for some further spelling resources).

If you would like to: • Contribute your ideas and tips to the presentation.• Let me know how you have used the resource.• Get in touch. 

You can email me or I am @tombarrett on Twitter

Thanks for helpingTom Barrett 

Image: ‘Sharing‘

If you add a tip (or even if you don't) please tweet about it and the link so more people can contribute.

I have created a page for all of the Interesting Ways presentations on my blog.The whole family in one place :-) Have you seen Maths Maps yet?