Fourth Grade, Spelling & Vocabulary, Set Three

More great vocabulary words and phrases:

• rogue
• knave
• ingite
• harried
• stifling
• dispersed
• outlook
• presumptuous
• dominion
• honeycombed
• reluctant
• sociable
• coup
• insurrection
• technicality
• heinous
• quavered
• outlandish
• given her a turn
• settling the dust

Dictionary Skills

• schwa sound
• dividing words at the end of a line
• reading the pronunciation 

Fourth Grade, Spelling & Vocabulary, Set Two

We are getting some really good vocabulary words.

• erroneous
• taboo
• tousled
• dispersed
• courteous
• shun
• cynical

Fourth Grade, Spelling & Vocabulary, Set One

We are completing one unit in the spelling book each week.

Monday

• I give K. the pretest -- see if she already knows how to spell the words

Tuesday

• We go over the Generalizations (spelling rules that are generally true) that apply to her spelling list

Wednesday

• We discuss the meanings of the words on her spelling list. Usually done by making up a sentence with the words in it.
• I keep a sticky-note in each book that we are reading to record new words.
• We add the new words to her vocabulary list,
• Look them up in the dictionary if I don't feel 100% comfortable with the definition I can give
• Review vocabulary words from previous weeks
• Use vocabulary words in sentences
• Here are some of the vocabulary words from this set of weeks: impeccable, tunic, assassinate, pelts, farce, squelch, perpetual, bayonets, veto, looting, stadium, undaunted, appalled, ambitious, hygiene, witty, tenement, swagger, flounces, cameo, galluses

Thursday

• Dictionary Skills

Friday

• Final Test, if needed

Third Grade, Spelling, Set Six

We finished the last five units of the spelling book, making sure K. knew how to spell the words, was familiar with the spelling generalizations, and completing the skills activities.

Third Grade, Spelling, Set Five

Because we were really busy with other subjects, I did not add any climbers to her spelling lists.

Third Grade, Spelling, Set Four

I am continuing to choose words from her misspells and vocabulary (including her Bible verses) for K. to learn to spell. Sometimes we can find neat vowel/consonant patterns in these words. For instance, sentence has a repeating CVC CVC CV pattern.

Third Grade, Spelling, Set Three

Spelling is  going very well. For climbers I am using two words she has misspelled in her "on my own" writing and one word from her new vocabulary words (we find a lot in the Nature Friend magazines).

In the spelling lessons, K. is learning to add suffixes correctly. She was having a difficulty in being able to explain to me when to add 'er' and 'est'. To work on this I made a board game. On the board there are 30 scenes (from clip art). I also printed out 40 cards with words that can be made comparative and superlative. To play, on each person's turn, they flick the spinner and move that many spaces (scenes). Then they take the card from the top of the stack and make up a sentence with that word about the scene they landed on. Some of the scenes have one person or animal, some two, and others three or more, so you have to use the correct suffix. We have played it once and it was a lot of fun! If you use the wrong suffix, you have to go back two spaces. The first one to the end wins.

Example: Scene is two people roasting hot dogs; word is cold; sentence might be: The man's hot dog is colder than the boy's.

I included words that don't get the 'er' or 'est' added -- you use 'more' or 'most' -- and some irregular ones, such as good and bad.

Third Grade, Spelling, Set Two

I discovered the activities I was creating for K.'s climbers, although fun, were not really helping her learn to spell the word and were taking a lot of time to make. So, I have changed tactics. When I give her the pretest, I write her climbers on the page for her to copy. Then I have her put dots between the syllables and we talk about what the word means. On another day, I write the word in large letters on a scrap sheet of paper. We observe things about the word, such as:

• patterns of letters; did you know that "imitate" has a VCVCVCV pattern, and the first two vowels are "i" and the last two consonants are "t"?
• find smaller words in the word; "use" in "amusement"
• see if we can make at least 10 words (with 3+ letters) from the letters of a word; "resurrection" -- sure, rest, ties, cure, etc.

She will also trace the word with her finger and write it in cursive. This method seems to be helping K. learn to spell the words.

Third Grade, Spelling, Set One

We are completing one unit in the BJU Spelling Book each week, however, I am making changes to better meet K.'s needs.

• On the first day, I give the pretest. If she spells all the words correctly, and I believe she really knows how to spell them, the only other thing we do is the work page, which reinforces the spelling generalization (such as: the 'ch' sound after a consonant is spelled ch, but after a short vowel it is spelled tch; examples: stitch and branch)
• We are working more on the Climbers, words that she uses when she writes, but misspells -- such as spaghetti, orchestra, or curious. I am trying to think up activities to do that will reinforce the spelling.
• For spaghetti, we wrote the word using yarn, then I had K. draw a plate of spaghetti and hide the letters in the drawn noodles for me to find.
• For orchestra and curious, I wrote the word and then incorporated each letter into an image and had K. find the letters.
• For sketch, I drew (sketched) a picture and hid the letters in the drawing.

Second Grade, Spelling, Set Seven

Spelling is another subject that didn't get all the time it needed during the last planning week. I normally print out one colorful worksheet, based on the ones in the teacher's book, for K. to complete on Tuesdays. This did not get done. Instead, we are working together to do something similar to the worksheets.

Second Grade, Spelling, Set Six

At the end of this week I gave K. her spelling test in sentences, using three or four words in each sentence. She seemed to like this better than just writing a list of words.

Examples: (spelling words are underlined)

• The other zipper is better.
• I found another letter under the banner.

This week's lesson in the spelling book was reviewing words from the last five lessons. The last time we had a review lesson, K. didn't like having to review. I know that review is important, but since we are dealing with words that she can already spell (she spells them correctly on the pretest), I decided to go with an alternate plan this week.

• Monday I gave her the children's dictionary and had her pick ten words that interested her and she didn't know how to spell. (Her words were: chaps, delphinium, estuary, delta, bison, birch, chameleon, chandelier, chimpanzee, circus)
• She wrote the words in her spelling notebook and wrote them again putting a dot between the syllables.
• Tuesday I gave her a sheet of paper with a picture of each word. She wrote the words underneath the correct picture.
• Thursday I gave her a blank graph and had her fill it in for a word search. Then I found the words.

Second Grade, Spelling, Set Five

Spelling is going well. K. is doing a good job with alphabetizing and using the dictionary.

Sometimes we run out of time for the spelling test on Fridays, so if the words are ones K. really already knows, I will give her a couple sentences to write. Each sentence has two or three spelling words in it. I will also give her a sentence with her climbers.

Interestingly, K. has started telling me words she wants to learn to spell, such as: planet, delicious, and geography.

Second Grade, Spelling, Set Four

This week we have a review lesson. K. didn't what to do review. After I gave her each word for the pretest, she would ask, "Is this a new word?" I got a bit silly on some of the words and we laughed and laughed. For instance, the word 'we'. I replied, "No, we have been around a long time."

I've printed a list of words that are commonly misspelled in elementary school. I will used words from this list for her climbers on weeks when I don't have any from her writing.

Second Grade, Spelling, Set Three

Completing the one workpage on her own is teaching K. to read directions carefully. When I find a word for her "Climbers", I write it on the back of my planning sheet so I won't forget it.

Second Grade, Spelling, Set Two

Spelling is going fine. Sometimes I have her do the work page on her own.

Second Grade, Spelling, Set One

Yes, we are doing spelling. I'm not sure what else to say about it since we are just following the curriculum. Oh, I guess I can tell you that we don't do the "Day 4". It is writing, and K. loves to write, and writes so much. When I was doing this day in first grade (I think we stopped about half way through the year), it just turned into drudgery, so we aren't doing it. However, this means that I have to be diligent in finding words she misspells in her writing, so that I will have two "Climbers" for her each week.

First Grade, Spelling, Set Seven

• I added the words 'desert' and 'dessert' to the spelling list this week, since we are learning about the desert.
• I decided to add more words that are similar, like 'wonder' and 'wander'.
• 'Hawk' and 'squawk' were a couple words she had trouble spelling.
• We completed the spelling book this week!

First Grade, Spelling, Set Six

• Did you realize that in the words grow, snow, and throw the 'w' is a vowel? When w occurs at the end of a word, it is considered a vowel letter. (It is silent and makes the o say its name.)
• Some times when "life happens" and we are short on time, I skip the final test if K. has shown through the week that she knows how to spell the words.

First Grade, Spelling, Set Five

• The magnetic letters are great!

First Grade, Spelling, Set Four

• We are working on dictionary skills, also -- entry words, guide words, word forms, sample sentences
• Alphabetical order, by first letter, is another skill that gets worked on with spelling
• Somtimes K. wants to do her spelling "tests" on the refrigerator -- I think I'd better get another set of magnetic letters!