Spelling- Word Work Year 1

I have based my spelling curriculum on two different curriculums, Words Their Way and the First Grade Dolch Word List. I believe that Words Their Way works because students are given words to study to discover the common attributes. In this manner students are actively constructing their own knowledge of spelling patterns. Students learn features by completing activities such as word sorting, word hunts, games and drawing and labeling. Students work individually, with partners, and in small groups to encourage cooperative learning and individual responsibility. Studying the Dolch Word List allows kids to learn a list of words that are most seen in their grade level literature. Most of these words cannot be sounded out and need to be memorized, thus the term Sight Word. These two programs will guarantee your childs success in spelling. Each week we will focus on a specific sound. For example, this week we are focusing on the x and b sound. During the week, the students will participate in five different Word Work Stations.

Monday

Word Sort- Students will sort their words into categories based on specific spelling patterns. Learning these spelling patterns will help the children learn a lot of new words very quickly. Students will re-sort the words. They will pick 6 words to draw and label. OR Build-A-Word using Magnetic Letters/Whiteboards * See description below. Sound of the Week Song/Poem- Students learn the sound of the week song and we sing it aloud daily. Some sounds do not have a corresponding song so we read a poem. These poems are displayed on large paper where we search for the sound of the week and highlight them. This gives the students great practice identifying some of their spelling words for the week.

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday Friday ******Tuesday Description:

Word Work Task Cards (See attachment to Email) Review Game and Quiz

Build a Word using Magnetic Letters/Whiteboards -Students build words using one of the following strategies: 1. Substituting: Change the Pl in play to St. What is the new word? 2. Blending: Give me the word f-r-o-g. What does that spell? 3. Segmenting: Separate the sound in frog. 4. Deleting: Build me the word date without thed sound. What new word do we have now? 5. Addition: Build the word hat. Now add a c to the beginning of the word to make a new word. What is the new word? Every Friday the students will be quizzed on their spelling words. There will be between 7-10 words a week. The students should practice their words at home daily; however, if this is not possible, they should have plenty of practice at school as long as they pay attention and participate in class. Every Sunday night when I post the homework pages for the week, I will also post the spelling words on the school blog, (http://primarymis.blogspot.de/). Feel free to use the Word Work Task Cards that I have attached at home to help your child practice, but even having them write each word 5 times each is great! These is also a great website called Spelling City (http://www.spellingcity.com/ ) where you can create spelling list each week and it designs a bunch of games and activities for your child to play.

Thank you so much for helping me give your child the very best education available

Sincerely,

Ms. Burnell