Spelling Study Plan

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This handout can be used to help students summarize their performance on their pretest, so they can develop strategies for studying the words they missed.

Name: _______________________________ Date: _____________

I missed _____ words on my Monday test.

My goal is to learn to spell _____ words correctly.

I will use the following to help me study my spelling words:

_____ 3-step study strategy

_____ word sort

_____ making words

_____ partner study

_____ memory links

_____ finger spelling

_____ computer games

I correctly spelled _____ words on my Friday test.

I _____ did _____ did not meet my goal.

I _____ did _____ did not use my study plan.

To improve my spelling, next time I will...

____________________________________________________

3-Step Spelling Study Strategy

This handout can be used to remind students of (a) the steps for multi-sensory rehearsal, and (b) mnemonics, for remembering how to spell long words.

Step 1: Look & Say

Look at the word you want to learn.

Say the word out loud.

Spell the word out loud.

Step 2: Cover & See

Cover the word.

See the word in your mind.

Trace the letters in the air.

Spell the word out loud and trace again.

Step 3: Write & Check

Cover the word.

Write the word.

Check the spelling.

Write the word two more times if correct; if not, go back to Step 1.

Memory Links for Spelling Long Words

Built-in Word Link

Example: business is a sin.

Example: clothes are made from cloth.

Story Sentence Link

Example: When I go past a cemetery, I go “ e e e!”

Example: My principal is my pal, but he has lots of rules or principles for us to follow.

Pronunciation Link

Example: Wed-nes-day

Example: tom-or-row

Partner Study Games

This handout can be used to provide students with instructions for games that facilitate efficient spelling study.

Circle Dot

  1. Your partner says a word on your spelling list.
  2. You write the word.
  3. Your partner spells the word one letter at a time.
  4. As your partner spells, draw a dot under each correct letter and a circle under each incorrect or omitted letter on your paper.
  5. Study the parts of the word with circles.
  6. Write the word again and check again.

Capture

  1. Make five rows of dots with five dots in each row.
  2. Decide who will go first.
  3. Your partner should say a word on your list and you should spell it out loud.
  4. If you are correct, you get to connect two dots that are side by side; if not, your partner gets a turn (you get another turn when your partner misses a word).
  5. Each time a player connects four dots to make a square, the player writes his or her initial in it so the square is “captured.”
  6. The player who has the most initialed squares at the end wins the game.

Teacher-Directed Spelling Activities

These activities are used to provide explicit spelling instruction in spelling patterns and rules.

Word Sorts

  1. Students sort words, printed on index cards, containing a novel orthographic (e.g., plight, frightening, mightily) or graphomorphemic (e.g., assignment, designate, signify, resignation) pattern in order to discover the pattern.
  2. The novel pattern is discussed and the representative words are added to a word wall, grouped together under an easily recognized anchor word for the pattern (e.g., light, sign).
  3. Students search reading materials and their own writing samples for other examples of the new pattern and add these to the word wall.

Guided Spelling (Making Words)

  1. Students are given single-letter or multi-letter tiles to combine into as many different real words as possible; these tiles represent the orthographic or graphomorphemic units in a “mystery” word that can be derived when all of the tiles are combined.
  2. The words are recorded and verified with a dictionary or other spelling guide.
  3. If a word is acceptable, it is written in a sentence to demonstrate understanding of its meaning.
  4. Students are encouraged to spell other “transfer” words that contain some of the targeted letters or units.
  5. Students read texts that contain the relevant spelling patterns and monitor their ability to recognize and define the words.

 

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