Below you will find several ideas
for spelling lessons. I found these ideas all over the net. They are NOT my
original ideas. I certainly hope you find them useful.
You can download a printer friendly format of these ideas
here.
Adobe Acrobat Reader (free
download) required.
- Spell words with alphabet macaroni (can be glued to paper) or alphabets
cereal (yummy to eat!).
- Spell words with magnetic letters on cookie sheets.
- Use alphabet stamps and let them stamp out their words on paper.
- Squirt a bit of shaving cream on their desks and allow them to write their
words.
- Cut letters from magazines or newspaper to spell the words.
- Write words as "stairsteps"
s
sp
spe
spel
spell
spelli
spellin
spelling
It is fun to do on graph paper.
- Use Wikki Sticks
to bend the sticks into the desired letters to form each spelling word.
After forming the Wicki Sticks, do a crayon rubbing of each word ona piece
of paper.
- Sparkle is where everyone sits on their desks, each person says a letter
of the word you said to spell until the word is over then the last person
says "Sparkle" and the person next up is out of the game.
Example:
Teacher: The word is "spelling"
Katie: S
Laura: P
Jim: E
Cassy: L
Hannah: I (Hannah is out, the real letter is L so she is out)
Josh: L
Mark: I
Jesse: N
Lindsey: G
Ricky: Sparkle
Tim: Tim is out because he got "sparkled"
- Sand Dig: Bury the magnetic letters in the sand table. The kids
have to dig them up and spell out their words on an easel by the sand table.
- Paint Bags: Fill a ziploc bag (freezer bags work best - they are
heavier) about 1/3 of the way full with tempera paint. Squeeze out the air
and seal it. Tape the top with duct tape just in case there is someone who
might want to make a mess. The students lay the bag on the desk and write
their spelling words on it.
- Sandpaper Rubbings: Cut each letter out of sandpaper and glue it to
an index card. The class spells out their word and puts a piece of paper
over it and does a crayon rubbing.
- Window Spelling: Buy a couple packs of Crayola window markers ($3
each at Wal-mart) and the kids can write their words on the windows.
- Make a wordsearch or crossword puzzle at Puzzlemaker.com
with the spelling words.
- Fun Pens: students copy the words in "fun pens". You can
find them at the Dollar Store or Walgreens. They light up, or are wiggly, or
gooey, etc.
- 30 Second Words: Students fold paper in quarters. Write the
spelling word in one corner of the corner. The teacher gives the students 30
seconds to write the word as many times as they can.
- Rainbow Words: Students write each spelling word with their pencil.
They then go back and trace each word with a crayon. They do this two more
times with two different crayons.
- Telephone Writing: The teacher prepares a paper with the spelling
words written according the key pad of a telephone. For example, c-a-t would
be 2-2-8 (C is on the 2 button, A is on the 2 button, and t is on the 8
button of a telephone key pad). Students will look at a telephone key pad to
figure out the spelling word. They will write the spelling word on the paper
the teacher has prepared.
- Sign Language: Students will practice spelling the words with sign
language.
- Give each letter of the alphabet a value. The students must find the value
of each spelling word. For example: A=1, B=2, C=3.. and so on.
- Sorry! Write the spelling words on wooden sticks along with two
saying SORRY! Put the sticks in a cup. Students team up and play. When they
choose a stick, they must spell the word without looking to keep the stick.
If they mispell the word they must put it back. If they get a SORRY! stick,
they must put all their sticks back. The one with the most sticks at the end
wins. You can keep adding new spelling words to old spelling words as a
review through the year as well.
- Use empty film containers. Put lima beans with each spelling word letter
on individual beans in the container. It is a "hands on" word
scramble.
- Make two "telephones" out of PVC pipes and elbow joints. One
student flashes the word and the other WHISPERS the word and then orally
spells the word into the phone. The PVC pipe works as a megaphone and the
whiospering is greatly magnified. This is great for students who learn best
using auditory activities.
- Disappearing words: Write a word on the chalkboard with a wet
sponge. Aim a small fan at it to speed drying. The children write the words
as many times as they can CORRECTLY AND NEATLY before the word
"disappears". It's a nice twist to writing each word multiple
times and they LOVE it! Whoever has the most correct (and neat) words gets
to write the next word on the board with the sponge!
- Write spelling words in white crayon -or any light colored crayon, then
paint over them with watercolor paint. The white crayon acts as a resist and
the words "magically" appear.
- Guess the word: One partner "writes" a spelling word with
his/her finger on his/her partner' back.
- Musical Spelling: Place a piece of paper with a different spelling
word and a pencil on each desk. Students stand by their desk. When the music
starts they stary walking...when the music stops, they sit in the desk they
are by. They write whatever word is on the desk. They are not supposed to
sit in the same desk twice!
You can download a printer friendly format of these ideas
here.
Adobe Acrobat Reader (free
download) required.