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Spell Well!
Selected Spelling Activities For Practice at Home
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Jingle Spell Get a paper and pencil. Write two line jingles for each of your spelling words. Remember that the last word in both lines must rhyme. Write your spelling word first. Then write the jingle. Underline your spelling word. Share it with a friend or with the class. For example: green See the big green frog. He is sitting on the log.
Are You Listening? Practice spelling your words orally for 10 minutes each day. Ask someone to listen and check for accuracy.
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Rhyme TimeMake a short rhyme for each of your words. Do you see any similarities between your spelling words and each of the rhyming words?
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Headlines!Cut letters out of newspapers and magazines to spell your words. Paste them on a piece of paper.
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Color and CutWrite each word with a thick crayon. Cut out the letters. Arrange them in the correct order to spell each word. Paste them on a piece of paper.
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Graph It! Spell each of your words on graph paper. Shade in squares to form the letters of each word. Check each word to make sure it is spelled correctly.
That's an Order! Put your words in alphabetical order.
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Tic-Tac-Toe Play Tic-Tac-Toe with a friend. Instead of writing X's and O's, write a different spelling word in each square. You'll score in spelling as well as in Tic-Tac-Toe!
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Three Cheers for Spelling! Develop a cheer for some of your words. Make it snappy, make it catchy, but make sure you spell out the letters of each word.
"Cloze" the Gap ("Every Other") Exchange spelling lists with a partner. Write each spelling word, but leave out every other letter and put a blank in its place. Write a synonym next to each word as a clue. Exchange lists so that you have your own list. Race to see who can fill in the missing letters first. Check the spelling of each word when you are finished. Misspelled words will not count. The person with the greatest number of correctly spelled words wins the game. f r s (woods)
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Concentration Get some 3 x 5 cards. Cut each of them in half. Print each of your spelling words on two cards. There should be two cards for each word. Get two or three friends to play the game with you. Spread the cards face down on the table. Be sure that none are covered up. Take turns turning over two cards. If you have a pair of matching cards, keep them turned face up in a pile in front of you. If you do not turn up a pair, turn the cards face down again in that same spot. The game continues until all cards have been made into pairs. Words of ClayUse clay to form the letters of each word. Put the letters in order to spell the word. Say each letter softly to yourself.
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Say That Again Look up each word in the thesaurus. What other words mean the same thing? Make a list of two similar words for each word on your list.
String-a-Word String letter beads on a string to spell each word.
Picture This! Compile a picture dictionary. Each time you have a word that can be illustrated, put it in your dictionary. Besides an illustration, add a definition or use it in a sentence.
Practice makes PerfectFind a friend and give each other an oral spelling test. The person who misses the most words must be the other person's slave for the day (or any other appropriate penalty).
Eraser Race Use the eraser on the end of your pencil to erase each of your spelling words onto pictures from old magazines.
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Figure This
Print each of your spelling words. Then draw around each word. Study the shape or "figure" of each word.
Categories Sort and categorize your words according to parts of speech.
Match It This is a partner game that is also known as Go Fish. Find a friend. Write your words on cards so that you have two cards for each word. Deal out part of the stack. Ask your partner for a particular word. If he does not have it, draw from the remaining stack. Scoring: 1 point per match if it is your partner's word, and 2 points per match for your own word.
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Let's TalkUse each word in your conversation sometime during the week. Put a small check by each word as you use it.
Word ArtPaint your words. Make them fancy or funny.
Flexible Practice Look at your word. Write it in the air, on the carpet (with your finger, of course) on a white board, in the sand. Now cover it up with your hand. Write it from memory. Uncover the word. Check your spelling.
Bingo! Play Bingo with your words. Get at least one person to play with you. Each person writes his spelling words on a Bingo playing card. Place spelling word cards in a common pile. Shuffle. To play: draw a card and call out the word. As the word is called, cover it on your individual Bingo cards.
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Find A Word Make a word find puzzle with a friend. Trade lists of spelling words and use the list to make a word find puzzle. Write all of the words on graph paper and then fill in the empty boxes around the words with other letters. Trade puzzles, and go to work!
Puzzle Me this Write each word on a card. Cut each card in half, using a different pattern or design for each card. Shuffle the pieces and then match each half.
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Now Hear This!Tape record the spelling of your words. Say each word and then spell it. Play the tape back and check the spelling of each word.
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Name That Part
Decide what part of speech each of your words is. Then do one of the following for each word.
Adjective or adverb: What would you describe with this word? Find at least three things you can describe.
Verb: Find an action word. What are the other tenses of the word? Add a suffix or prefix. How does it change the meaning?
Noun or pronoun: Is it a person, place, or thing? Is it singular or plural? What would its other form (singular or plural) be? |
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1-2-3 Classify your words according to syllables.
One syllable two syllable three syllable cat brother elastic ball friendly correctly |
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Spin a YarnGlue yarn on pieces of heavy paper so that it spells each of your words. Close your eyes and have a friend hand you your cards one at a time. Feel the yarn spelling on each card. Say the word and spell it.
Tongue Twisters Using the beginning letter of each word, write same-letter sentences. Have a tongue-twister contest with your sentences.
Ex. Jolly Jim jumps rope.
Take a StretchWrite your words and then illustrate them.
Finger Paint Cover a piece of paper with finger paints. Roll up your sleeves and begin finger painting your spelling words.
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Design ItCreate a graphic design with your words. With a pencil, lightly outline a design or picture. Outline the perimeter of your design with your spelling words or fill in the interior of your design by writing each spelling word several times. Display your masterpiece.
Guess What!Play charades with your words. Each person chooses a word to act out. The person guessing the word must not only guess the word, but must also spell it correctly. You can score one point for guessing the word rightand one point for spelling it correctly.
Crossword Magic Make a crossword puzzle using your spelling words. Find someone else who is also making a crossword puzzle. Trade and work out each other's puzzle. Fun Food Select your words from the outside packaging of a product (candy bar wrapper, cereal box, etc.). Do at least one of the following activities:
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"Gibberish" Write your words in "gibberish." Leave them in your desk or folder for a day or two. Then take out your list and try to separate them into the correct spelling.
How to write in "gibberish": Write all of the words together as if they were one big word. If you have a lot of words, you may wish to divide them into two or three lines. Divide the letters into new words which may or may not make sense. fis hfi ree igh tpla nteye
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Sky WritingSpell out each word using big letters that you print in the air. Quietly say each letter to yourself as you write it. Check to see that you have spelled it correctly. If you did not spell it correctly, erase it and spell it over again. It's a Match Have a partner read a definition for each word. You decide which word on your list matches this definition and write the word. Check the spelling.
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