Colleen Fairchild and I decided not to do Words Their Way, at least not this year. So I am doing a vocabulary and spelling program I developed some years ago. The students have the 30 word lists for the year in their 3-ring binders. On Tuesdays we will do the list word spelling tests. During the tests I will give the meaning of the words; the students will have to remember the words and spell them correctly.
On Thursdays the students will continue to get their words missed spelling tests. Any word they misspell on any final draft written work can get added to their own personal words missed list.
In addition, also in their 3-ring binders, they now have a list of over 1000 core words--the most commonly used words in the English language. (I also included all 50 prepositions in the list.) The core words list is a challenge--the students can move through the list at their own pace, 20 words at a time. Those tests would also be done on Thursdays.
Add that to the daily work in CCD (Cognitive Content Dictionary) where we are learning Greek and Latin roots, and periodic DOLs (Daily Oral Language) where we apply rules of grammar and spelling to real-life writing, and you can see that spelling and vocabulary development are a critical component of our curriculum!
On Thursdays the students will continue to get their words missed spelling tests. Any word they misspell on any final draft written work can get added to their own personal words missed list.
In addition, also in their 3-ring binders, they now have a list of over 1000 core words--the most commonly used words in the English language. (I also included all 50 prepositions in the list.) The core words list is a challenge--the students can move through the list at their own pace, 20 words at a time. Those tests would also be done on Thursdays.
Add that to the daily work in CCD (Cognitive Content Dictionary) where we are learning Greek and Latin roots, and periodic DOLs (Daily Oral Language) where we apply rules of grammar and spelling to real-life writing, and you can see that spelling and vocabulary development are a critical component of our curriculum!
