Spelling Specials

This is the section where we continue all of that great work that we do everyday with our Word Wall Words. There are many children that learn spelling best through connections to other experiences and areas of learning as well as moving and just playing with spelling patterns. These activities take the Word Wall Words to the next level of learning and fun!!

1. Invisible Words- 

This is a crazy one!! Squeeze some lemon juice into a saucer. Invite the child to dip a cotton-tip swab into the lemon juice and write a sentence, or message, on white paper. Have the child use new Word Wall words in the sentence. Then watch. As the juice dries, it becomes virtually invisible!!! Next have the child give you the invisible message to see if it can be read. TOP SECRET TIP FOR ADULTS ONLY: TO make the words reappear, place the message facedown on top of an old towel or rag. Iron the back of the paper with a warm iron. Share the encoded message with the child, and see how many words are spelled with dictionary spelling.

2. Pattern Play- 

List words spelled with a similar pattern, and invite the child to discover how they are alike. For example, the words took and cook   have the spelling pattern ook,   and the words night   and light   have the spelling pattern ight.   Next ask the child to form each letter in the pattern by bending and twisting pipe cleaners. Then make pipe cleaner letters to add to the pattern in order to spell new words with the same pattern. How many words can the child spell with the same pattern.

3. Backward Bee-  

Begin by providing a list of words for the child to spell. They may be words from the Word Wall Words or the vocabulary words from each story. Then, just like in a regular spelling bee, give the child a word to spell. However, instead of spelling the word forward, have the child spell it backward. The child gets one point for each word spelled correctly.

4. Apple Tree- 

Before play begins, make a ladder with masking tape on a tile floor or smooth surface. Make five rungs on the ladder. Then draw an apple tree on paper. Next think of a specific Word Wall word. Then draw a row of apples on the tree. Next have the child stand on the bottom rung of the ladder and try to guess one letter that is part of the word. Every correct letter gets written in the appropriate apple. For every incorrect guess, the child must step up one rung on the ladder. The game ends when the child guesses the spelling of the word correctly, or if he or she “steps off the top of the ladder”. Ready to play again? Just erase the letters on the tree and start the game over.

5. Magic Words- 

Pose the following question to the child: How do you turn a cap into a cape? The answer: With magic! A magic “e” that is. Show the child how adding an “e” to some words will “magically” turn them into other words. Next invite the child to put a magic spell on words such as tub and cub , turning them into the new words tube and cube. Ask the child to think of other words that could fall under the same spell. You may want to suggest the following words to get eh child started: tap, her, cut, kit, rip, rob, and can.