Spelling activities that engage students in the learning process to give them a better chance of retaining the spelling words into their long term memory.
Weekly spelling tests and spelling lessons are a big part of many school curriculum's. Some schools opt for teaching spelling focally, while other teach it informally. As students begin to read they are learning how to spell. Toddlers learn to spell because we spell some words as an abbreviation to the word. TV, DVD, and CD are the more common words that we say by spelling the words.
Today, students have the luxury of spell check however this will hinder their writing if many of the words are highlighted in their text. As well, they must identify the correct word which is not simple if the student is unable to understand how to spell words. Spell check's main purpose was to identify words that were spelled incorrectly because of poor typing skills.
Spelling is key to a student's success because they build on their vocabulary base. A student who is able to use more than one word to convey an idea or thought is more interesting than the student who continually uses the same words in their written and oral language.
Teachers can engage students in learning new words by making the weekly spelling lessons interesting and varied. Grade one spelling lesson plans can be created for all the student levels in the class. As well, as the students build their vocabulary base, the teacher can add more advanced spelling word activities.
