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Paint with water |
Dip a Q-tip in water and practice spelling the words on the chalkboard. The words will disappear like magic, leaving the chalkboard clean |
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Word Cubes |
Write letters on small wooden blocks and have the students arrange them and to spell their weekly words. |
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Spelling Magic |
Try a little magic to teach spelling words! Have students write words on white construction paper with white crayon. Then have them paint over the paper with watered down tempera paint. Words appear like magic! |
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Spelling Puzzles |
Write the spelling words on different colors of tag board. Cut the words apart in a variety of ways. The students then put the puzzle back together to form the spelling words. |
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Individual Boards |
Have the students practice writing their spelling words on small chalkboards or whiteboards. They love it! |
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Clothes Pin Spelling |
The teacher cuts out articles of clothing, from construction paper. The spelling words are then written on these articles of clothing. The students reproduce the spelling words by hanging them on the clothes line with clothespins that have the letters of the alphabet written on them.
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Musical Words |
A word skill game that is played like musical chairs. The teacher places the spelling words on small pieces of paper in a large box or bag. The children sit in a circle, and start passing the box around while music plays. Whoever has the container when the music stops must pick out the paper and read the word. If he can't, he is out. Continue to play until there is only one person left. |
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Fishing for Words |
The spelling words are printed on 3"x5" cards. The cards are then folded in half, and fastened with a paper clip. The cards are placed in a large fish bowl. Using a toy fishing pole or a long stick with a magnet on the end of the string, the students "go fishing" for a spelling word to practice. |
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Read and Grow |
Encourage flashcard practice with a growing flower. Cut a large, colored, construction paper flower with a yellow circle glued to it's center. Use an X-acto knife to make two parallel slits in the center of the flower. Cut green tag board strips the width of the slits, and insert the strip though the flower from the back. Write the spelling words on the stem for the children to practice. |
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Spelling Bingo |
The teacher gives a blank bingo card for a fun activity that could take the place of a traditional pretest. As the teacher reads each word, students write it in a space of their choice. After giving all the words, I call words randomly until someone calls, "BINGO!" The winner must correctly spell all words that gave him the win. |
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Tissue Paper Tracing |
The teacher writes the weekly spelling words on a large piece of paper. The students then place tissue paper over the words and trace over them. |
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Pipe cleaners |
- Children use pipe claners to form their spelling words. |
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Sandy Words |
Have students use glue to write their spelling words, and then sprinkle sand over the glue. Once dry, the students can trace over the words with their fingers for a kinesthetic way to practice their words. They make terrific flashcards! |
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Tip Eraser |
Write the spelling words on the chalkboard or the whiteboard. The students then erase the words by tracing over them again and again with a Q-tip until the words are completely gone. |
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Overhead Posters |
The teacher makes a transparency of the weekly spelling words. The list is then shown on the wall. A piece of butcher paper is taped to the wall. The student then traces the spelling words onto the butcher paper. |
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Magnetic Letters |
The children use magnetic letters to write out their spelling words. |
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Palm Reading |
Motivate your students with palm reading. Write a spelling word with watercolor marker,(You might want to make sure that this is all right with the parents first.) on the palm of each student. Have the students try to spell each other words. The students can check their spelling by reading each other palms. |
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Spelling Keys |
Rhe teacher writes the words for the week on construction paper keys. The keys are placed on a shower curtain ring. The students can use keys as flashcards to help them practice the weekly spelling words. On Friday, after the spelling test they can tear off the keys that they
learned to spell. The words that they missed remain on the ring, this allows the student to continue to practice the words they need help on. If the student can spell these words on the using review test they may then tear off the keys to take home. |
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Magazine letters |
In this activity the children search for letters in newspapers or magazines. When they find the letters that make up their speeling words, they glue them onto construction paper - |
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Keyboarding |
Have the students write their spelling words ten times each on your classroom computer. Even the old dinosaurs that some classes have are useful for this activity. |
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Spelling Squares |
Students practice their words on graphing paper. The students use 1 box for each letter. Have the students figure out which spelling word is in the shortest, longest, etc.... |
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Take the Pepsi Challenge |
For a motivational technique, "Take the Pepsi Challenge!" (Who remembers that old ad campaign?)Each student has a Pepsi cup. When Fridays spelling test is returned, he writes words he misses on a card and places it in his cup. When we have our review test, students are retested on the same words. Anyone who has a perfect score on all the unit
tests and keeps his cup empty wins a Pepsi! Give a Pepsi also for perfect scores on review tests. |
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Alphabet Stamps |
Although this activity can get a little messy on the fingers if you are not careful, it is a great favorite among my students. The children use alphabet stamps to stamp out the spelling words for the week. |
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Salt Box Spelling |
Pour salt inro a lid of a box or a flat aluminum pan (approx. 1/4"). The student then practices the words in the salt. |
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Pyramid Power |
Give your students a weekly spelling assignment with a different twist. have students write their words in order of difficulty. They write their easiest word once at the top of the paper near the middle, the next easiest twice, and so on. Students will have a pyramid shape when
they are finished. |
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Playdough |
Using cookiecutters that are letters of the alphabet. have the children cut out the letters of their spelling word OR have them form the dough itself into letters. |
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Put It In Print |
Have the students cut out the letters form a newspaper to spell the weekly spelling words. |
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Partner Word Step |
On a large piece of butcher paper print the letters of the alphabet. Have two partners pair up together to play this game. Have one student read th word aloud. The other child must step on the correct letters to spell the word. |
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Finger Paint Bags |
Freezer strength zip lock bags and fingerprint make great writing slates. Place a dab of finger paint in the zip-lock bag, tape the bag closed for extra strength. The student then lays the bag flat on the table and writes the word on the bag. The word will disappear like magic. |
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Sandpaper Practice |
Cut out the letters of the alphabet from sandpaper. The students place the sandpaper lerters in the right order to correctly spell their words. Then then trace over the words with their fingers. The students can really feel their words! |
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Shaving Cream Spelling |
An easy way to clean those dirty work tables clean is to let the children finger paint on the table tops. Have the students practice their spelling words in the shaving cream. They really love this one |
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Disappearing Act |
Help your students perform a real disappearing act. Children write their spelling words with chalk on black construction paper. Then you can spray and watch their words disappear and return. |
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Transparency Show Off |
The teacher makes a transparency of regular lined paper. The students practice writing their spelling words on the transparency. The students then show off their work on the overhead
projector for all to see |
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Egg Spellers |
The teacher writes the weekly spelling words on small pieces of paper and place them inside plastic eggs. Students pick the eggs from an Easter basket and must write the word they find inside their egg. |
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Magnetic Cookie Sheet |
The teacher arranges assorted magnet letters on a cookie sheet. Students use the letters to form their weekly spelling words. |
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Adding Machine Tape Spelling |
For a different twist give each student a length of adding machine tape and have them write their words on the tape |
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Scrabble Spelling |
Place the wooden letter squares from an old Scrabble game on the Scrabble rail.Students can use the squares to spell the weekly words or to write a sentence of words. Incorporate math practice by having them add the number values printed on the squares to find the week's "most valuable word." |
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Paint Your Words |
Have the students use small paint brushes to paint their words 5 times each. |
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Alpha-bit Spelling |
Students use cereal to reproduce their spelling words. Don't forget the have a snack with the words you make. |
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Rainbow Writing |
This is another favorite among my kids. The children choose 6 different colors or crayons, markers, or colored penciles. They write their spelling words one at a time in large bloack letters. Then they write the same word again slightly to the right. Repeat this until all the selected colors are used. The repitition is great practice and it also make=sa pretty picture. |
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Flannel Board Practice |
Students use a flannel board and flannel board letters to practice their spelling words.
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Rainbow chains |
Rainbow chains are a great way of keeping track of the words a student knows. The student writes all the words he successfully spelled on the last test on a construction paper chain. The children love to see their chains grow longer. |
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Round About Flashcards |
Have students decorate a paper pate. Cut a slice out of the paper plate so it looks like a slice of pie cut out of theplate. Brad a round piece of paper to the back. Then write the weekly spelling words in the window. The students turn the wheel and practice saying the word. |
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Block Puzzles |
The teacher strings together wooden block beads. Write the spelling words on the top of the cubes, fill in the other sides with other letters. Attach a tag to the end of the string of blocks and write
the spelling words on it. The student turns the blocks to reproduce the spelling word. |
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Spelling Dice |
The teacher writes the weekly spelling words on dice made from milk cartons. The student rolls the dice and writes the word that shows up. |
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Scratch n' Sniff |
Use a new sensation to teach the alphabet or spelling words. Write letters with glue on paper, them sprinkle with Jell-O. Makes a super scratch n' Sniff when tracing over the letters. |
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Record a Word |
Here is an opportunity to use another learning modality. Have students use a tape recorder to practice their spelling words. They can say the words into the tape...They can spell and then play back their own spelling...be creative...no matter what, they'll love doing this! |
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Spell It With Beans- |
The students use lima beans, pasta, or other types of grains to spell the weekly spelling words. The students can also glue the beans in place for a 3-D flashcard. |
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