The
Common Core State Standards are challenging, particularly in the area
of writing and language arts. Students will need to master three
types of writing: informative, narrative, and opinion. By they last
quarter of third grade, they will need to be able to produce each of
these types of writing using multiple paragraphs. For the informative
and opinion pieces, they will need to be able to cite two sources. Of
course, students will also be expected to “Demonstrate
command of the conventions of standard English capitalization,
punctuation, and spelling when writing.”
Teaching
writing is time consuming. Children need time to plan, organize,
edit, and revise. I have been fortunate to work in a school that
allocates two hours each day to language arts, and I still have found
myself scrambling to find a block of time to teach writing.
I
have found that spelling can be a real black hole to take time out of
my day. The tests can easily take thirty minutes with me reading each
word aloud while the students write it on their papers. In addition,
I have been bothered by the lack of individualization. A single
spelling list is bound to be too easy for some students and too hard
for others. When I try to remedy this problem by giving
differentiated lists or by adding enrichment words, this makes the
problem of taking too much time even worse.
I
am dedicating my summer to coming up with an individualized spelling
program that will allow each child to move at his or her own pace
while freeing up class time. Instead of having a teacher read words
aloud while the students write them, the tests will consist of
multiple choice questions in which the students choose the correctly
spelled word to complete a sentence. During testing time, each child
can be on a different test depending on their individual spelling
level. Also, the tests will not take as much time because they do not
have to be read out loud.
I
have finished the first grade year. It is 209 pages long and contains
52 spelling tests. Here is what the tests will look like:
Spelling
Test 1.51
____________________
1. He ___ a note to his dad.
a.
rits b. rites c. writs d. writes
____________________
2. She put the pen in its ___.
a.
cas b. case c. kas d. kase
____________________
3. The bus ___ on time.
a.
was b. wuz c. waz d. wus
____________________
4. Beth ran to the next ___.
a.
bas b. base c. bac d. bace
____________________
5. The page has ___ on it.
a.
lins b. linz c. lines d. linez
____________________
6. Ann has a red ___.
a.
dres b. drese c. derss d. dress
____________________
7. The ___ has a rose in it.
a.
vase b. vas c. vac d. vace
____________________
8. Bob will ___ his bike to ride home.
a.
yuze b. use c. uze d. usse
____________________
9. The dog will ___ the cat.
a.
chac b. chace c. chas d. chase
____________________
10. Ned ___ the black pen.
a.
choz b. chose c. choze d. chos
As
you can see, the students will circle the letter of the correctly
spelled
word and then write it on the line. If you are interested in
this spelling
program, it is available on Teachers Pay Teachers. I
will continue to work
on spelling for the later grades.
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