Spelling Strategies and Activities

SPELLINGS STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES

These three activities I have used with individual students who are finding spelling very tricky. I find that they help to develop their understanding of phonemes and to develop their confidence in their abilities. 

BOGGLE: children choose 12 letters randomly and then use the letters selected to make words.  I have colour coded the vowels in red as some of my students are unsure which letters the vowels are.  I have included the phonemes and blends for students who are unsure of these and to help them recognise that they make one sound.

a	b	c	d	e	f
g	h	i	j	k	l
m	n	o	p	q	r
s	t	u	v	w	x
y	z	ai	ee	ie	oa
ue	sh	ch	th	th	ng
oo	oo	ar	er	or	oi
ou	ck	ll	ff	zz	qu
a-e	ay	ea	i-e	igh	y
o-e	owsnow	ue	u-e	ew	ir
ir	ur	or	au	aw	al
oy	owcow	ear	air	ure	ss
br	cl	cr	dr	sm	st
pl	sk	spl	tw	squ	thr
nd	lk	ft	nch	mp	ct
bl	ph	tch	tion	wh	dg
ea	ough	a	e	i	o
u	c	d	g	n	p
r	t	a	e	i	o
u	a	e	i	o	u

SPLAT:  In example I have used the letters b, d and p, however, I have used this activity with homophones too.  Say the letter to the student who them has to “Splat” the letter with their palm or make a zapper using a card shape.

b	b	b	b	b
d	d	d	d	d
p	p	p	p	p
d	b	p	d	p
b	d	b	p

 

ONSET AND RIME

This activity helps the student to recognise that many spellings follow a pattern (letter strings and letter families).  Often I will ask the student to tell me or to write down a sentence using the words. 

ook

l

t

b

h

The activities can be easily adapted and used with other strategies, for example recording the words created playing Boggle on coloured paper with felt pens; using  shaving foam or sand to write the letter b or d; and using plastic spoons or lolly sticks to create onset and rime resources. 

Above all else I aim to make the activities purposeful and fun for the student.