Spelling

I don’t begin spelling practice and tests until January in grade one. The reasons for this are many. First of all, the first 4 months of grade one are absolutely jam-packed with reading and writing and there’s no room left! The main reason is that the children in my room are authors and I want them to see themselves that way. I have found that if we focus on correct spellings too early, they are inhibited in their writing because they’re afraid to make mistakes.

My spelling program is based on the rest of my balanced literacy program, and runs through the short vowels, the long vowels (mixed patterns – these are tough! I may split them next year working on magic ‘e’ one week, vowel blends the next etc.), and then some common sight words and unusual words. There are 5-10 words per week.

I also have some “No Excuses Words” that the children are expected to spell correctly all year long. (I, the, a, is, it, in, up, you, and.)

Each Monday, I send home a spelling worksheet in the trace/copy/recall format.

Here they are, for your reference.
(Teachers, please feel free to use and edit as you wish.)

short a

short e

short i

short o

short u

long a

long e

long i

long o

long u

short vowel mix 1

short vowel mix 2

no exceptions 1

no exceptions 2

blends 1