If you are an elementary classroom teacher and have experienced amongst your colleagues the topic of the effectiveness of spelling tests, well you are not alone! Spelling is a crucial piece towards developing literacy skills. This year I began teaching third grade for the first time, and oh boy, it’s a tough grade since it is the first year of state testing for these 8- to 9-year-olds. Many experienced teachers may try to avoid teaching third grade since it requires a lot of heavy lifting in preparing these youngsters for their first state test. However, I am loving third grade, and I have embraced the challenge that my third graders will need to learn to write either an opinion, informative, or a narrative essay along with short readings aiming at comprehension skills. Hence, spelling will REALLY help my students on the state test but also in their educational journey towards becoming fluent readers.
When my team came together prior to the start of the school year, we questioned ourselves with whether we should incorporate spelling tests. We knew the importance of spelling! It connects to many elements: the development of phonological awareness, reading comprehension, writing skills, vocabulary, and communication skills. For these reasons, we decided to incorporate spelling tests into the new school year. However, we decided NOT to grade them.
The purpose behind not grading spelling tests? Our main goal is to ensure that our students are connecting their spelling words with what we are teaching during that week and how we use it through reading, writing, and communication. We most definitely did not want to just assign spelling words just for the sake of it. Our main objective is to improve their literacy skills. It also serves as a formative assessment; using the results to help our struggling students.
How do I teach spelling words before the spelling test? Through many activities where students use it through speech, writing and reading. My team is very lucky in that we can easily tie our weekly spelling words during our ELA time. Our school district adopted a new ELA curriculum, which includes weekly spelling words that link into the weekly readings. It is very common for many teachers to have an ELA curriculum with vocabulary words tied to the weekly readings. If no spelling list is provided, I highly suggest working with your team and dive into the weekly reading(s) and pick 6-14 phonetic words, depending on your grade level, that have either beginning consonant blends, double consonants, compound words, vowel teams, contractions, diphthongs, digraphs, homophones, etc.
The following is a list of activities that I apply in preparation for the spelling test and for students to grasp the importance of knowing these spelling words. Keep in mind, these activities are for 3rd graders. I begin by emailing a list of spelling words to parents on our Third Grade Weekly Newsletter, so that families are aware of what we are studying and reading.
1. On Mondays, I post the spelling words on our ViewSonic monitor. They are posted in sentences, for example: There is a hole in my shoe. I ate the whole pie! I ask for volunteers to read a sentence using my classroom microphone. We talk about the spelling word and how it is used in context. As you can see, our spelling words for that week were homophones.
2. On Monday’s and Tuesday’s, during center time, students have the same sentences we read as a class on the ViewSonic monitor. I place them in a plastic sheet protector in a bucket with markers and tiny whiteboards. The leader of the group will first say the spelling word, then read the sentence to the group. The group will then write the spelling word on their whiteboards. The leader will then go around and check their spelling.
3. On Tuesday’s, during whole class instruction, I will play a video, typically on YouTube, that ties into our spelling words. For example, if the focus is homophones, it’s a video on homophones. I then assign students to write at least 2-4 sentences using words from our upcoming spelling test. Why 2-4 sentences? Keep in mind these are brand new, whether they have heard it or not. Plus, you do not want to overstimulate your students that have an IEP or a 504. Next, students choose 1 sentence to read aloud at their table groups. This allows a moment for other students to correct a student’s mistake or to give positive comments on their sentence structure. After, we read the weekly reading, as a class, which includes some of our spelling words. I like to stop when we see our spelling word or a similar one and point out how it is being used in context.
4. On Wednesday’s, I have students do a written activity involving their spelling words which can vary from a gallery walk to their grammar book. For the gallery walk, 
I focus on 6 of the toughest spelling words. As a group, they write a sentence using the spelling word on the poster but CANNOT repeat what the previous group has already written. I like this activity for the purposes of seeing if students are using the spelling word appropriately in context. As for their grammar book, it is a book that comes with our curriculum. It consists of sentences and the spelling words that are in the bank of words; they must be used to fill in the blank sentences. This practice is great for appropriately using the spelling word in context.
5. On Thursdays and Fridays for center time, in a bucket I have a fluency reading passage (provided by our adopted ELA curriculum) in a plastic sheet protector per student in the group with markers. In the fluency reading, students take turns reading a small paragraph. While they read, they must circle their spelling words in the passage and answer comprehension questions that I post based on the passage they read.
6. On Thursday’s, I do a practice run with the spelling words. I say the spelling word aloud then use it in a sentence. As I write the answer on the whiteboard, I ask the class if they see any patterns in the spelling words or what strategies they use when spelling out the words. You’ll be surprised what they share and what they learn from each other.
We rotate weekly on the practice spelling test so that students do not become bored with the practice test. One week, they practice their spelling on their whiteboards and then the following week they use their ipads using Free Online Whiteboard by Tutorialspoint. Students love this website because they can choose the format in which to write their spelling word.
7. On Friday’s, I do a quick review by playing another video related to their spelling words. Next, I have them say each spelling word to their partner, taking turns, and paying attention to their partner’s mouth as they say the spelling word. Lastly, they take their spelling test. As the class takes their test, I remind them to pay attention to how many syllables the word has and how I am pronouncing the word by paying close attention to my mouth.
Exposing your students to various reading, writing and oral activities will help cement what they are learning by applying correct phonetic forms and patterns. There are many other creative ways to practice spelling. Make it fun by creating some spelling games or by simply having students practice typing their spelling words on their iPad or class computer.
I sincerely hope this blog post helped you develop ideas on effective spelling practices. Cheers to your continued effort in shaping and molding young minds!
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