Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Sunday, April 17, 2011
S-p-e-l-l-i-n-g I-s H-a-r-d
What elementary academic concept jumps to mind? For me, its Friday spelling tests. I can see myself sitting in the big red chair in our living room as my mom tests my knowledge of my weekly spelling list. So much of our writing critiques involve how well a student spells rather than the content of the student’s message. In a resume, if one word is spelled or used incorrectly, you are especially thrown in the corporate trashcan. It doesn’t matter that your resume more that qualifies you with the job. If you spelled “the” as “teh,” your job opportunities drastically decline. Why does that make sense? Sure, it shows that you did not spend as much time on your resume as you should have, but is spelling that important?
I feel the same applies to our students. We naturally tend to write off student’s work, because the spelling interferes with the flow of their writing. However, as they are developing as writers, spelling should not be a priority. Studies show that the more you come in contact with written language, the better your spelling will be. While this is not necessarily universally true, it has a great impact. Even though you may memorize spelling rules, the irregularities make understanding those rules very difficult. Essentially, it boils down to memorizing how words look. This ability occurs through consistent exposure. Eventually, I believe that students learn spelling through extensive reading and writing.
As a teacher of up and coming writers, conventional spelling will take a back seat to allow creativity to push through. I want my students to be able to formulate their ideas in their head and transcribe them in writing in an organized way that engages the reader. Plus, I would rather my students continually write creatively and read constantly rather than write spelling words over and over. However, I still understand the importance of correct spelling, but I would teach it in a different, contextual way. After my students write a piece, I will circle the words they misspelled. Then, they will add those words to their “spelling dictionary,” a document that they formulate throughout the year. It will include the correctly spelled word as well as a definition. They will be responsible for spelling these words conventionally in every piece of writing they do. Because they have their own dictionary, it automatically differentiates each child’s weaknesses. Instead of Friday spelling tests, my class will consist of Write-A-Thons and Pillows and Poems.That sounds much more meaningful and f-u-n.
I feel the same applies to our students. We naturally tend to write off student’s work, because the spelling interferes with the flow of their writing. However, as they are developing as writers, spelling should not be a priority. Studies show that the more you come in contact with written language, the better your spelling will be. While this is not necessarily universally true, it has a great impact. Even though you may memorize spelling rules, the irregularities make understanding those rules very difficult. Essentially, it boils down to memorizing how words look. This ability occurs through consistent exposure. Eventually, I believe that students learn spelling through extensive reading and writing.
As a teacher of up and coming writers, conventional spelling will take a back seat to allow creativity to push through. I want my students to be able to formulate their ideas in their head and transcribe them in writing in an organized way that engages the reader. Plus, I would rather my students continually write creatively and read constantly rather than write spelling words over and over. However, I still understand the importance of correct spelling, but I would teach it in a different, contextual way. After my students write a piece, I will circle the words they misspelled. Then, they will add those words to their “spelling dictionary,” a document that they formulate throughout the year. It will include the correctly spelled word as well as a definition. They will be responsible for spelling these words conventionally in every piece of writing they do. Because they have their own dictionary, it automatically differentiates each child’s weaknesses. Instead of Friday spelling tests, my class will consist of Write-A-Thons and Pillows and Poems.That sounds much more meaningful and f-u-n.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Kids Can Blog Too!
- Joe in Mrs. Fowler's 2nd grade class...http://kidblog.org/MrsFowlers2ndGrade/joe172/snow-days-3/#comment-419
- Sixth Grade Science Class...http://seyfertssixthgraders.blogspot.com/
- Karina's Book Review... http://kidblog.org/MrsRippsClass/ksripp/my-review-of-because-of-winn-dixie/#comment-2239
- Children's Computer Artwork... http://www.flickr.com/photos/twitterart2011/with/5607235312/
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