Fifth graders worked their way through a week of spelling expectations this week! Spelling lists are sometimes called “sorts” as they are groups of words that are meant to be sorted into categories to illustrate a specific rule of English spelling. For example, students who need to learn/review the concept of silent letters at the beginning of words might have the categories: gn- (gnaw, gnome), kn- (know, knit), and wr- (write, wrist). All the words in their “sort” will fall into those categories. Students were given different sorts based on which rules they need to learn or review.
On the Monday of spelling weeks, the goal is to learn the rule. Students will sort their words into categories, analyze the rule and observe how it applies to their words – identifying any “oddballs” (words that do not follow the rule – English has quite a few). On Tuesdays, the goal is to know the definitions of their words. They practice with a choice of activities – including making emoji’s for each word. On Wednesday, they focus on spelling with another set of activities like rainbow writing, writing in cursive, or writing with their nondominant hand. On Thursdays, they will complete some activities that extend the spelling pattern to other words they know (or make up!).
This week, students practiced these activities with a list of homophones. We will do another round with more homophones!
