Making Words describes an activity in which a teacher gives each of her students the same magnetic letters and then shows them all of the words that they can create from six or seven letters, or how ever many he/she gives the students. This can be especially helpful for children in Kindergarten, First, and Second grade. Around this age children are still learning how to spell and read words. They can really benefit from an activity that shows them specific patterns between words that use the same letters. To start the activity the teacher tells them to make words with two letters, then with three letters, then with four letters, until eventually all of the letters are used to make a big word. By showing them all of the different words that they can make with four letters for example, they begin to understand that those four letters can make even more words if they move them around, and then add more letters.
I really like the sound of this activity. I can picture students enjoying the activity, but more importantly it would be really helpful for them. It is important that children practice invented spelling, but by using this structured spelling activity it helps them understand how words are created from letters by showing them the patterns that letters make. This in turn makes their invented spelling better and better until eventually their invented spelling is correct spelling. As basic as this sounds it is really important.
When I was in school I do not remember practicing spelling that much in the classroom. The teacher would go over the weekly words for us, but the majority of our spelling learning was done at home and was just repetition I would have really enjoyed an activity such as this. Does anyone else remember being able to do this type of activity when they were in school? Did you enjoy it? I am wondering if some kids may get frustrated or embarrassed by it if their peers can see that they are struggling with it.
I think that with this activity there is a wide variety of words that children can make, so it really helps them understand that with different patterns there can be many different words created. With this type of activity I feel that student's vocabulary would be extremely enhanced. I agree that when growing up besides spelling tests, and drilling how to spell, I do not remember using invented spelling and interactive ways to learn about how to spell and create words.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Barbara. I simply remember weekly spelling tests. These tested focused on memorization and repitition. I feel that if there was more of a focus on letter patterns, students' spelling abilities would strengthen. Students need lots of exposure to words, but they also need to recognize letter patterns so that they can apply this knowledge when they are struggling to spell an unfamiliar word.
ReplyDeleteMy memories of elementary school are very similar to yours. Most of my spelling practice was repetition and homework. I also remember taking a lot of spelling tests and studying for them every night. This activity would be a great way to practice spelling and phonetics in a fun, positive light.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you and everyone else, I remember spelling simply being the usual test on Friday's and sometimes we even got the pretest and could skip out on the real test! Memorization at its finest. I think this activity in particular might not embarrass the students so much. Also, I think the way the teacher reacts to the students that are struggling is a huge factor on how embarrassed the students actually feel. If the teacher reacts to it with a "Oh tommy, you are on the right track, lets figure this out together" vs "tommy, thats wrong, fix it" that obviously makes a huge difference!
ReplyDeleteMost of my memories of spelling involve memorization as well. I do remember one spelling activity besides the usual take home spelling words. One of my teachers gave each student a bunch of macaroni noodles. Our teacher would say a word and we would have to spell it with the noodles on our desk. When we were finished we glued the noodles on paper to spell out our names. I am assuming I really enjoyed the activity since I can remember participating. I think that simple activities are a nice change of pace from the repetitive memorization activities.
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