Spelling Sites

I tend not to focus much on spelling when I write about the teaching of writing. However, I’m well-aware that using conventions properly is extremely important.

Each week, my students have eight personal words, which are drawn from their own writing and/or high-frequency words they misspell on assessments I give. [These are in addition to the vocabulary words that come from our Interactive Read Alouds and the word patterns we focus on each week. (My colleagues and I use Wilde’s Book for our spelling curriculum.)] I just finished putting together my students’ personal word lists for the upcoming week.

Thanks to a couple of websites, I was able to come up with additional words for patterns I’ve noticed some of my kids having a weakness with (e.g., ea-, -ought, and -ly patterns). The super-fabulous sites you need to check-out, if you’re doing any type of word work with your students, are:

Finally, a great children’s dictionary I use, but didn’t use this evening, can be found at Wordsmyth.net.