spelling

Personal Spelling Words

Stacey Shubitz

Sarah wrote:

I’m a little behind in your posts, but I was wondering if you would be willing to share the type of spelling program you use with your students? We have a district mandated spelling book that I abhor, so I ventured out on my own this year with Words Their Way. While I love the individualization it gives the kids in support of RTI, I’m not seeing great strides in their personal improvement. I would love to know more about your personal spelling lists etc.

My colleagues and I use Wilde’s Book, Spelling Strategies and Patterns, for weekly spelling instruction.

Each child in my class receives eight personal words to study each week. Their personal word lists come from one of three places:
1) Misspelled words I identify in their writing.
2) 3rd and 4th Grade High Frequency Word Lists (i.e., words I test my kids on that they misspell)
.
3) If I don’t find many misspellings (as in #1 and #2), then I look towards our vocabulary words, which come from our Interactive Read Aloud Books, as a way to help my students spell slightly more complicated words.

Students give their Word Study Partners a “Buddy Test” every Wednesday and a traditional Spelling Test on Fridays.

Published by Stacey Shubitz

I am a literacy consultant who focuses on writing workshop. I've been working with K-6 teachers and students since 2009. Prior to that, I was a fourth and fifth-grade teacher in New York City and Rhode Island. I'm the author of Craft Moves (Stenhouse Publishers, 2016) and the co-author of Jump Into Writing (Zaner-Bloser, 2021), Welcome to Writing Workshop (Stenhouse Publishers, 2019), and Day By Day (Stenhouse, 2010). I live in Central Pennsylvania with my husband and children. In my free time, I enjoy swimming, doing Pilates, cooking, baking, making ice cream, and reading novels.

One thought on “Personal Spelling Words”

  1. Thanks for the suggestion! I just got my copy of the book today due to the snow/ice storm here in Texas! I’m excited to look at it for my classes next year. Our school district weights the LArts grade 30% in spelling! I will still have to give a grade in this area, so I’ll use this and keep an eye out for any other spelling strategies you have to offer! Thanks again!

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