Wednesday, February 7, 2007

Spelling

Spelling correctly is an essential skill for students. Many student assessments require them to demonstrate knowledge and skills via paper and pencil tasks. Just like penmanship and keyboarding, spelling needs to be fluent so the student can concentrate on the content of the writing.

One way to give your students another tool to master the skills in spelling correctly is to use Spelling Time at www.spellingtime.com This website is free and allows the teacher or the parent to customize the spelling lists that the student works on in grades 1-5. The site uses a combination of interactive technology and the repetition of drill and practice work.

I recently signed up as a teacher and added all of the students in my class. I used the usernames and passwords that the kids have already to sign on to their K12LTSP desktops. They already have those memorized and there isn't a good reason to assign them multiple passwords to remember (or for me to keep track of).

A particularly nice feature of this site is that it allows teachers or parents to create spelling lists or graded lists can be used. Our school system uses Sitton Spelling so I am able to customize the lists to that program. The lessons can also be printed out as well as accessed online. Individual reports are also generated which helps the teacher and the parent measure student achievement.

There are extra features like a weekly 100% list for those who score 100% on their Weekly Spelling Test and a Word of the Day to enhance vocabulary skills. This site provides useful tools for the classroom teacher and the student.

2 comments:

KenJ said...

Great information. The online spelling practice definitely looks interesting.

You link to it, however, has a www2.blogger.com prepended to the www.spellingtime.com portion.

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately, the site does not appear to be free anymore.