Spelling Activities

Some of the activities indicate working in pairs or more. If you are doing this work at home you will need to adapt the activity or work with a friend or parent.

A suggestion from Chloe (P4H) was to use the letters from the game of scrabble to spell out your words - great thinking Chloe.

1. Look, Cover, Write, Check

This is often the basic method used - be careful that you check your work to make sure you are not 'learning a mistake'.

 

2. Look, Cover, Write, Check – ‘SHOW ME’

Work in pairs. Both pupils look at the same word. It is then covered and both pupils write the word on an individual whiteboard. They then reveal their word -  ‘one two three, show me’ and check that they both have the same spelling. This is repeated with every word on their list.

3. FLASH CARDS

This is similar to the ‘show me’ activity above. Pupils quickly write out words on flash cards making sure that they have the correct spellings.  One reads aloud from a card and the other pupil writes the word on a whiteboard. This time when they say ‘show me’, one shows the correct spelling on the card and the other shows their attempt on the whiteboard. Pupils take turns reading or spelling.

4. DEFINITIONS

Pupils are given one dictionary to share and work together to find and write the definition of each word. By using a selection of dictionaries, pairs can then share and compare their definitions with another pair.

5. SPELLING ALOUD

Using flashcards, as above, one pupil reads a word aloud. Their partner spells the word out loud.  If they spell correctly, they ‘win’ the card. If they are incorrect, the card is put to the bottom of the pile. Pupils take turns and the ‘winner’ is the one who has most cards at the end of the game.

6. SPELLING TENNIS

Someone takes on the role of both ‘reader’ and ‘checker’.   Two other pupils spell the word by saying alternative letters until the whole word is spelt. If a mistake is made, the checker stops the game and shows them the correct spelling. The word is then spelt again and then put to the bottom of the pile. Correct words are discarded. Pupils take turns to be the checker.

7. ALPHABETICAL ORDER

Pupils write out their spelling list in alphabetical order.

 

 8. MUDDLED LETTERS

Pupils rewrite each of their spelling words in a muddled up fashion eg ‘beautiful’ could be written ‘ befitualu’. It is better if they always put the initial letter in the correct place.  These muddled lists are then swapped with someone with same spelling words. Without looking at the correct list, pupils have to rewrite each word correctly.

9. DICTIONARY RACE

Pupils work in threes using a dictionary each. They take turns to call out one of their spelling words which is then hidden. The idea is to be the first to locate the word in the dictionary. This not only helps you to remember how to spell, it is also excellent for practising dictionary skills. You can turn it into a game by using counters to win.

10. SYLLABLES

Working in twos, pupils split their spelling words into syllables eg beau-ti-ful.

 

11. WORDS WITHIN WORDS

 Pupils try to find smaller words inside each of their spelling words without rearranging the letters. Eg using the word  ‘practising’ ,  you could find – ‘act’ ‘sing’  ‘in’  ‘is’.  

12. SILLY STORY

Working in pairs, pupils write a short story (about a paragraph) using as many of their spelling words as possible.

13. KIM’s GAME

This game can be played in groups of 4 to 6. Spelling words are written on cards and laid out on the table. The pupils study the words. They then look away and a nominated person removes one of the cards. Pupils turn back, look at the remaining cards and have 2 minutes (use an egg timer) to write the missing word on a whiteboard which they keep hidden.  All the guesses are then revealed at the same time. If they are correct, they win a point, but only if it is spelt correctly! 

14. MAGNETIC LETTERS

Make up the word using magnetic letters.

15. WORDSEARCH

Using squared paper, pupils make a wordsearch with their spelling words. Words are NOT written out underneath. They need to look really closely to make sure that they haven’t made a mistake and that they have included all their words.

 

16. MNEMONICS

Make a mnemonic for the wordeg big elephants can always understand small elephants              because

 

17. LUCKY DIP

This is a game best played in twos or threes. Pupils take turns to pick out 12 plastic letters from a bag. They mustn’t look into the bag, as it is ‘lucky dip’. The picked letters are placed in front of them and the rest of the letters are left in the bag. The idea is to make one of their spelling words out of the letters. The pupils take turns to pick one new letter out of the bag and discard one that they don’t want any more. This carries on until someone has the right letters to make one of their spelling words. The others check that it is indeed spelt correctly. The game then starts over again.

18. GUESS THE WORD

Pupils work in pairs. One pupil chooses one of their spelling words, and then writes one letter on a whiteboard at a time. They can begin anywhere in the word – it does not have to be at the beginning. The other pupil tries to guess the word after each letter is added. If they guess correctly, they must spell the whole word to win the points. The fewer letters that have been given – the more points to be won.

 19. CROSSWORD

Using squared paper, pupils make a crossword using their spelling words. Definitions are written below to form the clues.

  

20. DRAGON’S DINNER

Pupils have counters, one for each of their target words. They take turns in spelling. If they make a misspelling, they lose a counter to the dragon. The dragon can be a pupil with a list of the words or all other pupils can have a list to check the words and the dragon can be a picture/model. How much dinner does the dragon get?