Wackadoodle Spelling

The truth is, spelling in the English language doesn't always make a lot of sense.

For example, how on earth did "L" end up in the middle of the word "could"?

And given that "again" ends the same way as "rain," "drain," and "Spain," why isn't it pronounced the same way?

Because of their inherant wackiness, many words need to simply be memorized. But memorizing doesn't have to be boring! Here are a few fun ways that we practice spelling our word wall words over and over in class!

Alphabet stamps:

Wikki Stix:

Colored sand:


Play-doh:

Etch-a-sketch:

How do you make spelling practice fun at home?

Third Grade Spelling

On Friday we talked about what to do when we come to a word in our writing that we aren't sure how to spell. I tell students to make their best guess (so that they don't lose the momentum of their writing by stopping to look it up), then underline the word. That will make editing so much easier later on!

Something else that I ask parents to help me do for students is to watch carefully for misspelled words from our Word Wall. If a student misspells any word from the Word Wall at any time, I don't correct the word but instead write a small "ww" next to the word. That reminds the student that it is a word he or she should know, and prompts them to check the correct spelling on the wall.

Creating our Journals

This year we are going to work very hard in writing, but I think you'll be surprised at how fun that work will turn out to be!

Our first step in setting up our writing time was to personalize our journals this week. This is an important step, because we really need to come to see our journals as extensions of ourselves. We will put the stories from our lives, our feelings, and our ideas into these notebooks.

How many of you have read the Harry Potter books? Do you remember Dumbledore's Penseive? The Pensieve is a vessel where a person can put his or her most precious thoughts and memories. These thoughts and memories are stored in the Pensieve, and can be sifted through and revisited anytime. Can you see how our notebooks are like Dumbledore's penseive?