Spelling homework has officially started this past week in my classroom as we just wrapped up our second week of school. I love all of my new second graders (you forget how young they are at the beginning of the year!). Since spelling practice can be dreaded by students of all ages, it was important to me this year to make spelling homework truly engaging, interactive, meaningful, and fun. I also wanted to be able to differentiate. Thus, I revamped all of my spelling menus as well as expanded a ton in terms of the types of activities I offered. I also wanted to make my spelling homework completely different from the word work activities we do in the classroom so that all those classroom materials such as pipe cleaners and letter beads, scrabble tiles, wikki sticks, etc. stay fresh. I devoted last Saturday just to this task, and I was able to launch our very first spelling menu on Monday. After I had collected homework and assessed how it went, the votes were in. The "Swirly Words" activity was by far the most popular choice! For Swirly Words, students have to write their spelling words around a swirl as they move their paper around in a circle. It's a great way to give students that skill and drill practice needed to master the words. To get a copy the Swirly Words template along with my Spelling Menu 1, click on the picture below!
I have decided that I am going to switch up my spelling menus every two weeks, so I ended up making a total of 9 different spelling menus. This will keep spelling interesting throughout the whole year. For the full set of spelling menus, all the spelling activity templates, pre- and post-test printables, and bin and folder covers to keep your classroom
cute organized, check out my spelling menu pack on TeachersPayTeachers. Click on the picture below!
Now to enjoy some fresh fall weather! :)
