Learning new spelling words for a test, and even more importantly, learning to spell new words for writing in general can be daunting. The English language seems to have more exceptions to the rules than words that follow general spelling rules. We can teach our children helpful little ditties like “i before e, except after c,” and this will work for words like “friends” and “science,” but then there are words that are weird, like, well, “weird,” that will have an e before i. Don’t even get me, or so many of my students, started about words like the number word “eight.”
Practice is simply essential and there are many Fun Ways to Practice Spelling Words that are especially helpful for younger students. Many students are drawn to technology and comfortable with computers, computer games and an online format. For some, using a spelling website can be one helpful way to practice spelling words.
Favorite Spelling Websites: SpellingCity.com
SpellingCity.com recently won their tenth educational award, this one from Disney iParenting Media, and this mom and teacher can see why.
This spelling website is set up to be easily used by teachers, home school families, parents and students. While there is a “premium package” available, I have only used the free aspects of this spelling website and can only share about those but there are many of them.
At SpellingCity.com teachers or parents can set up an account. It was easy, fast and only required an e-mail account. With an account, we were able to add in my daughter’s spelling words list for the week and give it a name. We simply used the lesson name, such as “5th grade lesson 15.” Since you can customize your list, in addition to spelling word lists, you could create a list of the names of the days of the week, months, number words, states and so on.
What can students do at SpellingCity.com?
Teach Me: Reads the word, spells the word and uses the word in a sentence.
Test Me: Allows kids to test themselves and print out the test and results showing scores, errors and corrections.
Play Games: Allows kids to play games using their spelling word list, such as HangMouse (like HangMan), UnScrabble, WordSearch or SpeedySpeller.
Why is SpellingCity.com a winning spelling website?
– Fun games.
– Printable.
– Customizable.
– Saves your spelling lists.
Favorite Spelling Websites: AAASpell.com
Our family used has used the AAAMath.com website for several years and were pleased to find that they also offered AAASpell.com. AAASpell offers spelling lists and lessons for grades K through 8. They have predesigned lists for each grade with 30 lessons for each. There is a “lesson” component as well as lots of helpful spelling games. Parents and teachers can view or print reports to monitor a child’s progress. Students, parents and teachers can also create their own spelling customized spelling list here, too.
What can students do at AAASpell.com?
For each of these exercises, there is a “learn” section and a “practice” section.
Hear and Spell: Students listen to the word and then spell it.
Add a letter: Students spell the word correctly by adding one letter.
Add 2 letters: Students spell the word correctly by adding two letters.
Spell the word: Students spell the word correctly.
Guess: Students find the word by guessing letters.
Trade: Students spell the word correctly by trading two letters.
Scrambled letters: Students spell the word correctly by unscrambling the letters.
Added letter: Students spell the word correctly by removing one letter.
Students can also practice alphabetical order.
Why AAASpell.com is a winning spelling website:
– So many helpful ways to practice spelling words.
– Customizable.
– Printable.
– Offers vocabulary lessons as well as spelling lessons.
Spelling websites can be one helpful tool for students learning new spelling words, whether in the classroom or at home. At home, don’t forget to include spelling-oriented games like Scrabble. Scrabble is a great family game night game for ages eight and up that is both fun and educational.
Family Fun Teaching Tip: Let your children bring their spelling list to the table to play Scrabble and give them extra points (you decide how many) for working one of their spelling words into the game.
