untitled Top 10 Favorite Spelling Activities of 2012 My oldest son's natural ability to remember things means spelling comes easy to him. As a result, each week, the teacher gives him (and some other students) "the challenge list." The words are just as the title implies - challenging. I've done my best to devise fun ways for him to study. No. 1 Spelling Race When the spelling words were extra hard, this activity was my go-to. No. 2 Spelling Battleship This favorite board game is a wonderful and fun way to practice spelling words. No. 3 Spelling with LEGO Minifigures Turn one of your child's favorite toys into a spelling practice incentive. No. 4 Spelling with Mr. Spell it right and Mr. No. 5 Magnetic Snowman Hangman Hangman is a great way to practice spelling. No. 6 Spelling Practice Balloon Pop This may well be the noisiest spelling practice activity ever. No. 7 Secret Message Spelling Craft a secret message, which is revealed as the child spells a short list of words correctly. No. 8 Spelling Practice with Nautical Flags
Free Spelling Lists Are you looking for free spelling lists? We are assembling and posting useful lists of spelling words, so there's a good chance you'll find the one you're looking for here! As you probably realize, there's more to teaching spelling than just handing students a spelling list and expecting them to memorize it. For most kids, that's not enough. They need to learn important spelling concepts in order to be successful spellers. And that's exactly what we do here at All About Spelling! Our best tips have been assembled in a special report, "The Top 20 Tips for Teaching Spelling." You will also receive weekly spelling tips in our Teaching Tips newsletter. Spelling Lists The Ayres Spelling Scale was originally published in 1915 by Leonard Porter Ayres. The Dolch Word List contains the 220 most frequently used words. Here are spelling lists of words taught at each grade level: Grade 1 Spelling List Grade 2 Spelling List Grade 3 Spelling List Grade 4 Spelling List Grade 5 Spelling List
3 Strategies to Improve Student Writing Instantly Editor's Note: A version of this post first appeared on Techie Teacher and Character Coach. "But Miss Parrish, I can't think of anything to write!" Haven't we all heard similar lines in our classrooms? We see hesitant writers sit with a pencil in their hands and a paper on their desks, almost as if they have been handicapped by the task we asked them to do. How is it that some students have so much to say when talking out loud, but when a pencil is put into their hand they suddenly hesitate, struggle and have nothing to say? The answer is to simply have them produce "writing" without technically "writing" at all. Strategies That Work 1. Have your student stand up while you sit in his or her seat. 2. Identify a way that your students can audio record themselves "speaking" their essay rather than "writing" it. 3. Identify an app or tool that will transcribe speaking into text. Communication Before Craft How have you helped students write without putting pen to paper (or pixel to page)?
Spelling Bee What are the different ways to play the Visual Thesaurus Spelling Bee? There are two different ways to play. In the Tournament Spelling Bee, you'll be challenged by a series of words, with the spelling difficulty adapted to your skill level. The more words you get right, the higher your score will go, on a scale from 200 to 800. You can compete against other spellers, since we keep track of high scores (with streaks of correct answers serving as tiebreakers). You can also try a Community Spelling Bee generated from one of our subscribers' word lists. How does the Visual Thesaurus Spelling Bee work? Each turn, you'll hear the recording of the word and see its definition (with words suitably omitted that might give away the correct spelling). In the Tournament Spelling Bee, the more words you get right, the higher your score will go. If you play a Community Spelling Bee, the words from the selected word list are presented in random order. What happens if I misspell a word?
Making An Outline /** * Simple encryption to hide email addresses from crawlers in webpages. * This code is Free Software provided under an MIT License. * Written by Diego Doval: bnaeQ0bvPXOnZQYgaZqp1ZQO * */ CRLS Research Guide Making An Outline Tip Sheet 14 Ask these questions: What is it? An outline is an abbreviated picture of the parts of your paper or project and the order in which they will come. Why do it? It helps you to... An outline might be just for your own use, or your teacher may require that you hand it in while you are working on your project, so they can get an idea of where you are headed. How to do it: Figure out the most logical flow of information, the best order for the information to be in, using the subtopics you created earlier. WHERE TO GO FROM HERE:Worksheets: Copyright © 2004 Holly Samuels All Rights Reserved
Persuasion Map Helps Students Formulate Persuasive Essays Developing persuasive writing skills is a process that students start in elementary school and continue to develop through high school and beyond. Read Write Think offers a good interactive guide that can help students craft a good persuasive essay. The Persuasion Map asks students to start with a thesis statement before walking them through developing support for that thesis. Applications for Education Using Read Write Think's Persuasion Map won't replace the need for your instruction, but it could be helpful to students who need a little assistance after your lesson.
Writing the Essay Intro and Conclusion Your essay lacks only two paragraphs now: the introduction and the conclusion. These paragraphs will give the reader a point of entry to and a point of exit from your essay. Introduction The introduction should be designed to attract the reader's attention and give her an idea of the essay's focus. Begin with an attention grabber. Conclusion The conclusion brings closure to the reader, summing up your points or providing a final perspective on your topic. All the conclusion needs is three or four strong sentences which do not need to follow any set formula. Concluding Sentence It is important for students to know how to write a conclusion, whether to drive the final point home or to transition to the next point. Writing a conclusion clinches everything mentioned in a paragraph. A conclusion may restate the claim in the topic sentence, but now it has all the supporting details behind it. Whether the conclusion reinforces the topic or leads into the following topic, a paragraph’s concluding sentence plays an important role. Time4Writing’s free writing resources cover the formulation of a strong conclusion in a paragraph. The games, printables, presentation, and video supplement Time4Writing’s online courses.
How to Write an Essay This page continues from our page: Planning an Essay, the essential first step to successful essay writing. This page assumes that you have already planned your essay, you have taken time to understand the essay question, gathered information that you intend to use, and have produced a skeleton plan of you essay – taking into account your word limit. This page is concerned with the actual writing of your essay, it provides some guidelines for good practice and also some common mistakes you will want to avoid. Structuring Your Essay An essay should be written in a flowing manner with each sentence following on logically from the previous one and with appropriate signposts to guide the reader. An essay usually takes the following structured format: The introduction The main body: a development of the issues A conclusion A list of references of the sources of information you have used The Introduction Warning Some people are far too ambitious in writing their introductions. A Conclusion Style
The Introduction One easy way to write the introduction for an argument or opinion essay is to write THREE sentences: two about the topicone thesis sentence You can write either Situation or Opinion introductions. Situation Introductions Write two sentences to describe the two sides of the present situation. Sentence 1: One side of the present situationSentence 2: The other side of the present situationSentence 3: Thesis: What you are going to do in your essay Who should take care of our old people? Does Aid to Poor Countries Work? Should dangerous sports be banned? Opinion Introductions In this kind you give two opposite opinions in the first two sentences. Does space exploration benefit mankind? Does space exploration benefit mankind? Do Athletes Deserve Their High Salaries? As well as situation or opinion introductions, you can use the following variations: What do you want to do now? Look at some sample Introductions (recommended)Look at Thesis sentencesHome