Spelling Challenge- Week 4

Spelling Challenge- Week 4

Chalk Spelling

This week grab some left over chalk from this summer and head outside to the sidewalk. Have your students practice writing their spelling words on the sidewalk. To add an even deeper challenge have your students draw a picture of the spelling word or write a sentence with the spelling word in it!

Going on a Scavenger Hunt!

To review the parts of speech we learned last week, students were asked to hunt for "real life" examples in their current Scholastic Book Order form. Students were to find: 5 Proper Nouns, 5 Nouns, 5 Verbs and 5 Adjectives. This was supposed to be a FUN activity, however, some students really seemed to struggle to find these examples. It is VITAL your student can quickly identify the differences between these 4 variations of speech.

Examples I quickly see just on the photo above: 
Nouns- book, princesses, kittens, adventure, cards, friends
Proper Nouns- "My Glitter Castle", Tangled: Kingdom of Color", "Mighty Machines Rescue Vehicles Pack"
Verbs- pretend, find, save, meet
Adjectives- hilarious, hair-raising, special, hands-on, action-packed


*A fun way to engage your student while on the go is to play this game in the car.*
Instead of a book order, you have the world around you!
Nouns- speed limit sign,  tree, street, bank, gas station, car
Proper Nouns- Walmart, Caddo Grove Elementary, CR 917, Joshua, Texaco
Verbs- speeding, rush, stop, go, purchase, travel
Adjectives- blue, dirty, clean, cloudy, sunny, new, old, bumpy, smooth

Nouns, Verbs and Adjectives Oh My!

This past week we reviewed some basic parts of speech: nouns, verbs and adjectives. It is imperative your student gets these variations of words so that they can apply that knowledge when building their sentences. Here is a glimpse of some activities we have done in class to re-enforce these concepts.

Nouns- Want a fun game for your students to practice with at home? Click on the link below for some exciting noun practice. Student have to find the fish with the noun above it. If they choose correctly, the fish gets a worm. We played this game in class so your student should already know how to play.

Noun Explorer:  http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/grammar/nouns.htm

Verbs- Students got to choose an "Angry Bird" and turn it into an "Angry VERB". Students were required to choose an action verb they wanted their bird to be able to do. Then students were to create a sentence using that verb and underline it. See example below. Students go CRAZY about this every year. They love their Angry Birds!

Adjectives- Students were challenged to think of 10 adjectives that describe them (1 word adjectives). Students then needed to record those on their face poster and decorate. We used me as a class example. Students came up with some very sweet and creative responses when describing me. See below photo. 

Spelling Packet "Planning and Procedures"

Each week students receive a spelling packet with six pages of activities to help them practice the words for the week. Page one is the pre-test that they complete with their homeroom teacher every Monday morning. Page two, three and four vary from week to week but usually consist of matching definitions to words, synonym and antonym match ups, spelling pattens or rhyming. The fifth page is a very important page. The top always consists of a proofreading activity where students find 4-6 of the week's spelling words that are misspelled and then record them spelled correctly. This is a very important skill because on the STAAR test they will have questions and stories where they have to find the misspellings. The bottom half of page five is equally if not more important. This section consists of a short writing prompt. Students are usually directed to choose 3-4 of their week's spelling words and create a story using the words. Attached below is a picture of an sample class creation. The sixth page provides the students with multiple choices of the word misspelled and you must find the answer spelled correctly. Students are asked to bubble those answers. This is important practice because the students will need to bubble responsibly on the STAAR. These packets are always given on Mondays (or Tuesdays if Monday is a holiday) and always due on Thursdays -regardless of holiday Mondays. The students do not have much time in class to devote to this however it is strongly encouraged for them to work on it during class free time, before morning assembly or after school on the bus or in the car line waiting. If a student utilizes all of those opportunities they should very rarely have any homework with this spelling packet.

Every week, I review with the students the Spelling Packet. As a class we answer the first couple of questions on each page. We ALWAYS complete the writing prompt as a class so the students can see the writing process modeled. I encourage the students to treat the border around the lines for writing as their brainstorming map. You can see all of my notes for this in the red print below. I want them to pick apart the prompt and, before even writing one word of their story, think about all of the details they want to include. I like for them to write the spelling words they plan on using to the left side and then as they create their story, cross out the word on the side and underline the word in their story. The green writing below is what one of the class's created for this week. The students really do good on this and it generally only takes about 8 total minutes- we go pretty fast. We make one up as a class but then the students write their own story, with their own chosen words, in their packet. If you are helping your student at home with their spelling packet encourage them to think through and plan their writing before they start their story. Also when they are finished with their story, encourage them to re-read the prompt and make sure they stayed on topic.

 

As you can see, this is a very rough draft, but a fabulous start! As the year progresses I will be adding more requirements to this page so re-enforcement of concepts are applied.

"Me Bag" Narrative

This past week students have been using their "Me Bags" to aide them with their first narrative paper for the year. Students were given a brown paper bag on the second day of school and instructed to fill it with three items that meant something to them. Those items were supposed to be kept secret so that when in Reading class they could use the items to play a game practicing their inferencing skills. Students then traveled with their bags to Language Arts class so we could begin our writing process. Below are two photos showcasing my personal "Me Bag" and items. This was a fun project and a great way for the students to get to know me, their teacher, on a more personal level. To see the format of the "Me Bag" narrative we wrote as a class using my items, see below. This was a formatted composition. The idea behind the format is so everyone's sounds the same, keeps the same template and in turn it helps the students gain an understanding of a basic composition. With that being said...in the very near future we will be discussing "Hooking Introductions", "DynoWrite Conclusions" and adding "Glitter" in between. So have no fear, fun writing is near and the students were told that "baby beginnings and endings" like this would not be acceptable after this.

 

     My name is Mrs. Welch. I am 31 years old. I think school is exciting. Three things that are important to me are: my camera, a photograph of my two children, and the Berenstain Bears book, "Four Seasons".
     My first item is my camera. It is special to me because my mom and dad bought it for me for my college graduation. I take it with me everywhere I go. I enjoy taking pictures of special days and loved ones so that I remember them later.
     I also brought a photograph of my two children. I have two boys, ages three and one. Their names are J.C. and Palmer. I love them and I enjoy spending time with them whenever I can.
     Last of all, I have a book. I brought this book because the Berenstain Bears were my favorite books growing up. I specifically chose to bring the book, "Four Seasons", because I love it when the weather changes and new seasons begin. My favorite season is Fall. Now that I am older, I like to read these books to my own children.
     Now you know three important things about me. Overall, I love my family and spending time with them is important to me.

*Your student's paper should look very similar to mine above. 

**I used this opportunity to review the need for paragraph indention, brainstorming (I will make a separate post on this later) and basic tips on writing-using the given space you are provided. We do not skip lines when writing in 4th grade EVER. :)  

***This may look short typed but on paper it was around 24-25 lines. For the STAAR Writing Test on the compositions students must not write outside of the 26 lines provided. I encourage the students to write at least 20 lines because I personally feel it takes that long to fully develop your composition.

Spelling Challenge- Week 3

Spelling Challenge- Week 3

Letter Hunt Spelling

Materials:
*Store Ads, Grocery Ads, Old Magazines, Food Packages
*Scissors
*Small bag or box
*Glue (optional)
*Paper (optional)

This weeks challenge is to have your student find FUN looking letters from grocery ads, store ads, magazines, food packaging, etc. and cut out the letters. You will want several letters of the vowels: a, e, i, o and u. Have your student cut out the individual letters and store in a ziplock bag, small box or bag. If you want the letters to be more sturdy have them glue the letters to some paper and then cut out the letters once more. When it is time to practice spelling words have your student get out their bag of letters and spell away! The great thing about this is that you make it once and can use it several times, over and over and you can always be on the lookout for more letters to add to your collection!

 Week 3 Words:

1.	beam
2.	tea
3.	chief
4.	squeak
5.	three
6.	week
7.	sleek
8.	heal
9.	tease
10.	thief
11.	deal
12.	please
13.	leak
14.	league
15.	reef
16.	deed
17.	feet
18.	breathe
19.	speech
20.	wheeze

Crazy for Capitalization!

Whew! What a week. The first week of school is always crazy learning new faces, new expectations, new rooms and new schedules. The good news is that we all survived and the hardest week of the school year is behind us. Smooth sailing from here. In language arts class this past week I wanted to start everyone off on an easy but very important note...Capitalization! Even the most creative, exciting, spectacular story will not get the recognition it deserves if it is full of mechanical mistakes. Students this week were reminded that words need to be capitalized if they are at the beginning of a sentence, quote or title, a proper noun or proper adjective: holidays, days of the week, months, organizations, names, initials, etc. Most of this was review but bits were maybe new information for them. When looking over your students homework please be mindful of if they are using capitalization where they should- this even applies to math, reading or science homework. Also be on the lookout in letters to grandparents, birthday cards, notes to friends, e-mails, etc. The more you show them that mechanical rules are important the better it will stick in their brains. I am looking forward to a great year with your student! Want to have your student practice more on capitalization at home? Have them play this game online called "Magical Capitals". We played this in class and so they will be familiar with how to play.

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/grammar/capitalization.htm