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Spell It Out!
Spelling lessons and activities from Education World can help your students join in the fun of the annual National Spelling Bee. Included: Five lessons to help you incorporate spelling into your entire curriculum.
"If a word in the dictionary was misspelled, how would we know?"
-- Comedian Steven Wright
Could your students spell propaedeutic, ditokous, quodlibet, or emmetropia? Contestants in a previous National Spelling Bee could! Those were some of the nearly 1,000 words students in grades five through eight were asked to spell in the final rounds of the 2000 Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee. No one is sure what the Composition of the National Word List is each year. You can be sure, however, that the students competing to win the National Spelling Bee will be up to the challenge. Who knows? The activities below could help one of your students become next year's winner!
A brief description of each activity appears below. Click any headline for a complete teaching resource.
So You Want to be a Copy Editor?
Students explore what a copy editor does and take a copyediting test. (Grade 6-8, 9-12)
Spelling Counts
Students create and solve codes based on the numerical value of their spelling list words. (Grade 3-5, 6-8)
You Must Remember This
Students create mnemonics that help them remember spelling words. (Grade 3-5, 6-8, 9-12)
Bueno Brothers' Bean Dip
Students play a game in which they see how many words they can form from a scoop of lima bean letters. (Grade K-2, 3-5, 6-8)
Could Teddy Roosevelt Spell?
Students stage debates about English spelling vs. simplified spelling. (Grade 6-8, 9-12)
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Merriam-Webster's Spelling Bee Quiz
Students spell words based on their definition and pronunciation in this daily interactive spelling quiz.
Spelling: A Key to Good Communication
This excellent resource, created for the Dickinson (North Dakota) Adult Learning Center, contains complete lesson and practice exercise combinations on topics such as homonyms, possessives, "ing" endings, and commonly misspelled words.
Practical Spelling Ideas
edbydesign offers practical strategies and techniques for helping kids become good spellers.
Spice Up Your Spelling
Teachnet.com offers 40 quick ideas for making spelling lessons more fun.
LD Online
LD Online provides a number of practical spelling resources for teachers and students.
OWL Handouts: Spelling
The Purdue University Writing Lab offers helpful student handouts on several spelling-related topics.
Spelling Theme Page
This theme page from the Community Learning Network provides links to curricular resources and instructional materials on spelling.
Miss B's Spelling Page
The 96 spelling lists used by fourth graders at Littlejohn Elementary School in DeKalb, Illinois, are a great resource for spelling bees and other spelling games and activities.
Spelling Counts
The Katy (Texas) Independent School District provides reading lists for students in grades one through five.
Spelling Tips
These 19 simple suggestions for fun spelling activities come from George White Elementary School in Laguna Niguel, California.
Harcourt Brace Spelling
These interactive activities designed to accompany the Harcourt Brace Spelling series for grades one through six provide great practice for all young spellers.
Spelling Ticklers
More than 3 dozen activities that will make spelling practice more fun for students in kindergarten through grade eight.
Spell Check
The Learning Network provides an interactive spelling activity in which students find a misspelled word and then spell it correctly.
Everyday Spelling
The teaching strategies, lessons, and review tests at this Scott Foresman site accompany the Everyday Spelling series for grades one through eight.
Spelling and Vocabulary
This Houghton Mifflin site contains a variety of word games, exercises, and activities to help students practice and review spelling words.
Article by Linda Starr
Education World®
Copyright © 2008 Education World
Originally posted 05/28/2001
Last updated 02/26/2008
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