Subjects

• Language Arts
  

Grade

• K-2
  
• 3-5
  
• 6-8
  
• 9-12

Brief Description

Spellers of all abilities compete in a classroom spelling contest.

Objectives

• review and practice spelling words in a fun and creative way.

Keywords

spelling, game, relay, contest

Materials Needed

• 3 spelling lists (see Before the Lesson below)

The Lesson

Before the Lesson
Post 3 lists of spelling words on the board or on separate charts. The first list should be fairly easy (review words), the second list should be new words that many students should be able to spell, and the third list should comprise more challenging words. Assign a point value to the words on each list: the easy-list words are worth 1 point, the medium-list words are worth 2 points, and the words on the challenging list are worth 3 points.

The Game
Arrange students into two homogeneous teams; provide students with time to study the posted lists.

Have a student from both teams come forward and stand with their backs to the lists. Ask each student to choose the list he or she wants to be tested on; then ask the student on the opposing team to choose any word from that list for his or her opponent to spell. If a student spells the assigned word correctly, his or her team earns the point value of that word. The team with the most points at the completion of the game wins.

Assessment

Assessment can be as formal as a pretest and post-test, or as simple as a teacher observation of student progress.

Submitted By

Caroline Lowther, Captain James Cook Elementary School in Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada)