Garfield Fourth Graders will be using the Words Their Way program for spelling this year. All fourth graders took a pretest and using the Words Their Way criteria will be given an appropriate spelling list. Here are recommendation for ways to help your child study spelling each night.
Your child has a Ziploc bag with his/her word cards in it. This needs to come back to school each day.
Monday: Remind your child to sort the words into the categories we did in school. Your child should read each word aloud as they do this activity. Ask your child to explain why the words are sorted in a particular way- what does the sort reveal about spelling in general. Ask your child to sort them a second time as fast as possible. You may want to time them, but you do not have to.
Tuesday: Do a blind sort with your child. Lay down a word from each category as a header and then read the rest of the words aloud. Your child is to indicate where the word goes without seeing it. Lay the word down and let your child move it if he or she is wrong. Repeat if your child makes more than one error.
Wednesday: Assist your child in doing a word hunt, looking for words in a book they have already read that have the same sound, pattern, or both. Try to find 2 or 3 for each category.
Thursday. Do a writing sort to prepare for the Friday test. As you call the words in random order your child should write them in categories. Call our any words your child misspells a second or even third time.
Thank you for your support. Together we can help your child be successful!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Sunderman
