Spellings: Read, Cover, Write, Check or online games?

It’s a tricky decision. Most kids don’t want to do the read, cover, write, check: it’s boring…

Most parents don’t want their children spending more time online. In fact, most parents are trying to get their children off screen time and if the school suggests practising the spellings online that is really unhelpful!

So, what do you do?

Can I make a suggestion?

Since I started Clara James Tutoring in 2012, we have used games to support spellings.

When I started my degree and learning about different learning styles back in 2000 one of the things I learned was that if we just give our children one method to learn they are only creating one memory, so when they try to recall the information, they only have one place to go to in their minds to find this information.

However, if we give them multiple different resources / activities to help them to learn the spelling of the words they are creating multiple different memories making it easier to recall the information when needed as different neuropathways are triggered.

Also, by engaging in games we are also making it appear more attractive. They are more likely to want to engage in games than in spellings practice. Therefore, it follows that, the more they participate the more practice they get. With practice comes skill and with skill comes confidence. As they gain confidence, they become more willing to participate, and it becomes a positive spiral of success.

Some of the most popular games we play are:

Hangman

Pick a word from your list of spellings and draw a line to indicate each letter in that word.

The other person then has to try and guess the letters to create the word. They can only guess letters, not the actual words themselves.

The goal is to guess the word/letters to complete the word, before the image of the hangman is drawn.

Word searches

Creating a wordsearch that contains their spellings can be a fun way to practice them as your child will often need to check and recheck the spelling of the word to make sure they have found the correct spelling in the grid. You might ask them to make you a wordsearch to solve as well. This also works well for handwriting practice as they need to focus on each letter individually.

Lily Pads

I call this lily pads as when we first started playing it, we used the frogs out of Christmas crackers, but they always seemed to flick over rather than jump, so instead we started playing it like tiddly winks instead.

I normally put the words onto images of lily pads, but if I’m working with someone who likes football, I might use images of footballs or something instead to make it relevant. You then have to flip your counter onto the lily pad, if it goes on you have to try and spell the word correctly, if it misses, leave your counter where it is, and the other person has a go. The person with the most ‘lily pads’ at the end wins. If your son/daughter needs to peep when spelling the word that’s fine. As they gain confidence, they will need the support less and less.

I always think it is like when they learn to walk as babies. First, we hold both their hands, then just one. Then we are right behind them to catch them if they stumble. Suddenly they are off running, and they no longer need to have our help, but knowing we were there in the first place helps them have the confidence to try.

Battleships

I love this game, and we play it a lot.

Choose 5 or 6 words from your list depending on how big the words are.

Place them into your top grid as if you are creating a wordsearch. But DO NOT fill in anything other than the actual words.

Once done, you both need to use co-ordinates to find the other person’s words. (Use the bottom grid to record your misses and the letters found).

The first person to find the other person’s words wins.

Board Games

We often create board games (snakes and ladders or a more conventional board game with forfeits). Place the spellings on various squares around the board.

Then, as you move around the board you need to spell the words that you land on. The first person to reach the finish square wins.

We sometimes play it, that if someone else lands on your counter lands on your counter you must go back to the start and start all over. That way you get more practice in. Mean, but fun!

If you like these ideas, I’ve just created a set of games for the first 20+ words that our children are expected to learn in years 3 and 4 here in the UK.

If you would like to download them (for free) the link is here: KS2 years 3 and 4 spelling games

(I will be doing the words for years 5 and 6 in the next few weeks. The rest of the words for years 3 and 4 will also be available in the membership in the coming weeks)

I hope you found this helpful. Enjoy the games!

#primaryeducation #creativelearning #parenting #educationalgames #spelling