As a 4th grade team, we all use some of the same activities in our class for word study. Below are some simple at home activities and suggestions that should be familiar to your child (either from this year or past years at SCE.
1) Word Observations: In this activity the kids closely look at the work and take brief notes about the word. In class we look for the number of syllables, vowel patterns and sounds, consonant blends (i.e. sh, ch tr), prefixes or suffixes, the root word, the definition or anything unusual about the word.
Discover
Three syllables
“dis” prefix
root is cover
means to find something
the last syllable is an r-controlled vowel
2) Word Connections: In this activity we look for other words with similar spelling features. When we make our list we underline in the listed words the similar parts of the word.
Discover
Distant
Discovery
Discovering
Cover
Love
Scold
Hover
3) Word Webs: In this activity we try to look for meaning based connections to the word and make a web.
4) Making Words: In this activity you start with a longer word from our spelling study and try to make smaller words that use the letters of the original word or connected words with the letters in the original word:
Discover
Smaller Words Connected Words
Cover Discovery (need a y)
Disc Love (need an l)
Score Scored (need a d)
Ride River (need another r)
5) Mini-Quizzes: Just like it sound try to give short oral or written mini-quizzes over the spelling study. This is an easy thing to do in the car on the way to an activity.
6) Spelling City: Click here to get to the Spelling City website (the page is called "Scottish_Corners_4th_Grade). We will have 10-15 words preloaded from each unit on our "home page". If you want to add more, just go the Spelling City start page to create your own list to play games or take a practice test.
