Word+Work

Dear Parents,

Your child will be bringing home a collection of spelling words bi-weekly that have been introduced in class. The following activities have been modeled and practiced in school; if you have time it would benefit your child to practice each night.

** Monday ** Remind your child to //sort the words// into categories like the ones we did in school. Your child should read each word aloud during this activity. Ask your child to explain to you 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.

** Tuesday ** Do a //“buddy 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 must indicate where the word goes without seeing it. Lay it 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 familiar book that have the same sound, pattern, or both. Try to find two or three for each category.

** Thursday ** Do a //writing sort// to prepare for the Friday test. As you call out the words in a random order your child should write them in categories. Call out any words your child misspells a second or third time.

Thank you for your support. Together we can help your child make valuable progress!