Wednesday, February 29, 2012

A Few Tricks Up My Sleeve

As adults, don't we all have those words whose spellings pester us?  I love a good spelling trick.  I only know the difference between "affect" and "effect" because "a" in "affect" is at the opposite end of the alphabet as "v" for "verb" so in my brain they go together.  If not for this little trick up my sleeve, I'd be up a creek.  


Over the years I've collected and invented a few tricks that help my writers spell a few of the first grade words that pester them.  Most of these tricks happen to be kinesthetic, which John Medina, the author of Brain Rules, would be pleased to see.  He believes that movement improves memory, and we all know he's right.  Enjoy.
(Thanks to Garrett's mom for giving me permission to use this video.  He gives a great demo!)
I would love to add the tricks up your sleeve to my collection.  Please do share.

Pin It!

14 comments:

  1. Cute! We do some karate chopping, too :)

    Natalie
    TeacheryTidbits

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Natalie, they love karate chopping and how brilliantly it works, huh?

      Delete
  2. I taught my son and daughter to spell their names, their phone numbers and their addresses while they were being potty trained by clapping different ways for each letter, number etc. LOL we were in the potty a LONG time back then! And they would kill me if they knew I had just shared that bit of info!
    Tammy Too!
    First Grade @ Klinger Cafe

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tammy, I won't tell a single soul! It's amazing what a little clapping will do. :)

      Delete
  3. Great spelling video! Garrett does a wonderful job for you. We had a kindergarten teacher who did the chops on the arm too. I teach they the same way you do!
    Lori
    Conversations in Literacy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Lori. Got to love all these tricks we teachers have!

      Delete
  4. What a cutie! I loved the karate chop!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Julie, thank you. I appreciate that you drop by and leave comments!

      Delete
  5. Adorable! I probably say "THEY HAS NO A" in my sleep. =)

    Emily @ Second Grade Silliness 

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Emily. No doubt there are lots of silly sayings that haunt our sleep at night!

      Delete
  6. Tammy! I just gave you a sweet little award for all that you do, stop by my blog to grab it!

    Kaleigh's Klassroom

    ReplyDelete