Saturday Sayings: Wrong but Good

When I confer with a child about their writing, misspellings typically don't stick out like a sore thumb.  They pretty much go unnoticed, and it's the content that grabs my attention.  I certainly don't ignore spelling though.  My spelling program is individualized, and each child's words come from their writing.  Thus, I do spend time looking specifically at spelling when I'm not conferring.  Most assuredly, I can always find a menagerie of good but incorrect words in their writing.  Instead of being aggravated by misspellings, they can be something to rejoice over.  (Okay, so there are a few that can get under my skin at this time of the year: wus, uv, thay.)  :)

Misspelled words can be proof of a shift in a child's learning.  When my emergent writer, who's lucky to hear and write any sounds in words, writes "lic" for "like" I'm going to rejoice.  That's some good spelling for that little person.  When a writer starts to realize that there are long vowel patterns in words and writes "fete" for "feet" I'm going to rejoice.  It's incorrect, but it's good. Of course, not every misspelling is a good thing.  My advanced writers and readers had better not be spelling "lic" or "fete" but they too have some great misspellings in their writing.  It comes down to knowing the writer, where they came from, where they're at, where they're going next, and then being able to recognize the good in their misspellings.   

(Look here if you're interested in reading about how individualized spelling looks in my room.)

The Name Wall

A first grader's name is about the most important word in the world to them.  The names of their friends are up there as well, and of course they want to know how to spell each and every one.  Instead of integrating all 23 names into my word wall, I have a name wall.  (Okay, so it's not really a wall.  It's more like a poster.  Nothing fancy.)  I think separating names from the word wall makes them easier to locate, especially for those who get overwhelmed by the presence of numerous words.  Location is really important too.  Our name wall is displayed by our writing station, and the kids frequently use it as a reference during the Work on Writing portion of Daily 5 if they choose to write notes and letters to each other.  What's more, I've added the names of our principal, secretary, PE teacher, music teacher, and librarian (as well as my own) to the name wall, so kids will at times choose to write to them as well.   

It's a handy and easy-to-use resource for kids who love to write!

Saturday Sayings: Are Spelling Resources Evil?

My writers have personal word books (a.k.a. dictionaries first grade style), but they don't know it.  I also have about 8 hardbound dictionaries in my room.  They don't know about those either.  These resources are a mystery to them for the very reasons Regie explained in the quote above.

1.  "Their free flow of thinking and writing is interrupted."  From day one my writers have to learn that spelling is not what dictates content.  If they only write what they can spell or can easily find in a word book, their writing will not live up to its potential.  It will sound stilted and lack any kind of detail.

2.  "Over concern about correctness while composing slows writers down."  I keep the word books a secret for as long as I possibly can, but once they come out of hiding, writers want to use them for every other word and the quantity of writing considerably decreases.  

3.  "Another reason to put aside resources, at first, is to encourage students to figure out spellings and choice of words on their own."  The writers in my room have no choice but to be risk takers.  They know what I'll say if they ask me how to spell a word.  "If you can say it, you can write it."  They must develop the phonemic awareness skill of hearing sounds in words.  The skill won't develop if they have a word book in their lap on day one or even day fifty.

I don't mean to imply that spelling resources are evil.  There's a word wall in my room that we use daily, and my writers have personal word walls in their writing folders that they refer to.  I just believe that word books and dictionaries need to be used wisely.  If not, they can get in the way of the writer and their writing.  

Saturday Sayings: The Cart Before the Horse

(Click above for more Saturday Sayings.)

I could be off, but I think it's fairly safe to say that walk into most any elementary classroom and there'll be evidence of daily spelling instruction.  I don't believe the same is true for daily writing instruction.  That's not to say that kids aren't doing any writing, but practicing spelling isn't writing instruction. Practicing grammar isn't writing instruction.  Worksheets aren't writing instruction.  I even have my doubts as to whether integrating writing into other subject areas is considered writing instruction.  Will I walk into any elementary classroom and see evidence of a daily concentrated writing block where kids are learning the craft of writing?  I hate to say it, but I don't believe this is the case like it is for spelling.  Unfortunately, spelling doesn't do writers much good if writing doesn't come first and everyday, for that matter.  How does the saying go?  Put the cart before the horse?   

(By the way, I do teach spelling.  With individualized lists and no tests, it wouldn't be considered traditional spelling by any means.  You can read about it here.)

Saturday Sayings: Unexamined Wallpaper

(Click above for previous Saturday Sayings.)

Unexamined wallpaper...I'm guessing we all have some of that hanging around our classrooms, our schools, and our districts.  Whatever the wallpaper represents, we've always done it and never thought twice about whether it's best for kids or not.  


Take for example, spelling tests.  Years ago in my classroom, spelling tests fit into the category of unexamined wallpaper.  The teachers around me gave them.  The parents expected them.  The kids just played along.  I gave one spelling test to the whole class every week, because that's the way it was done.  Then I came across some professional reading that challenged the concept.  Are weekly spelling tests best for kids?  Should everyone in the class, from the most challenged speller to the child who can spell beyond their grade level, be accountable for the same words?  Will a spelling test teach them to spell correctly in their daily writing?  I experienced a paradigm shift, and as a result, my own classroom culture changed.  I took down the old wallpaper and replaced it with something that I felt met the needs of my kids better.


That's just one example, but over the years, a lot of wallpaper has come down from the pedagogical walls of my room.  In fact, there are still some unexamined bits and pieces hanging around.  In all reality, I doubt there will ever come a day when I should feel content that it's all been removed.

"We must always look critically at ourselves and our practices in order to improve and refine them."  Regie Routman, Literacy at the Crossroads 37

If I've opened a can of worms and you'd like to know more about what spelling looks like in my classroom, go here.


Chrissy from Read Write Sing is joining me today with her own Saturday Sayings.  Let's go see what she's got to share.  It's bound to be good!

Pitchy? Who cares!

My kids, whether they like it or not, have a teacher who sings, so we sing about most anything.  Music is great in the classroom on so many levels.  How about memory?  When I was little, we sang numerous choruses at church that came straight out of the Bible word for word.  For sure I remember those verses better than verses we didn't sing.  They're stuck in my heart like glue.  There sure are lot of things I'd like stuck in the hearts of my kids too, so we sing...a lot.


Every Monday we sing to the word wall.  I wish I had made this up, because it's a great little ditty.  I believe I saw it years ago on a word wall video.  Anyway, you might try it, and the kids won't know or care if you don't get the tune just right.  They won't even care if you're pitchy.  They might just remember how to spell some words though.  (Sorry I can't show you where the voices are coming from.)

Here's a copy of the words if you were hoping for them.  I inserted the word "the" as an example.  Happy singing!

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.

Official but not Traditional

My kids know better than to ask me how to spell a word.  

Me:  If you can say it...

Them:  ...you can write it.

When they can finish my sentence, you know they've heard me say this a time or two... or a hundred.  This is not to say that spelling isn't important.  Official spelling starts in November.  It might be official, but it's not traditional by any means.

Everyone gets their own individual list.

There are no spelling tests.  

Yep, each child gets their own words.  Why not?  While one child needs "actually" another needs "have."  The words come right out of their daily writing.  What better place to find the words they don't know.  In fact, their writing is their test.  It's the ultimate test of how well they've learned the words.  If they truly know the words, they should be able to spell them correctly in their own writing on a daily basis and not simply for one moment in time (ie. Friday test).  Here's the lowdown...

Each child's spelling words live in a small memo book like this, which is updated every two weeks and always stays at school.

I write the words on the left.  The child copies the words onto the right side of the page after creating a crease down the middle.

Then I cut on the crease.  The child reads each word to me, and I highlight the part that I think will be tricky or that I want to reinforce for that particular child.  I ask, "What do you notice?" and we have a quick discussion about what they notice concerning the highlighted chunk.

Finally I staple the list to a short note for parents, so they're reminded of what to do with this list at home.

I shall leave you with a little something from Sandra Wilde who says it better than I ever could. "The first component of a good spelling and punctuation curriculum is extensive, daily reading and writing."