16 Spelling Exercise Ideas + Worksheets
Spelling exercise sets are a staple in every elementary classroom. Teachers gather lists And hand one out weekly. Fridays are known for spelling test days. So as a teacher what can I do to make the weekly spelling exercise enjoyable?
How Do You Make Spelling Words Fun?
Spelling words were never on the top of my list as fun when I was a young student. In all truth spelling often made me cry. I was raised during the time of whole language and phonics wasn’t emphasized in the classroom. Spelling became a topic of anxiety for me and one that I had to work at really really hard to be OK at.
When I started teaching elementary students I decided that my experience with the weekly spelling exercise was not going to be theirs. Instead I said on a mission to make a group of worksheets that were fun and provided go to spelling practice.
I also taught phonics and word patterns heavily. This help not only my students be better sellers but it help me be a better speller as well.
I wanted activities that appeal to different learning styles and gave students the practice they needed. Spelling exercise typically requires rote learning but there has to be fun in it. If not a typical mind wanders and space is out instead of learning. Hands on activities like stamping, graphing, bubble words, rainbow words, and drawling can give students for extra spelling exercise boost they need.
Activities for Spelling
There are two super fun and super free spelling activities that I love doing. The first one is Sparkle. If you get to be the teacher that introduces your students to sparkle you have solidified a positive place in their memory forever.
To play first have your students get in some kind of order like a circle or the perimeter of your classroom. Then start with a spelling word such as teammate.
Start with the first student in the group and have them spell the first letter of the word teammate. The second person spells a second letter and the third spells a third letter.
This continues until the word is spelled correctly. If a student doesn’t know the letter or if the wrong letter was, said they sit down and are out.
After the word is spelled out the entire way, the next person in line states the word’s name. The person after them says sparkle. The person following then sits down and is out.
Here’s why this game is great: everyone has to pay attention.
The other reason? It’s a game of chance in a way. My top speller might get sparkled out. This is great because it mixes up the winner over and over again.
This game literally makes my students jump up and down when it’s time to sparkle. Try it out and you’ll see exactly what I mean.
How can I help my students with spelling?
I give students the opportunity to move and spell. Moving heightens the senses and helps with memory.
My second favorite free spelling activity is actually body writing. With a pandemic and other problematic issues in the classroom this makes some people nervous. Do you what you feel is right in your classroom.
First, students pair up with partners. Each partner has a spelling exercise list. One person is the speller and the other person is the canvas.
The person being the canvas gets to pick if they want their back written on or the palm of their hand. The writer slowly spells out one word at a time.
The person being the canvas then guesses what spelling word was written on their back or hand.
This is such a calm no prep activity that I absolutely love use in the classroom.
The only thing I have to be careful on is making sure that students are placed with appropriate students. The teacher also reminds everyone of the rules and appropriate touch before beginning this activity. I have always had great success with this.
Another form of body spelling is a great transition activity for elementary students. Challenging vibes from the song YMCA, I give the students a spelling word and then we move our bodies to make each letter of the word.
This is super, easy with no prep required. A lot of space is required for this activity. Some of my kindergarteners didn’t have a full grasp of their letters so it was double reinforcement.
I suggest giving it a try if you want to move and spell without the students touching each other.
What’s the best way to teach spelling?
The best way to teach spelling is repetition with different materials in different settings. Let me show you a few spelling exercise worksheets that I do for this.
Pyramid spelling is an absolute blast. If I’m printing it out for young students it does, unfortunately, require a lot of paper. If I’m using it for older students I have them make their own grids check out my example below.
You’ll see that I start off giving a student the entire word. And I take away the first letter and have them write the first letter the next line has the first and second letter removed. So the student writes the first and second letter.
The next step of a pyramid has the student writing the first three letters of the word. This continues until the student has written all the letters of the word.
Rainbow words are another big hit with students. Rainbow words can be as simple as having the students write they’re spelling exercise list out on a key on a piece of paper and then use crayons colored pencils or markers on top of the words they have already written.
What exercises improve spelling?
Crayon melt makes a great alternative version of rainbow words. This is super popular during station time or for any of your students who resist writing.
Use an electric warmer and put it on the lowest possible setting. Cover it with foil and add some blocks of wood to hold down regular paper.
Have your broken crayons with a paper pulled off of them in this area. Then have the students enjoy the glide of the melting waxy crayon as they write their spelling words out.
Please note that there is training that goes along with this activity due to the heat. I have required some students to wear gloves just like if they were cooking and baking.
Worksheets for Spelling
While my college professors warned my classmates and I of the evils of worksheets, I’ve found they were wrong. Worksheets can be fun and engaging if used correctly.
When it comes to spelling exercise time, I have a collection of worksheets that I can pull from. This helps the students practice in many different ways which keeps spelling from becoming boring.
My list of spelling worksheets is long and plentiful. I love having a spelling exercise set to pull from. Making sure that I use each worksheet for every list isn’t my goal. When I have a list, I can pick and choose which worksheets for spelling I grab that week.
Here’s a list of my current set of worksheets for spelling.
- Pyramid Spelling Worksheets
- Tracing – Rainbow Words
- Shape Spelling
- Write the word
- Letter Tiles
- Playdough Spelling
- Write the Missing Letter
- Stamp the Word
- Bubble Words
- Circle the Correct Word or Circle and Write the Correct Word
- Alphabetize the Spelling List
- Draw the Spelling Words
- Graph the Spelling Words
- Put the word into a sentence
- Sort by Letters
- Picture Match
How Can I Practice My Spelling Words
Practicing spelling words is how most people learn proper spelling. I find that different people prefer different methods.
Some students seem to be drawn to activities that are pretty active. I had one student who had major problems with spelling until I bought out the playdough. He kept rolling and rolling out playdough logs and then formed them into the letters of the words.
By using the playdough method, his retention and ability to read and spell the words correctly skyrocketed.
Some people really like drawing. If I give these students the opportunity to draw pictures and add the word to the pictures, their minds absorb the spelling pattern.
Some kids make really cool art out of the words themselves like the amazing graffiti artists’ creations you might see out in the world.
Many students need to write the word over and over again. However, others need to talk the word out while writing or moving the letters around. Letter tiles, magnet letters, alphabet beads, and alphabet rods are perfect for this.
Some kids don’t prefer to talk but rather sing the words and letters. Try this! Trust me; it’s hilarious.
I had one student who simply put up the word bank and read over it a couple times a day. That was their preferred and successful method for learning their spelling words.
The point is that there’s no wrong way to learn.
How Can I Help My Students with Spelling?
As a teacher we can help our students with spelling by providing them multiple opportunities in different ways to practice.
Here’s a fun way to give students control over how they learn their words while making sure they are actually doing them.
Like I said earlier, I have a set of many different spelling exercise worksheets that I created throughout the years. When I get my spelling list ready, I can create a page for every single one of those different spelling activities. I’ll get the pages ready for my students and then when it is spelling time tell, I tell them to go pick their preferred page.
Rather than telling the students that they all need to work on pyramid spelling or a shape spelling exercise or rainbow words, I tell them to go get one. This let’s every child learn in the way they think will be the most helpful for them.
Now as teachers, we know it’s common to have a student or two who won’t make a choice. No problem. I am happy to go ahead and pull the page that I think would be best for that student and ask them to get to work on that. While many students like the opportunity to choose the direction of their learning, if a student is unable to do, then as the teacher I will assist them with that choice.
Spelling Assessment
Most people who have been through or are in school are familiar with spelling assessments. Usually, this is the teacher reading one word at a time loudly. The spelling words are repeated and probably placed into a sentence. The students are then instructed to write the word out on a line spelled correctly.
This is a completely fine way to do this activity but there are many others. For the tech savvy teacher who wants someone else to grade spelling test for a change this can be turned into a Google form. The Google form will check every students’ answer and score it. I love this because it’s a timesaver. It’s a one and done for the teacher and the kids get immediate feedback. This method is also great for some students with special needs who are able to type with greater ease than write with a pencil.
However, spelling test don’t have to be the old fashioned type where the teacher reads the word and the student writes or types the word out. Any of the worksheets that I have listed above can be used as a spelling assessment. This could be complete the word or circle the correct spelling word out of three choices. That one is actually my favorite for students with special needs and IEPs.
In the interest of saving a teacher‘s prep time, a spelling test page does not have to be on any fancy page. Besides the worksheet examples seen above, spelling tests could be in sheet of paper where the student writes their name, numbers one through ten or twenty and then writes out each word.
All right, it’s your turn! Are you ready to go sparkle your spelling exercise with your students? Or are you going to use bubble words for a time of relaxation and creativity for your spelling exercise? Feel free to check out Caroline’s exact set of editable spelling exercise set for any list here.
