Practice with a Partner
This strategy is used to practice the spelling list. A partner calls out the words to the student in a clear voice pronouncing the words carefully. After the student spells the word on paper, the partner spells the word aloud while the student checks to see if the word is correct. If the student has missed a word, spell it correctly to the side before you go on.
Use the Words in the Real World
* Help your student practice using the word when they are writing. Look for these words to be spelled correctly when they complete homework assignments.
* Look for these words in other places. Look for them in reading stories, on signs, on food containers, in the newspaper, etc.
* Look for a pattern on the spelling list. Make categories according to the sounds that are heard in the spelling words. The sounds can be vowels or consonants. Writing the words on separate, small pieces of paper so that they can be sorted many ways easily.
Create a Word Rich Environment
* Read to your student every day. It is good for them to read to you, but it is equally important for them to hear books that are above their own reading level, by a person who has the skill to read fluently.
* Talking with your child and telling them stories will also increase their spoken, written and reading vocabularies.
Write Every Day
When students write, it serves a dual purpose. First, it gives the student a chance to use the language and spelling skills they are learning. Second, it gives you a chance to see how well your student understands sound/letter relationships. This gives a clue to the direction the student's instruction should follow.
In second grade, we expect to see a shift in student writing away from invented spelling toward correct spelling. We expect that words that are considered to be frequently used words like those on our spelling lists to be spelled correctly. Inventive spelling should be used with words that are based on the content of their stories, words they do not use frequently.
