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This Reading Mama

I Spell, You Spell: Encouraging Invented Spelling

By thisreadingmama 6 Comments

Just the other day, my mom reminded me of an activity that I modified and used in the classroom to encourage invented spelling (click on this link if you’re unsure of invented spelling or why it is important to literacy development).

I’ve named the activity I Spell You Spell (click to download) and it encourages young spellers to use their word knowledge to invent their own spellings; which can increase phonemic awareness, independence, and confidence.

For the directions and examples, see the photos below:

I Spell You Spell Directions

directions-enlarged so you can read them

I Spell You Spell Chart

Student Spelling Chart

As with anything, you will want to model several times how to do this before you place this chart in the child’s independent writing folder/area.  And the emphasis is on encouragment, as you talk with the child about what he did right when he invented his own spellings.

I really like this activity because it helped my students think about the sounds they heard in words, making them more indepedent and confident spellers.  As the school year progressed (for Kindergarten and first grade), I was amazed at how close the invented spellings became to the conventional spellings!  I am very excited to try it out with ALuv (almost 7 years old).

Click here to download I Spell You Spell

 

~Becky

 

 

 

 

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Filed Under: Teaching Spelling, Teaching Writing

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Comments

  1. Ticia Adventures in Mommydom says

    September 5, 2012 at 9:57 am

    I love this idea! I need to give this a try.

    Reply
  2. Jennifer says

    October 26, 2012 at 11:35 am

    Do you have an example of your spelling/word study notebook? Or a post on how to set one up, etc?

    Reply
    • thisreadingmama says

      October 26, 2012 at 12:14 pm

      Great question, Jennifer! I just updated this word study post to include picture of our word study notebook. See if it helps. https://thisreadingmama.com/2012/10/23/daily-routines-with-word-sorts/

      Reply
  3. Priscilla says

    December 14, 2014 at 3:58 pm

    Do you recommend using this for any level of writing or age? I am a Kindergarten teacher and am not sure what your theory is on if it is ok to spell the words for them after they attempt it twice, like this worksheet suggests.

    Reply
    • thisreadingmama says

      December 14, 2014 at 4:10 pm

      I used this idea in my K-1 classes. And yes, I spelled the words for them after their second attempt and they kept this in their writing folder to use as a resource.

      Reply
      • Priscilla says

        December 14, 2014 at 4:14 pm

        Thanks!

        Reply

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Hi! I’m Becky, a homeschooling mama with 4 blessings who keep me on my toes {and knees}. Before homeschooling, I was a classroom teacher (M.Ed.) and reading tutor. Read more about me here.

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