My team is waiting till October to start spelling. I'm thinking of starting the 3rd week of school. When do you begin homework and spelling lists?
I will begin spelling the first full week of school because it corresponds with our reading text. The homework will be writing words 3's each on Monday, ABC order on Wednesday, and studying throughout the week for Friday's test.
I start spelling in October because I wait until after Back to School night (end of Sept.) At BTS night I solicit parent volunteeers for our spellling workshop program. Once I have the volunteers, I make a schedule for them and then start spelling workshop in October.
I am waiting several weeks. Our new program has some new games I need to still prepare, and we will be doing a lot of other things in word study to begin. Probably at least a month for spelling words. In class I will start the other activities the 3rd week.
I start spelling the first full week. Its also one of the first centers I teach my kids too For homework they have to correct any words that got wrong on their pre-test by writing them 3 times each (on Monday night) and then they have a packet from the book thats due on Thursday. In spelling center, I have lots of activities that they can choose from for extra practice (they usually go to that center twice a week). My kids get homework the first night- getting parents to fill out the forms. But they will not get homework in every subject until the first full week. Yikes...I start with the kiddos on Wed!!
Last year I started the first full week of school, but this year since I'm going to be using Words Their Way, I have some assessments to do first. I tested them last week (first week of school) and my team has decided to start the students with their words the third week of school.
I teach 2nd grade and we're starting Spelling this week. We are also starting homework on our 3rd week of school which starts Tuesday. I did assign 15 minutes of reading every night last week, but that was mainly to get the kids in the habit of writing in their assignment journal and getting it signed again. We'll start sending math and spelling home this week.
My team started spelling and homework the first night. We started school on a Monday, therefore, we had a full week for work. It got the students (and parents!) back in the school groove rather quickly.
My students had math homework last week (our first week). This week I will add Word Study and Reading. We won't be doing Spelling until the week after next since I want to start when we have a full week.
We start ALL subjects the first full week of school! We are starting school on Wed. so next Monday they will have all subjects and all homework.
Beth, I'm using Words Their Way also this year and have decided not to do "regular" spelling words but give each word study group their own words for the week to sort etc. How are you doing your spelling homework to go along with WTW??? My team members and I are stuck on how to incorporate WTW with spelling homework. I know I want them to do something with their word study words, but what kinds of things do you have your kids do for homework?
We start spelling the third week of school, which is also when our spelling homework starts. The students have been getting all other homework since the very first day of school.
Beth and Youngteacher, what do you think of Words Their Way? Our school has just adopted it. :mellow:
Beth, Youngteacher, Pattie- I do words their way and here is what I do for homework: They have a list of 10 activities. They select one activity a night and complete it in their journals. The options are: Buddy sort- sort words with a partner Speed sort- sort 5 times, try to beat your time each time Writing sort- sort, then write in journal S.A.W.- Sort, alphabetize, write Sentences- use words in sentences Change-a-Letter- Change one letter in each word to make a new word Cut and paste- go through magazines and cut out words with the same "pattern" Draw and Label- draw and label their pictures Cut and Sort- the first night of the weeks homework- cut the words and sort them I'm blanking on the 10th activity. I teach 1st, so we also do WS for 15 min a day in school. There, I also have a magnetic letters center, stamps, letter beads and string, word finds, and the activites above. If you have any Q's, let me know!
Our 1st day is Friday. I'll start homework on Monday: Saxon math & nightly reading. So week 2 I'll add spelling.
I start my first full week - students come in this thursday, so that would make spelling homework start next Monday. It goes with my reading series.
I really like Words Their Way!! My school has adopted it full force this year and kinda introduced it to us at the end of last year. I really can't give too much info because I haven't actually done it all the way yet in my classroom , but from what my K-2 team has discussed, it is going to be a great way to do word study! I like that the word study should only last for 20 minutes a day, and then you move on with your routine. I like the way the program has the kids doing all types of different activities in that 20 minutes so that the teacher can meet with each group as the week rotates. I definately like using word study words for homework instead of "spelling words" because I just think that kids memorize spelling words for the test, but if they are using these words in different ways all week long, they should be able to adapt what they learn to any reading, writing or spelling they do everyday. The only thing that I am anxious about is giving a spelling test at the end of the week. Especially since there will be maybe 3-4 different word study groups. But overall, I am very, very excited about word study using Donald Bear's ideas on working with words!
Thanks for the list & ideas! I appreciate it! Do you have 3 different lists going each week for the spelling test if you have 3 levels of groups? That sounds so crazy to me for giving a test to 6 year old kiddos! Isn't it too much to learn in 4 days? Do you need helpers to give the tests? Can you tell I'm stressing on this? he he.
See, that's my thing! I'm not even sure if I want to "test" them on the words because its all about process, not product. So I can clearly assess them by looking at their writing, see how they are using what they learned in reading etc. But I'm wondering if a more formal assessment is needed? What do you all think.:dunno:
Don't stress, it's easy once you get it down! I give the words for about 2 weeks, not one. And I stagger the tests. What I do is I get all the kids in their activities started except the kids taking the test. They stay at their desks. The rest of the class knows its test time, be quiet hehe. So I walk around and give the test while the other kids do their work. Then I meet with the test group to intro their new words. I only do one test a day, I find there isnt time for more. Some teachers do all on one day, but I do one per day.
