Seven Strategies to Help Children Remember Spelling Words

Some children remember sight words easily, but there are others who have a hard time remembering the spelling of words that don't follow the rules. 

 

Here are a few strategies, based on research, that will help kiddos remember spelling words.

1.  Spell it aloud! The act of saying the letters along with hearing the letters helps the pathways form in the brain.

2. Get them moving! Studies show a connection between movement and memory. Students can bounce a basketball while spelling, jump while spelling, or even do interpretive dance while spelling the words. 

 3. Integrate Music! Ever notice how you can remember song lyrics from years ago that you never even tried to memorize? Music is closely connected to memory! Make up a little tune to the spelling of the words, or have the children make it up!

 

4. Integrate the Arts! Have the children write the spelling words, then make up a design around them. Or, you could have them paint their words! Don't forget the performing arts: they could dance their words or act out their words!

5. Color code! Brains really connect to colors! Have the children write the words using one color for vowels, and one color for consonants.

6. Hands-on! Use blocks, toothpicks, pipe cleaners or other manipulatives to create the words.

7. Get social! Get the kiddos to have conversations about their words. They can talk about the letters that follow the rules, and the letters that DON'T follow the rules. (Add color coding to this one, and that doubles the chance they'll remember the spelling!)

Want more ideas?  

This is a set of task cards with 48 color and 48 black and white task cards that can be used with any spelling list!

These cards contain activities based on brain research that include integrating the arts, multi-modality, and multiple intelligences. This set of sight word practice task cards is perfect for a word work center, homework, or extra practice in any setting. 

For more information, see: Brain Friendly Spelling Task Cards.

In case you want to see how these Spelling Task Cards work, here's a sampler: Spelling Fun Task Cards Sampler

Or grab it for free by signing up for my helpful emails HERE.

How do you help children remember Spelling words?

Number Sense with Cuisenaire Rods

Although I teach second grade, I still have some kids who really need some basic number sense! These are the kids who still don't automatically "count on" when adding two numbers together, or determining the sum of two dice. They still count the dots!

These kids need more "hands-on" opportunities to get to know these numbers inside out!

I absolutely LOVE Cuisenaire Rods for helping children develop their number sense. I posted about them a while ago with THIS POST about using Cuisenaire Rods to practice math facts and fact families. I've got some kids who need to back up even further and really need to get to know the individual numbers by using these manipulatives.

It's a good idea to give the children a couple of sessions for free explorations with the Cuisenaire Rods. They'll catch on that the smallest cubes are always white, and that the longest ones are orange. Sooner or later, they'll figure out the "staircase". From the staircase, they'll figure out the value of each color, so it's a good idea to start them off by building a staircase from this point on.

I've put together a few exercises with the Cuisenaire Rods to help build number sense. Click HERE or click the image to the right for a sample on the number 5 (the yellow rod).

If you're interested in more activities for the other colored rods, see the image below or see the full set here: Number Sense With Cuisenaire Rods

 

I have also developed a resource for Cuisenaire Rods to help the little ones learn Math Facts with fact families.

And yes... there's another set. This is the most popular with the kiddos: Once they develop number sense and know fact families, they can build with the rods and practice adding multiple addends!  See it here: Cuisenaire Rods Build it and Add!

Looking for more hands-on resources for using Cuisenaire Rods? Try these:

• Hands-On Fact Families Practice Cards for Building Fact Fluency
• Hands-On Place Value Level One: Tens and Ones
• Hands-on Place Value Level Two: Make a Ten
• Hands-On Place Value Level Three: Rearrange to Make a Ten

These sets are also in Bundles! 

• Hands-On with Manipulatives Bundle
• Cuisenaire Rods Hands-On Place Value Fun Bundle
• Making Mathematicians Hands-On Big Bundle 7 Resources!

If you don't already have a tub of Cuisenaire Rods sitting in the back of your closet, here are a couple of options: (These are Amazon affiliate links, which means I'll get a couple of cents if you buy them, but it won't cost you anything extra!)

• hand2mind Wood Cuisenaire Rods Introductory Set with Tray (Set of 74)
• hand2mind Cuisenaire Rods - Classroom Kit 

But here's something exciting: although kids love the feel of the wooden or plastic rods, they also come in foam! That means they'll be QUIETER!

• hand2mind Cuisenaire Rods - Classroom Kit (foam)

How do you use these popular manipulatives?

Learning Math Facts With Cuisenaire Rods

Brain Research tells us that being physically involved with the learning process helps learning happen. 

It also suggests that the use of color helps make connections. 

Teachers know that kids (and adults) tend to key into color, and children love to use manipulatives!

Almost everyone has a set of Cuisenaire Rods sitting in their closet. If not, here are a couple of Amazon affiliate links:

• Learning Resources Cuisenaire Rods Small Group Classroom Set
• hand2mind Cuisenaire Rods - Class Set

With Cuisenaire Rods (see picture) the white rod, the smallest, is one cubic centimeter. (This is the same size as a standard base ten block.) The longest rod is orange. When the children put the rods by length, they make a colorful "staircase". (See picture.)

 

The children can then assign values to each rod by color based on the relationship of the other rods.

I like to start with sets of ten, since our number system is based on ten.  It's good for them to know those combinations of ten!

Since the orange rod has a value of 10, this picture shows 9+1=10. It also shows 1+9=10.It also shows 10-1=9 as well as 10-9=1.

What fact family do these blocks show?  6+4=10, 4+6=10, 10-6=4, and 10-4=6.  

This one shows 6+6=12 and 12-6=6

 



 

The Cuisenaire Rods can also be used for multiple addends or even multiplication.  This could be 3+3+3+3=12 or 3x4=12.

When it comes to storage, the containers the rods come in are tricky for the kids to put away. I put my Cuisenaire Rods into containers that are much easier for little hands.

I made these center sheets for the students. I prefer the children work with partners on activities like this since their conversations help the learning.  If you run these off back to back, you can make two-sided, half-size papers.

Click the image or click here for the sample: Fact Families with Cuisenaire Rods Sample!

For more sheets like this, click here: Fact Families with Cuisenaire Rods

I also have a resource to develop Number Sense with Cuisenaire Rods that can be found HERE.

Plus, here's a chance to build with the rods and add up the sums with multiple addends HERE. (This one is a favorite... they LOVE building with the rods!)

• All the above resources can be found as a bundled set HERE.
• For a more advanced bundle of place value activities using Cuisenaire Rods see: HERE.
• Want to grab ALL these resources with Cuisenaire Rods? Save money with the bundle HERE.