Children cut letters. Spell cat, for instance. Child who holds C comes
to front, A, T, arrange themselves in order to show word.
Two rows spell at a time. Words on cards. Teacher shows cards first to
one row, then to other. Row with largest number of cards wins.
Trapping. Choose sides. Pupils then elect a captain and a trapper. If a
pupil spells a word wrong, the trapper must catch it. He must spell it
correctly. If he does not, the trapper on the other side must, and the
person who missed the word goes to the other side, the trapper takes
his place, and appoints a new trapper.
Words written on board. Child erasing and spelling correctly the most
words wins the game.
Words on cards, placed with blank side out on blackboard. One child
takes a card, looks at it, turns it away, spells. If correct, he turns
another card for another child. If that one spells correctly he turns a
card, if not, the first one spells it and has another turn.
Choose sides, each side having a captain. The captain on one side calls
upon a child on the other side to spell a word. If the child misses, he
comes to that captain’s side. If he does not, he remains where he is.
The side having the most number of children at the end wins.
Children sit in a circle. One child is outside, who is “it.” He taps
a child on the back. “What is it?” asks the child who is tapped. The
answer is given in a word as “stand.” The one tapped must be able to
spell the word, and if so, he is “it.”
Have objects on the desk whose spelling is needed in written work.
Child looks at objects and chooses three. The row spelling the most
words correctly wins.
Draw a circle on the floor--“The Witch’s Kingdom.” Have an old witch.
Children on outside of circle. Old witch tries to catch one, without
leaving the enchanted circle. The one she catches must spell a word
the witch gives her. If she does, the old witch lets her go. If not,
she remains with her. The children never caught win.
Children sit in a semi-circle. One child keeps score. If a child misses
a word, the scorekeeper writes O under his name. The second time, he
writes U, and the third time T. Then he is out of the game and can
return only when he is able to spell 3 other words correctly, which
have been misspelled by other children.
Children in circle. One in center, who points to some child to spell a
word. If he misses he stands behind one who spells it.
One child in front of room is king. The teacher has given each child a
word to ask the king to spell. If he misses one he loses his kingdom.
(Take review words.)
One child thinks of a word the class has had. He says: “I am thinking
of a word that rhymes with fight,” or “one that has double o,” or
“one that has the ow sound.” He calls on a child who replies, “Is it
l-i-g-h-t?” the child calling may say: “Yes” or “No,” “It is l-i-g-h-t,
light.”
Children in circle with words pinned on. Child in center calls, “Mary”
and tosses her the ball. Mary must catch the ball then spell her word.
If she catches the ball and misses the word, she loses her turn to
throw the ball.
Write on the board a list of words which contain smaller words within
them as TRAIN, BEAT. Call children’s attention to this fact and let
them discover and underline the small words. Erase underlined parts
and allow children to write them in. After all words have been erased,
“What word does RAIN make you think of?” “eat,” etc.
Write a word slowly on the blackboard. As soon as written, erase. Have
the word spelled by several children individually. All children spell
it to themselves, or all children spell it aloud. Continue in like
manner with the other words to be studied.
Each word in the lesson should be written on a large, separate card
about 6 × 12 inches. Hold up a card for a few seconds so that all may
see, then take away and ask a child to name and spell the word; to
write it on the blackboard, or to write it on paper, in which case, all
the children could do it at the same time.
The initial letter of each word in the lesson should be written on
a slip of paper and all of them placed in a box. There must be as
many slips as children. When slips have been passed, each in turn
spells the word indicated by the first letter on his slip. If there is
sufficient time, children may exchange slips and spell again.
Children are divided into two sides. Give the first child a word to
spell. If spelled correctly, he may give one to the next child, till
each has had a turn. One point is given for each correctly spelled
word. In conclusion, add the points on each side to see which has won.
After words have been studied, instead of writing them as usual, let
children go to the board and use just the new words of the lesson in
sentences. For example, if the word were “bought,” “Think of something
you have bought recently. Then tell me by writing a sentence about it.”
In writing irregular words on the blackboard, draw attention to
difficult parts with colored crayon. After the words have been studied
silently, these colored letters may be erased and a child asked to
rewrite that part or to spell word orally. Difficult part may be
underlined instead of colored.