Jumpstart Spelling and Vocabulary : Engaging Activities for Ages 5-12 (Hardcover)

Spelling Spelling in writing ? why spelling causes problems, where spelling comes from, plus basic strategies in class, e.g. using a spelling journal. Whole school approaches ? ensuring daily routines and practices across a school. Core games ? the key games that can be used on a regular basis, by swapping over the spellings that are being learned, e.g. spelling doctor (which of these 3 is correct ? how do you know ? what is the confusion, e.g. with ‘whent’ the spellers is muddling ‘when’ and ‘went’). Key spelling reminders and games per year group ? this covers the basic spelling patterns and exceptions that children should be learning each year, giving a range of games and activities with explanations. Tuning in games ? games for listening / repeating and playing with sounds ? a useful bank of games for children who find it hard to hear sounds in words. Phonic games ? a few games for children who still need to use ‘sounding out’/ ‘segmentation’ as a strategy. Games for learning tricky words ? a bank of games for tackling the most common errors and problems, e.g. hear/ here, two/ too/ to, etc. Learning to ‘look’ at words ? games to strengthen children’s visual memory. Morphology ? roots and links between words ? how words work and are linked, e.g. ear/ hear/ heard. Etymology ? where words come from ? interesting facts about the spellings of words and how these came about. Spelling rules, reminders and memory joggers ? key spelling ‘rules’ and their exceptions. Spelling strategies ? what to do if you get stuck on a word ? the main strategies to use when writing. Dictionary games ? tuning children into using a dictionary. Vocabulary Word games ? games to build a love of language. Interesting facts about words ? how language grows, strange words and how they came about. Selecting words to teach ? words needed for a text type or content words. Making links to spelling Introducing new words ? strategies for helping children build their vocabulary bank and retain worlds introduced. Building up the bank ? helping children become independent ‘word hoarders’. Choosing the right word ? fine-tuning how to generate vocabulary but also select which words work best. Creating an effect on the reader. Exploring different word meanings ? fascinating facts about words, e.g. homophones. 20 interesting things about words ? amusing facts. Words for characters, settings and plots ? gathering word banks for writing narrative Words for informing, persuading and explaining ? gathering word banks for informative writing Sayings, expressions and proverbs Thesaurus games ? learning to make good use of a thesaurus