Crossword puzzles. Hidden words. Fill-in-the-blanks. Join-two-or-three-parts-of-words-together (not always at syllable breaks..agghh….). Graph paper practice. Circle the correct spelling. Highlight the word families. Syllabication. All viable spelling word practices. Some work. Some don’t. Some work for some kids but not for others. Enter my Six S Spelling Secret Packet–the technique that is used weekly in my Character Quality Language Arts program–and that brick and mortar and homeschool teachers are using weekly thanks to our new downloadable products!

Before I explain the four ways that students practice their spelling words with this packet, I’ll give some tips associated with the methods contained in it:

1) Students need to use multi-sensory spelling practice methods. Some kids learn better visualizing; some writing; some speaking aloud.

2) Students should not be burdened with practicing words that they already know how to spell.

3) Students benefit from incremental practice. If this step doesn’t help, the next one might. The incrementality in this packet helps students learn what works best for them!

4) Students get better at spelling practice by repetition. By doing the same steps each week to practice spelling, they become skilled at using those techniques.

5) Students work harder on pre-tests and pre-practice (practice before the practice!) if they know they might be able to drop some spelling words from their practice steps. This helps them look harder at words to see what they already know.

6) Students are encouraged by protocols that show them that “they know more than they think they know”! This packet does that for students (along with teachers who continually tell them that “they know more than they think they know!”).

7) Teachers like built-in spelling practices that are user-friendly for all word lists and that are easily mastered by students so that the practice becomes automatic each week.

This packet is currently available at three of my stores: CurrClick, and Character Ink Store as a downloadable product. And it’s available to you for free at Teachers Pay Teachers !

To learn more about this product via audio, click here.

The “Six S Spelling Secret Packet” gives your students four helpful ways to practice their spelling words–three traditional methods and one “secret” method! These methods work for students of all ages, but are especially effective for second through eighth grade students who are able to self monitor their progress (which this packet will help them learn to do even more!).

Here are some suggestions for using the Six S Spelling Secret Packet:

(1) The first page of the packet is a traditional “pin-point your challenging words and syllabicate and copy.”

This works especially well with spelling programs in which the syllabication is given for the student’s spelling words–though it is also effective for extremely phonetic learners who can syllabicate on their own. If the student does not desire to syllabicate, the lines are provided to simply copy challenging words multiple times for repetition. This step also gives the student the option of listing words under the coordinating spelling commonalities/word families in Language Lady’s Spelling Notebook. This is optional, of course, but for those desiring to create your own SN, the preview of the SN (available at Teachers Pay Teachers, CurrClick, and Character Ink Store) gives the Table of Contents that may be used to create a phonetically-based, systematic spelling notebook for recording mis-spelled words.

(2) The next two pages of this packet contain two pages of graph paper with two different sizes of boxes in the graph.

This allows younger learners who write larger to use the larger boxed paper and older learners with smaller penmanship to use the smaller boxed paper. Writing each word, one letter per box, helps many students visualize their spelling words, one letter and one shape at a time.

(3) Lastly, the “secret” part. The instructions for the Six S Spelling Secret Sheet are given on the actual sheet for each student. Here are some other keys to using this document:

(a) Stress to the students that they only need to use The Six S Spelling Secret Sheet for words that they mis-spell in a pre-test. This alone is sometimes enough encouragement for a student to practice prior to the pre-test. (They will not have to work on any words
that they “passed” in the pre-test.)

(b) Work through the columns of the sheet with your students one column at a time for one word, completing each step that is listed for each column. You will want to do this several times in order for them to be able to do it completely independently as they study
for their spelling test.

(c) Emphasize honesty in the cover, write, etc.. portions of the sheet. While it isn’t a test per se, looking up the spelling (not covering or folding the page over) will not help the student learn how to spell the word (obviously). Encourage them to complete the sheet as
it is given, reminding them that this repetition and multi-sensory approach will help them become excellent spellers.

(d) For classroom use, I recommend that you have a pocket or stacking tray or other area in which students can pick up copies of The Six S Spelling Secret Sheet at any time (even if you pass out a sheet to each student weekly).

(e) Consider passing out the sheet each week when you give new spelling words–and walk through one word (a challenging one from their list) with the students at that time. They will be more likely to use the sheets on their own if they are emphasized and even
re-taught each week.

Enjoy my freebie for subscribers this week! I hope your spelling practice goes amazingly well this semester!

P.S. What spelling practice protocols have you used with success? Have you tried this packet yet? 🙂

The post The Six S Spelling Secret Packet (FREEBIE!) appeared first on Character Ink.

With school just around the corner (don’t you love the smell of those new binders???), I thought I would offer some printables that can help you in your school prep. One of the things I have each of my writing students be sure they have in their binders is a copy of my Proofreaders’ Marks page. I edit their papers with these proofreaders’ marks, and I want them to have the “cheat sheet” to refer to and learn from right at their fingertips. Students as young as third grade can learn the first few/basic ones. They will learn more and more of them as they write and as you edit their papers using these simple marks.

Before I show you the basic proofreaders’ marks that I use in my books and classes (and give you the printable version to print off for your school), I want to share a funny version of proofreaders’ marks that are floating around the internet. It is attributed to Tom Weller in 1987. It is said to have hung in many print houses in the eighties and nineties—sometimes with certain parts circled and emphasized when editors had, had it with certain errors! It’s a comical look at proofreaders’ marks—and I’m super thankful that we don’t have such extensive lists for students today! 🙂

No, our marks are much simpler. Here are the ones we use:

And….here is the printable version of the Proofreaders’ Marks for you to use with your students, on your class bulletin board, your teacher binder, etc. Happy proofreading! 🙂

Love and hope,
Donna

P.S. What common errors do your students make that you would like help in teaching? Homophones? Commas? Paragraph breaks? I’d love to help you!

The post Proofreaders’ Marks: Comical Ones and Accurate Ones! (Printable Included!) appeared first on Character Ink.

The capitalization of this holiday isn’t the grammar/writing issue. It’s the spelling!

Of course, like any other holiday, both words are capitalized:

Independence Day

Or if written with the informal name: July 4th.

Spelling independence is a little more of an issue.

You may find long lists of rules for ent/ence vs ant/ance if you begin a study on this–many of which are so confusing and detailed (emphasis on the fourth syllable from the right, use ent!! okay..that’s stretching it…) that an average person cannot decipher them much less memorize them.

When rules are too detailed and confusing, a writer is better off memorizing spellings or using spell check.

I will leave you with two simple rules for ent/ence that I think are actually helpful:

1. Use ent/ence (not ant/ance) if the root you are adding it to ends with c or g:
    diligence, innocent

    This rule actually makes sense because if you used ant/ance, the c would then say kuh (innocant–innokant) and the g would then say juh  (diligant–dili-gant).

2. Use ent/ence if the root you are adding it to ends with d:
    independent

Hope this helps–and hope you have a happy July 4th!

The post Spelling Lesson: Independence Day appeared first on Character Ink.

Fifteen years ago I began writing my complete language arts program for second through twelfth grade students (what is now Character Quality Language Arts, CQLA). I based that program, loosely, on six programs (language arts, editing, writing, vocabulary, spelling, etc., programs) that I had been using for a dozen years with my older children. I wanted to take all of the best “part language arts” books and put them together in one. And I did that!

One of the programs I had used with my kids was a spelling classification book, a book in which students record their spelling words on pages that are labeled with the various word families and other commonalities. I loved this program and had used it in conjunction with the other aforementioned books. When I created my complete language arts program, I created a book similar to the one I had used—with several changes. For one thing, mine was longer and more detailed. I found myself having to add columns and pages too often. Additionally, I didn’t feel that the book that I had used had enough explanation of the various sounds (for those using it with random spelling lists, I thought it should give more “teaching” on the sounds and spelling patterns).

Also, I had, had some success using that spelling categorization system with my emerging reader (who also enjoyed writing/penning). Therefore, I knew that I wanted my Spelling Notebook to go through all of the sounds/patterns/word families that a new reader would encounter (in the order they are usually taught) so that students could use it to record words as they learned sounds for reading.

So I knew what I wanted for spelling to go with CQLA right away. And The Spelling Notebook was created.

Fast forward fifteen years later. The Spelling Notebook is still available from Character Ink (our small press publishing company) and Rainbow Resource Center. This summer my graphic designer and I put a new cover on it and made it into a download that public, private, and homeschools could download for their students so that even more kids could benefit from this systematic resource. (To see how to use this book, check out this demo video!)

This product can be purchased in black and white (with a colored cover) with heavy paper for the pages (for years of use by the same student). (Call 260-433-4365 to order.) It can also be purchased as a download from Teachers Pay Teachers, Teacher’s Notebook, and CurrClick. For more information, continue reading the forward of The Spelling Notebook below.

FROM THE FORWARD OF THE SPELLING NOTEBOOK

This Spelling Notebook was designed to be used to further cement spelling learning by providing “learning hooks” upon which to base the student’s spelling experiences. It uses a word family/phonetic approach to help students classify words with spelling commonalities together. This gives them the advantage of using prior spelling knowledge (previously recorded words and families) along with new spelling words.

Spelling Uses

The Spelling Notebook may be used in two different manners to assist in spelling learning:
1. Students record their new spelling words (already based on spelling commonalities) onto the proper SN page.
2. Students record misspelled words from their essays, spelling tests, and dictation quizzes onto the corresponding SN page.

These two methods are as follows:

1. Recording Weekly Spelling Words—

a. After students copy the spelling words in their weekly lesson, the teacher should tell him which page (or pages) he will need to record that week’s words.

b. The student should turn to the indicated pages in his SN. There, he will find columns of lines with a word above each column.

c. He should record each spelling word from his weekly list on the pages indicated beneath the spelling pattern that each word follows.

d. For example, if he is working on the ei and ie spelling patterns in his weekly lesson, he will turn to the SN pages given. He will then place the words from his spelling lesson in the correct columns:

i. Cei—In this column, he will place the words receive, conceive, and perceive.
ii. Ie—In this column, he will place the words believe, relieve, and belief.
iii. Ei says ay—In this column, he will place the words vein, rein, and veil.

2. Recording Misspelled Words—

a. In this approach, the teacher chooses words that the student misspelled during his weekly dictation quiz, spelling test, and essay/report. (This may be three or four words or ten words, depending on his skill level and how many of the spelling words he will be working on from the weekly spelling lesson.)

b. The most productive way to use these spelling words is for the teacher to analyze the spelling problem of each word with the student. For example, if the student spelled happy with only one p—hapy, she would point out what the spelling error was. (The student failed to double the consonant in a two syllable-first vowel-short word.)

c. The student and teacher would then look up this rule in the SN and the student would record the word in the correct column of the corresponding page.

d. Obviously, when a student misspells a word, he may just copy that word and study it for the next week. This is fine, too; however, if the student actually has experiences with the spelling problem (the exact part of the word he misspelled) and copies it over in the SN with words containing that same spelling, the spelling rule will be further cemented in the student’s mind.

For Reading Instruction

The SN is a valuable tool for emerging readers who enjoy writing. As each word family is studied/learned through any word-family-approach phonics program, have your student write the words that he or she has learned to read on the coordinating pages under the correct word family.

The post Introducing The Spelling Notebook appeared first on Character Ink.

To learn more about this product via audio, click here.

The “Six S Spelling Secret Packet” gives your students four helpful ways to practice their spelling words–three traditional methods and one “secret” method! These methods work for students of all ages, but are especially effective for second through eighth grade students who are able to self monitor their progress (which this packet will help them learn to do even more!).

Here are some suggestions for use:

(1) The first page of the packet is a traditional “pin-point your challenging words and syllabicate and copy.” This works especially well with spelling programs in which the syllabication is given for the student’s spelling words–though it is also effective for extremely phonetic learners who can syllabicate on their own. If the student does not desire to syllabicate, the lines are provided to simply copy challenging words multiple times for repetition. This step also gives the student the option of listing words under the coordinating spelling commonalities/word families in Language Lady’s Spelling Notebook. This is optional, of course, but for those desiring to create your own SN, the preview of the SN (available at this site) gives the Table of Contents that may be used to create a phonetically-based, systematic spelling notebook for recording mis-spelled words.

(2) The next two pages of this packet contain two pages of graph paper with two different sizes of boxes in the graph. This allows younger learners who write larger to use the larger boxed paper and older learners with smaller penmanship to use the smaller boxed paper. Writing each word, one letter per box, helps many students visualize their spelling words, one letter and one shape at a time.
(3) Lastly, the “secret” part. The instructions for the Six S Spelling Secret Sheet are given on the actual sheet for each student. Here are some other keys to using this document:

(a) Stress to the students that they only need to use The Six S Spelling Secret Sheet for words that they mis-spell in a pre-test. This alone is sometimes enough encouragement for a student to practice prior to the pre-test. (They will not have to work on any words
that they “passed” in the pre-test.)

(b) Work through the columns of the sheet with your students one column at a time for one word, completing each step that is listed for each column. You will want to do this several times in order for them to be able to do it completely independently as they study
for their spelling test.

(c) Emphasize honesty in the cover, write, etc.. portions of the sheet. While it isn’t a test per se, looking up the spelling (not covering or folding the page over) will not help the student learn how to spell the word (obviously). Encourage them to complete the sheet as
it is given, reminding them that this repetition and multi-sensory approach will help them become excellent spellers.

(d) For classroom use, I recommend that you have a pocket or stacking tray or other area in which students can pick up copies of The Six S Spelling Secret Sheet at any time (even if you pass out a sheet to each student weekly).

e) Consider passing out the sheet each week when you give new spelling words–and walk through one word (a challenging one from their list) with the students at that time. They will be more likely to use the sheets on their own if they are emphasized and even
re-taught each week.

Come back to my store often for writing lessons, graphic organizers, anchor charts, lessons, notebooking sheets, and more that have been tested with over a hundred students each year for fifteen years! 🙂

Other Products!

Letters & Sounds Preschool Programs

-ABC Letter & Picture Cards
-ABC Sound Song Posters (coming soon!)
-The Six S Spelling Secret Packet
–The Spelling Notebook

Meaningful Composition

CQLA

Save

The post Product Highlight: The Six S Spelling Secret Packet appeared first on Character Ink.

I can remember learning about affect and effect in school–and being completely confused all of the time. Is that how you feel? Well, get ready to be relieved of your affect/effect phobia!

Generally speaking, you can count on Affect being a Verb and Effect being a Noun. So how does this help you?

That will not AFFECT the outcome–Verb meaning influence or alter

Her job did not AFFECT her college studies—Verb meaning influence or alter

What is the EFFECT of her test scores?–Noun meaning result

This will have no EFFECT on my performance—Noun meaning result

So…just remember RAVEN–and you will always use the proper AFFECT/EFFECT! Remember Affect is a VERB and Effect is a Noun.

Remember
Affect
Verb
Effect
Noun

Note: For you non-nemonic lovers, there is also another way to remember that effect is the noun. If you can remember that an, a, & the are noun markers, that is they mark the noun, telling you that a noun is coming soon. Some programs call these articles. Anyway, if you can remember that that thE is a noun marker then you can probably remember that thE ends with an E and Effect begins with an E: thE Effect.

Teacher Tip: Students often think that the word and, which is a coordinating conjunction, is a noun marker (or article parentheses). Therefore, I like to word the three neon markers in a different way so that the AN is not up against the coordinating conjunction AND. So try teaching the three noun markers with these two things in mind:

1. Order them in this way: and, a, and the. This will keep the AN and AND from being against each other, which makes students think that AND is the noun marker.

2. Also, if you write them on the board, or you are making your own worksheets (or in my case, writing my own English books), do not use the word AND at all in writing. Instead use the symbol: an, a, & the.

The post Affect vs. Effect appeared first on Character Ink.

We tell our students all the time that you know more than you think you know! And that if you take what you already know and apply it to what you do not know, you will soon know even more!

Take the word homophone, for instance.

Homo—means same
Phone—means hear

Thus, homophones sound the same what you hear them.

Homophones are words like their, they’re, and there and to, too, and two—words that sound the same when they are spoken but only look different when written.

I use tricks, mnemonics, rhymes, jingles, songs….anything I can think of…in my books and with my students. I want learning to be as easy as it can possibly be for kids—you could say it is one of my missions in life!

Like I always tell them: “Take something you already know. Apply it to something you don’t know! Now you know more!”  🙂

Sight and site are confusing words. I think they have gotten even more confusing with SITE being used as a “place on the internet.” It seems that I see SIGHT used for physical places more and more nowadays, and I can’t help wonder if it is because students now think of SITE as being online, and SIGHT being for every thing else.

You probably already know how to spell KITE and SIGHT….so use what you already know to learn even more!

The post Tricky Trick to Help it Stick: Spelling Site & Sight appeared first on Character Ink.

You know what one of my least favorite words is? FACADE.

First of all, I work week in and week out to try to teach that an A, O, U, or most consonants make the C say “kuh.” That would make this word fuh-kade, right? (Or even fay-kade.) Unfortunately, that is wrong.

It is pronounced fuh-sodd. (That A really doesn’t make the C say “kuh.”)

That clearly makes this word a FAKE, which is one of its only redeeming qualities–it means what it looks like! Smile…

That bring us to the second aspect of the word–its meaning. It is a noun that means “a face of a building or a superficial appearance.”

In that regard, it is as it is pronounced–even though it isn’t pronounced like it is spelled (which is true of many words that came from somewhere else).

So it is easy to learn the meaning of—it has to do with what it sounds like–FACE (albeit, a fake face). But it is not spelled as one would think.

So, don’t put on a facade today! Don’t try to put on a superficial front or fake face. Be yourself!

The post U is for UNUSUAL SPELLING–Facade appeared first on Character Ink.

How do YOU spell Wednesday. Many of my students say it just like it looks to spelll it: WED/NES/DAY!
Does that help you?

The post U is for UNUSUAL SPELLINGS: Wednesday appeared first on Character Ink.

Are you confused by antidote and anecdote–like I have been a lot of the time?

Remember these tips:
~antidote–has anti in it, like an antibiotic–so it is a treatment, like an antibiotic

~anecdote–a little tidbit of info (an/ec/dote—not ECT….just EC...I often misspelled this one!)

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