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.

When I first began home schooling thirty years ago, I had just graduated with an elementary education degree. I had a one-year-old son, and we began home schooling my younger sister. Of course, coming right out of teacher’s college, I began doing things just like I would have done in my classroom. I soon discovered that all of the classroom things were not necessary – that those things were needed for mass education but not necessarily for one-on-one tutoring (or even small group instruction).

Even after discovering this, however, I still had this urge to be a “teacher.” That is, I was always drawn to materials that were teacher-intensive. I love teaching! And I still do. But by the time I had my third child in school, with a preschooler, toddler, and baby, I was teaching eight and ten hours a day. Something had to change.

It was then that I discovered many independent curriculum items for my children. We had already been using Geo Safari, a computerized laptop type of game that taught and quizzed the children on geography, history, art, and much more. I began using a lot of other less teacher-intensive items. I developed independent work lists for each child based on each one’s age and level. These independent work lists had checklists for each day that the children could do without my input, such as the aforementioned Geo Safari, Calculadders math drill sheets, Mathsafari, educational coloring books, and much more.

I was using unit studies at that time, which we absolutely loved. I knew that in getting away from so much teacher intensive material, I did not want to leave unit studies behind. There were other subject areas, however, in which I could drop some of the more teacher intensive things. And so I did, and I had more time for other things. I wasn’t teaching as long each day. And my children were learning independent skills, study habits, and thinking processes that they might not have learned had I continued to “teach” everything.

Here are some tips for choosing curriculum that is varied in nature as far as teacher intensiveness is concerned:

1) First of all,  consider what your individual children need. This should always be the primary benchmark in choosing curriculum. If you have a young mathematician, he might do fine with a more independent math program. Maybe your middle school writer can work through a writing/composition  text on her own. You know your own children. Consider which subject areas will simply not work out at all if the materials were too independent for each child.

2) Once you have determined which subject areas each child absolutely needs your help in or needs a more teacher intensive approach, then look at which subjects you simply have a good time teaching your children. For us, while we did use individual Bible materials, reading and studying the Bible together was something that I never wanted to give up. Likewise, as I mentioned earlier, our unit study times and our read aloud times were precious to me. For over twenty years, I read to my children two to four hours a day. So, even in trying to reduce my teaching time, I knew what times a day and what subjects together we loved the most. Those things did not change.

3) Next, look at what is available for independent work for children in different subject areas. Consider materials that you have used in the past that your student enjoyed. For example, if you have used some Alpha Omega life packs, and your student enjoyed those, check out the listings for those and see which subject areas might work for your student. Consider what online courses or local co-op courses might be available. Additionally, check out materials that have the teacher on a CD or a DVD. This has been a lifesaver for us in math. I could give my students entire math over to the CD program since it checked and graded the assignments for my student. (This program is Teaching Textbooks.)

4) Even if you do use unit studies, consider how this could even be made less teacher intensive. For example, grouping children together and then using the bus stop approach in which younger children only stay for a portion of the lessons is a way to make teacher time more productive. Also consider what assignments can be given to your students outside of unit studies. Many unit study programs have this built into them. That is, they will have you assign your student independent projects, writing assignments, books to read, and so forth. In this way, I was still able to use unit studies while giving independent assignments from what we were studying whenever possible.

5) Use independent materials for those “extras.” I used math drills, computer programs to practice states and capitals and other memory work, educational coloring books, craft kits, independent penmanship programs, and more to help my students become more independent in those extras.

By using a variety of materials, we are able to hone in on our children’s strengths and their learning styles. We are able to choose materials that suit each child’s strong areas while using more teacher intensive materials for areas in which the student needs the teacher more. We are able to add variety to the school day, so the student doesn’t have to do the same type of material in every subject. And we are able to set up our school day to be more enjoyable for Mom and the students.

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