Ms. England's Class Spelling

In spelling this year we've been identifying our spelling patterns and practicing our spelling words. Now that we have the hang of sorting our words by patterns we've begun taking quizzes at the end of the week to check for two of our understandings. First, that we know how to spell our words, and secondly, that we can identify in which spelling patterns our words belong. This is reflected in the marking of our assessment. Ms. England checks to see if we spell the word correctly and if we have the word under the correct header. As the sorts become trickier, you might notice we have an oddball header that can be shown with the word 'oddball' or with a '?' Turns out in the English language a LOT of words don't fit into their sound pattern. The words that fall into the oddball header are some of those tricky words that like to break the rules.

Above is an example of what an assessment looks like if the person really know her stuff! She spelled all the words correctly and was able to sort the 'ch' words into the 'ch' column, the 'sh' words into the 'sh' column, and so on. This person can hear the difference between the 'ch' and 'sh', and between the 'th' and 'd' sounds!

Above is an example of an assessment where the person is not as confident in the spelling patterns.You can see that Ms. England drew arrows to show where two of the words should have been in different columns. Also, she circled the areas where the person made a mistake in spelling the words. However, she did underline and put a check above where the person spelled the part of the word with the pattern correctly. 

This person will get more chances to practice, and Ms. England will continue to work with her on these patterns. 

The assessments are only used as a guide for Ms. England to check and see if we really understand our spelling patterns. When she sends them home you can see how hard we've been working, and you'll know the spelling patterns we've been studying in class. However, please remember that we are in different "just right" groups for us, so not everyone has the same spelling patterns. If you have any questions Ms. England will be happy to speak with you.