Touch Spelling

Do you have students that struggle with spelling? Spelling is an area all of my students struggle with in their writing.

When students are "touch spelling" I always have them hold their pencil in their dominant hand and use their other hand to touch spell. Students will say the word slowly and touch one finger for each sound they say. After the student says each sound, they can then write the word.

Touch spelling has been HUGE in helping my students write down all the sounds they hear in a word. This is especially helpful with blends. As I watch my students touch spell, I can pinpoint where they are not hearing the sound, such as the 'l' in the word sled. 

If a student has written the word wrong, I will touch spell directly over the word they have written. This helps them easier see if the sound matches up to the word that they've written.

If a student doesn't know how to spell a word, my go to response is always say the sounds and touch spell. I rarely spell a word for a student since I want to encourage them to write independently.

Here are some other activities I use to help students understand the spelling of words and how to manipulate sounds.

Building words is an activity that I use frequently in my classroom. I try to fit this in weekly. It's great for my students to practice listening to sounds, manipulating sounds, and making sure they understand phonics patterns in a hands-on way. You can check this activity out more by clicking {here} or the picture below.

I use this Making Words activity with my students who have stronger writing skills and have a larger base of spelling/phonics patterns and known words.

There are 4 different themed words for each month of the school year. Students cut out the letter tiles and try to make as many words as they can. They love trying to figure out who can find the mystery word first. You can see more about this activity by clicking {here} or the picture below.

I hope these tips are helpful in your classroom!