I don’t do enough spelling practice. I should develop in that area, definitely. But one fun thing I do is a simple whiteboard spelling game as a review.
Give each team (about 4 students) a mini whiteboard, pen, eraser. Say one of the target words, and students spell it on the board. But…
- Each student can only write one letter
- They must then pass the board to their left
- The next student writes the next letter
- Students can collaborate over the spelling
- When they’ve completed the word they hold the board up. The first team to finish gets a point.
Not got mini whiteboards? Just use a laminated piece of paper and some tissue as the rubber.
One team keeps winning…
Ha! Always happens. The game is just for fun. If a team keeps winning just get them to use their wrong hand to write each letter! Educational value, a bit. Fun and hilarity, plenty.
Alternative:
On our CELTA YL course one teacher put piles of letters (cut up) on each desk. He said a word and students worked together to construct it using the letters. One student tended to take over, but you could introduce some rules to prevent this.
I’m writing a series of short posts in response to Martin Sketchley’s blog challenge. You can view his new blog here.