Differentiating Spelling

I differentiate instruction in Spelling by using different spelling lists and using a spelling contract.  All fifth graders learn words from a grade level spelling list. Some students work with ten regular words. Others do fifteen regular words.  Another group has the original ten regular and ten high frequency words. The rest of the students have twenty regular words.  All students have "Challenge" words from curriculum units for the week.  The number of challenge words also varies from four words to twelve words.  I also allow students to "test out" of a list of words, and the work for the week with a pretest given on Monday.  This has created more work for me, but adjusts the work to the students' needs. We take a pretest on Monday, practice words on Tuesday with worksheets/activities, take a practice test on Wednesday, have a game on Thursday, and a final test on Friday. Students that earn above 90% on the practice test are exempt from the final test.  Students scoring 100% or more (challenge words add to the total) are eligible for a pretest for the following week.  Students scoring 105% or more on the pretest are exempt from the spelling work for the week.  They may have additional vocabulary or enrichment work to do during spelling time.  The work for the week is a contract.  The contract has been adjusted over the last ten years. The original source was a differentiating instruction conference, but I don't remember the presenter's name.  I have tweaked the contract almost yearly to reflect changes in students and requirements for the grade level.  Last year's contract added different learning style to the activities.  This year brought the biggest changes  to meet the needs of all fifth graders when spelling was added to my list of departmentalized responsibilities. Some activities incorporate Spelling City, which is a limited free site. More activities use iPads. If you would like to use my contract, please give me credit.


--Marcia


Sorry the picture is not the greatest! Will try again later.

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