Words, Words, Words

This year our spelling program focuses on different patterns that will be important for second graders and will support them in their reading and writing. Every two weeks they will study a word pattern and be required to sort these words and brainstorm other words that apply to the pattern. Students will be practicing these sounds and patterns using words that are at their developmental stage of spelling. They will be learning how these patterns help them as readers and how these patterns apply to bigger words. These are words that we hope your child will remember when writing. Remember, the focus is on the pattern and not just memorizing the words. Every two weeks your child will bring a list home of 15 words that fit the pattern. You can help your child practice these words by sorting them at home and implementing some of the following activities below. Sort, Check, and Reflect- Ask your child to sort the words. To check, have your child read down each column to check for mistakes. Ask your child to reflect on how the words were categorized and tell you what is the same about each group. Lastly, you can brainstorm other words that fit the pattern. Word Hunt- Look for this word pattern in books. Write down the words you find, underlining the pattern part. Speed Sort- Use a time to see how fast your child can sort the words correctly. Record the time and then have your child sort again to see if he or she can beat his or her own time. Memory- Turn all the cards facedown. Ask your child to turn over two cards and read the words. If the two cards have the same feature, its a match! Take turn looking for matches.

Another part of the spelling program that we will focus on is high frequency words. These are commonly used words in second grade reading and writing that occur frequently. Some of them are sight words (you can only know them by memorizing them) and others are decodable words (which can be sounded out). Along with the 15 pattern words your child will be responsible for learning 5 high frequency words every two weeks. Learning how to spell these will again support their growth in reading and writing. Activities to practice high frequency words at home are listed below. Word Hunt- Look for this word in books. Then write these words down so they have practice learning the words. Memory- Write the high frequency words twice each on small cards. Turn all the cards facedown. Ask your child to turn over two cards and read the words. If the two cards have the same word, its a match! Take turns looking for matches. Repeated Writing- Have your child practice writing the word 5 times each so that they can see how the word looks when spelled correctly and feel it when it is written. Your child can also trace the words with their finger on smooth surfaces.