Create Your Own Spelling List

We are down to only a few more spelling lists and tests for this school year! This week instead of our usual pre-assessment to determine which list students will study for the week, students came up with their own spelling lists.

Students broke into small groups and scoured the dictionary looking for words they thought would be appropriate. They added the words to a shared Google doc. When all groups finished we reviewed the lists to make sure we didn't have any duplicates, words we had already studied this year or words deemed to be "too easy" or "too difficult."

Not surprisingly, none of the words were determined to be too difficult because this is a group that likes a challenge! Students took a survey after this activity and almost unanimously students said they were excited to have some ownership of the list and they hoped they would be able to challenge their classmates with the words they chose. 

Student Generated Spelling List

The spelling list this week was created by the class!

Last week we took a "field trip" and scoured the hallways looking for appropriate spelling words. 

 Some students took photographs of the words they found and some students wrote them down. 

When we returned to the classroom, each student filled out a Google form, letting me know the words words they thought should appear on our spelling list this week.