Hi everyone, it's Becky! I wanted to share a new product I made over the weekend for some of my advanced kiddos. This year I probably have the widest span of reading levels I have ever had. Out of my 24 students, I have about 6 at a level B, 3 all the way at a level L, and all of the others in between! We do such a great job of focusing on our below basic and basic students in my school, but we need to beef up our support for the advanced students. I need them to move this year as well! So one of the ways I decided to do this was with challenge spelling lists.
My school district uses the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Journeys reading series. In this series, there are 30 lessons which each last 5 days. Each lesson also focuses on one or two phonics patterns, and include spelling words that follow these patterns. The idea is that if the students have learned the phonics patterns, they should be successful on the tests. I begin each lesson with a pre-test to see how much my students already know about the pattern I will be teaching. This year my students who are at a level L, and some of my other students, have been consistently getting 100% on the pre-test. I give challenge words to any student who receives 100% on their pretest. I realized I didn't have any extension/practice pages for them like those I have bought from other TPT sellers for the regular spelling words. So before starting Unit 2, I decided to make a challenge words packet, complete with those very pages! You can get this packet here in my TPT store!
My school district uses the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Journeys reading series. In this series, there are 30 lessons which each last 5 days. Each lesson also focuses on one or two phonics patterns, and include spelling words that follow these patterns. The idea is that if the students have learned the phonics patterns, they should be successful on the tests. I begin each lesson with a pre-test to see how much my students already know about the pattern I will be teaching. This year my students who are at a level L, and some of my other students, have been consistently getting 100% on the pre-test. I give challenge words to any student who receives 100% on their pretest. I realized I didn't have any extension/practice pages for them like those I have bought from other TPT sellers for the regular spelling words. So before starting Unit 2, I decided to make a challenge words packet, complete with those very pages! You can get this packet here in my TPT store!
This product includes a list of challenge words for each lesson, 6-10, from the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Journeys first grade reading series. The first two challenge words for each lesson are the same two listed as "challenge words" from the series. The other six are more challenging words that follow the same phonics pattern the students are learning for that corresponding lesson. Along with the challenge word lists for students to take home, there are also four other activity pages for each lesson which include a trace it and write it page, a word search, a code breaker page, and a color/decorate it page. This is a great way to provide differentiated spelling practice for your above level students!
When I give the spelling test, all students have the same spelling test paper. I have my challenge word kids write "Ch" on their paper. I then go through the test and first announce the regular spelling word, and then the challenge word. The students know which list they have, and have been great at listening and writing the correct word for them on their paper.
Finally, I wanted to leave you with a little freebie for Fire Prevention Week! We have a "Safety Day" at our school, where the firemen, police officers, and other emergency workers bring their vehicles and show us the importance of being safe. (The kids love it!) We then write thank you notes to show our appreciation! Feel free to grab this freebie if your school does something similar and you could use it! (Click on the picture to take you to the link!)
When I give the spelling test, all students have the same spelling test paper. I have my challenge word kids write "Ch" on their paper. I then go through the test and first announce the regular spelling word, and then the challenge word. The students know which list they have, and have been great at listening and writing the correct word for them on their paper.
Finally, I wanted to leave you with a little freebie for Fire Prevention Week! We have a "Safety Day" at our school, where the firemen, police officers, and other emergency workers bring their vehicles and show us the importance of being safe. (The kids love it!) We then write thank you notes to show our appreciation! Feel free to grab this freebie if your school does something similar and you could use it! (Click on the picture to take you to the link!)
That's all for now! Have a great week!
~Becky
~Becky
