Mrs. Ziegler's 4th Grade: Spelling

Fourth grade spelling focuses on what are called “high frequency words”, or words most commonly used in everyday speech and writing.

Our weekly spelling lists are divided into three parts:

Core Words Box - the five “new” words for the week.
Review Words Box - core words previously covered this year and other words we expect our students to have mastered.
Homophones Box - includes some tricky homophone pairs your child can expect to see on the test.

Words in ALL THREE BOXES should be studied.

We do some weekly practice in class, but the students are expected to study weekly lists independently as necessary.

A simple way to practice at home is to follow these five practice steps:

1. Read the word (Look at the word and say it aloud or silently)

2. Spell the word (Touch each letter with the point of your pencil and say the letter name, aloud or silently)

3. Cover the word (Cover the word and form a visual image of the word from memory)

4. Print the word (Grab a piece of paper and write it!)

5. Proofread the word (Uncover the word and check it letter for letter against the word you wrote)

Word lists are always printed on the back of our classroom newsletter.

It can also be found online at...

http://missliefer.weebly.com/weekly-news.html

Spelling grades come from two types of assessments:

Cloze tests consist of a fill-in-the-blank type test. The teacher reads the sentences and supplies the words and students write dictated words in the blanks. Grades are based on correct spelling along with correct capitalization when necessary (including words at the beginning of a sentence and proper nouns.) These tests also have a skill of the week. (This week the skill is sorting words into long and short vowel sounds)
Dictation tests consist of four sentences read by the teacher and copied on notebook paper by the students. Grades are based on the total number of words for that test along with correct capitalization and punctuation.

*Note--The type of test for that week will be indicated next to the list number at the top of each weekly list. (This week is Unit 1C = Cloze test)

Also remember that on supply drop night, you received a copy of words first fourth graders should know for reading, writing, and spelling for you to keep at home for reference and/or practice throughout the year. Your child also keeps a copy of this in his/her spelling folder.

Thanks in advance for your assistance with weekly spelling practice!!