Monday, December 2, 2019

Spelling Update/Welcome Back!

Good evening, first grade families!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with your friends and family. We were able to escape the snow for a few days to visit family in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Here are just a few pics from our trip!





We are happy to be back and I had so much fun with our Somerset Stars today!

Now...

We need to talk SPELLING!

There has been a lot of confusion about which words are for which weeks, when tests are, and concerns over the words/length of time to study with families' busy schedules. My hope with this blog post is to clear up any confusion and to also provide an opportunity for some solutions moving forward. 

FIRST OF ALL, we had a little mixup with the spelling word lists due to the short week. Two lists were accidentally sent home in Friday Folders. THESE are the spelling words for this week (Thursday 12/5):

Hide the other list, throw it away...whatever you want. I will get another copy of next week's list to you in Friday Folders this week.

Something that absolutely breaks my heart is to hear that studying for spelling is a point of contention or a source of poor self-esteem in a child. That is not the point! Our spelling patterns are meant to reinforce the phonics skills that we are learning in reading class. I never want any child to feel like a failure because they are struggling in spelling! 

SO--- I need your feedback!

As a parent, do you feel like spelling is beneficial to your child? Would you like to keep it weekly, turn it into a bi-weekly test, or skip tests altogether (knowing that we will still be learning and practicing the patterns in class each week)? Please vote below:





Thanks so much for your feedback, everyone!


1 comment:

  1. I love the spelling tests for my daughter, but I also know spelling can be a struggle for a lot myself included. I don't make it homework I read over the list and quiz her randomly throughout the week. Including in the car, while she's doing dishes.

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