Getting Started with Sitton Spelling and Word Skills A Q&A of Tips & Tricks to Facilitate Implementation ~ Grade 4 School City of Mishawaka Spring 2007

School City of Mishawaka How does Sitton Spelling and Word Skills differ from a traditional spelling program? Spelling for life Flexible time for lessons Meets students’ needs Integrated with other content areas Teaches how words work No weekly spelling list “no excuses” list School City of Mishawaka Spring 2007

How do I begin organizing for instruction? Start with p. 331 – 376 View grade level CD Tab manual Personal posters, page 380 + 411 Word cards--Copy Masters, page 385 Achievement tests, 360 Word lists for priority/core words, page 377 Teaching posters, page 411 Teaching notes (after last lesson), page 331 Remember – don’t try to teach everything! School City of Mishawaka Spring 2007

What are the components of a typical unit? Word Preview Write/Rewrite Concepts Word/Cloze Test Skills Test Dictation Chart/Notebooks/Homework/Skill Groups Stretch It Fix It Sort It Add It Finish It Find It School City of Mishawaka Spring 2007

Basics & Electives [as listed in the Sitton manual] School City of Mishawaka Spring 2007

School City of Mishawaka What is the focus of the “Build Skills and Word Experiences” part of the lesson? Introduce concepts Background knowledge Sound/letter patterns School City of Mishawaka Spring 2007

What is the Word Preview? Visual warm-up activity of core words Not spelling words for the week School City of Mishawaka Spring 2007

What is the focus of the “Assess Words and Skills” part of the lesson? Word test assesses how students use spelling in context Skill Test assesses how students use the skills that they have acquired through content activities School City of Mishawaka Spring 2007

How do I effectively use the posters? Copy for students to keep in their folders or notebooks Large teacher posted may be hung with rings on a big science board. School City of Mishawaka Spring 2007

What materials need to be prepared in advance of the lesson? Parent homework activity Cloze/skills test paper Personal poster Words to learn Achievement test School City of Mishawaka Spring 2007

How could students organize their materials? Folders or notebooks to contain Personal poster Core word list Priority words Exercise Express Concepts School City of Mishawaka Spring 2007

School City of Mishawaka How do I know which concepts/activities are the most important for my students to learn? Use the language arts curriculum map for a guide. Evaluate unit test to determine re-teaching needs. School City of Mishawaka Spring 2007

School City of Mishawaka Should I create a spelling list in addition to the cloze, skill, and dictation tests in the program? No! School City of Mishawaka Spring 2007

What is the best way to incorporate the writing skills activities? Integrate with writing workshop Electives School City of Mishawaka Spring 2007

How I determine spelling grades? Options for grades include Word/cloze Random checking of “no excuse” words Exercise Express activities Skill test Dictation School City of Mishawaka Spring 2007

What information should I share with parents? Open House information Philosophy of program Parent letters from Sitton Study procedure School City of Mishawaka Spring 2007

How do I subscribe to the Sitton newsletter? Go to http://www.sittonspelling.com/ and click on the E-Newsletter link at the bottom of the page. You will come to this page where you may access the archived newsletters, as well as subscribe to future editions. School City of Mishawaka Spring 2007