My Spelling Notebook

 

            Today's snack: It's fun to practice a little "smelling" when you're working on "spelling." So today, bake what may be the best-smelling treats of all: blueberry muffins. Those blueberries are great brain food, so don't hesitate to have a small bowl of them, chilled, with your muffin and a glass of milk.

 

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Supplies:

 

A spiral notebook

Piece of plain white cardstock or construction paper

Letter stamps and ink pads

or letter stickers,

or large letters cut out of magazines or catalogs, with a glue stick or rubber cement

or colored markers

 

 

Working on your spelling helps you develop a good memory as well as building up your communication skills and a habit of wanting to get words spelled right.

 

You can make your very own spelling notebook, a great tool for helping you keep track of words that are a little tricky to spell. Keep this notebook for years, and one day, you'll look back, see the hundreds of words in your notebook that YOU know how to spell, and you can be PROUD!

 

Most people have a used spiral notebook around, so let's re-use one, or purchase a new one if you'd like. Use only the front side of every page, because laying your arm over the metal spiral ring when you write on the back hurts a little and makes your hand cramp and not form the letters very well. Another idea is to use a notebook with a sewn-on binding; then you can easily write on front as well as back.

 

Tear the used pages out; you don't need a whole lot of pages for your notebook. Just 26 will do - one for every letter of the alphabet.

 

But first, let's make your cover. Take a piece of plain cardstock or construction paper, and use whatever art tools you'd like to decorate it with alphabet letters. Don't spell out words; just scatter alphabet letters around on the cover to symbolize how the letters have to come together in order to spell words.

 

You might use rubber stamps for the letters, or stickers, or make a collage from magazine cut-outs, or use colored markers to draw alphabet blocks . . . whatever you'd like.

 

Write the title, "My Spelling Notebook" on the front, and add your name.

 

Now glue or rubber-cement that cover onto the cover of the notebook.

 

Now label the top of each page with an alphabet letter. You're going to reserve one page for words that start with each letter of the alphabet. Some pages are going to get crowded quickly, but pages such as "x" are going to be a little sparse. But that's OK!

 

At the top of the first page, use your stamps, stickers, cutouts, markers, or whatever you would like to make the letter "a." At the top of the second page, make a "b." Continue all the way through the alphabet.

 

Now comes the fun part! Whenever you encounter a word that is hard to spell, open your spelling notebook, turn to the page that corresponds to the first letter in the word, and write it down, printing carefully so that it's very clear and plain.

 

Let's say you get your spelling test at school, and you've missed three out of 20. That's not so bad! But those three words will trip you up, time and time again, as you write later on this school year, if you don't master them now.

 

So make sure to record those three words in your spelling notebook . . . and keep it handy, in your room or study place. Whenever you have a spare moment, open up your spelling notebook and review those words.

 

Remember to add new words to it every week. Ask your parents and friends what words are hard for them to spell, and add them to your notebook. When you come across an unfamiliar word in a book, or perhaps in a song you hear, or one said by a grandparent - however you encounter a word - write it down in your spelling notebook.

 

By the end of this school year, you should have at least 100 words written down - maybe many more.

 

And you should discover that your spelling has improved - because you took the time to master it!