Spelling Routines, "No Excuse" Checks, and Conventions

After many weeks of singing the Grammar Rap, practicing Split Rules, and reviewing the parts of speech, we are ready to begin our weekly spelling activities and tests. As a side note, I actually had a former student stop me in the parking lot today and tell me that she actually used the Grammar Rap to help her on a grammar pre-test she was taking in 6th grade. She said she was amazed as to how much it helped her, so have your child teach it to you...it is a pretty catchy tune. As for our spelling routines, students will be introduced to their new words on Wednesdays of each week. We will sort them and talk about the generalization for that week. They will then receive their purple Word Connections sheet. They will be asked to use the many skills we have learned and reviewed over the past several weeks to complete the sheet. It will be due the following Tuesday, so that they may have a weekend to complete them if needed. Tests will also be on those Tuesdays along with a "No Excuse" Word Check.
A major focus this year for Tarver is conventions in writing ( an area we are not showing as much growth in as we would like). Conventions include grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and "No Excuse" spelling words. For this reason, we will do weekly "No Excuse" Word Checks which will be passages from readings we are doing in class with such words omitted. Students have a list of these words in their Spelling Folders. You may also have noticed a score for conventions on many of your child's assignments and tests. As a school, we would like students to start incorporating good conventions in all of their work...not just on spelling or writing assignments. Knowing we have taught the skills consistently as a staff, our next step is to make sure we are holding the students accountable for demonstrating these skills on all assignments. You could say our philosophy is "Practice makes permanent, not perfect." I also tell my students that the more you practice something incorrectly, the harder it is to break the habit and do it correctly. So if you are working with your child on homework in any subject, please help reinforce these basic writing skills by having your child correct their work.