Kid expected to spell correctly in 1st grade?

[Anonymous]

DS's kindergarten teacher worked with them on sight words, but they weren't expected to be able to spell them correctly. We just got a note from his teacher that we need to teach him to spell the 20 words he missed on the test. Not thrilled about having to try to bridge the gap between K and first grade. Is this normal? Did we miss something? Any tips for teaching spelling?

And what is up with making the kids draw pictures to illustrate their writing and then critiquing the drawings as part of assessing their writing?

[Anonymous]

What are the words? If it's words like "the", "and", "at", "into" etc then that's pretty different to some of the more difficult ones.

But in general I'd probably do it. The teacher can't spend all of the class time trying to teach kids (especially the slower ones) to rote learn basic spelling words. Would you rather they drill spelling words at school but then you teach math and science on your own at home?

[Anonymous]

Duh, of course it's the parents that teach reading, writing and arithmetic at ages 4-7. Get going.

[Anonymous]

Wow, that's ridiculous! Why wasn't this assigned as summer work then?

[Anonymous]

Have him write each word five times (or more) in a column. He'll learn the spelling and practice writing at the same time.

[Anonymous]

I am generally opposed to sight words, but do support systemic spelling instruction. Ideally, the spelling words would be word families where he could learn consistent patterns.

If this is not the case, have him work on sounding out the words (ex. Dog - d_o_g). Saying a word the way it is spelled can also help. (To this day I still think Feb-ru-ary and Wed-nes-day).

When I was in elementary (not sure about first because we were learning to read) we had a spelling book and would cover a chapter a week. At the start of each week, the teacher would take us through the list. We would have to hold our arms in the air and write the letters in the air with our fingers as we spelled the words aloud. I think one night's homework would be to copy the phonetic pronunciation and the definition for each word. One night's homework was to write sentences with each word. I think one night we may have had to write each word a certain number of times. There were probably exercises in the book as well, but I don't remember them. Sometimes I'd have my mother or a friend quiz me on the words. Every Friday, we'd be tested.

I suspect the drawing has to do with the whole "learning styles" theory (which has been discredited). You will see a lot of artsy projects that are time and labor intensive but have little or no direct relevance to the subject matter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am generally opposed to sight words, but do support systemic spelling instruction. Ideally, the spelling words would be word families where he could learn consistent patterns.

If this is not the case, have him work on sounding out the words (ex. Dog - d_o_g). Saying a word the way it is spelled can also help. (To this day I still think Feb-ru-ary and Wed-nes-day).

When I was in elementary (not sure about first because we were learning to read) we had a spelling book and would cover a chapter a week. At the start of each week, the teacher would take us through the list. We would have to hold our arms in the air and write the letters in the air with our fingers as we spelled the words aloud. I think one night's homework would be to copy the phonetic pronunciation and the definition for each word. One night's homework was to write sentences with each word. I think one night we may have had to write each word a certain number of times. There were probably exercises in the book as well, but I don't remember them. Sometimes I'd have my mother or a friend quiz me on the words. Every Friday, we'd be tested.

I suspect the drawing has to do with the whole "learning styles" theory (which has been discredited). You will see a lot of artsy projects that are time and labor intensive but have little or no direct relevance to the subject matter.

I think the "art" in early elementary (mostly drawing and coloring) is busy work that gives teachers a break. At least that's my theory.

[Anonymous]

I really don't think it's too much to ask, OP. Missing TWENTY 1st grade-level words is significant. My kids never missed more than one per test, and usually got them all correct.

In the future, once you've moved on from those 20 words, ignore all the boring busywork they're asking and focus every week on teaching your child the definition of each word, how it's spelled, and how to use it in a sentence. No drawing pics, writing the word out in rainbow colors, or other inane activities. Just straight up work. It goes faster and it's WAY MORE EFFECTIVE. I would go down the list of words in the kitchen while cooking, and my daughter would shout out the spelling, and either she or I would make up a sentence with the word. Easy-peasy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I really don't think it's too much to ask, OP. Missing TWENTY 1st grade-level words is significant. My kids never missed more than one per test, and usually got them all correct.

In the future, once you've moved on from those 20 words, ignore all the boring busywork they're asking and focus every week on teaching your child the definition of each word, how it's spelled, and how to use it in a sentence. No drawing pics, writing the word out in rainbow colors, or other inane activities. Just straight up work. It goes faster and it's WAY MORE EFFECTIVE. I would go down the list of words in the kitchen while cooking, and my daughter would shout out the spelling, and either she or I would make up a sentence with the word. Easy-peasy.

This is good advice. Focus the work on what the kid actually needs.

[Anonymous]

Our school doesn’t worry about spelling until 2nd grade.

[Anonymous]

At open house we were told that the kids will get a spelling test every Friday. I was surprised it starts in 1st grade but I guess it’s a good thing.

[Anonymous]

DD is in 1st in a Moco school and we have heard nothing about spelling. Her homework is one math sheet per week and a reading log where she is supposed to log 20 mins a day for 4 days a week. No spelling tests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS's kindergarten teacher worked with them on sight words, but they weren't expected to be able to spell them correctly. We just got a note from his teacher that we need to teach him to spell the 20 words he missed on the test. Not thrilled about having to try to bridge the gap between K and first grade. Is this normal? Did we miss something? Any tips for teaching spelling?

And what is up with making the kids draw pictures to illustrate their writing and then critiquing the drawings as part of assessing their writing?

The picture is supposed to match the writing and include the details the child included in their writing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS's kindergarten teacher worked with them on sight words, but they weren't expected to be able to spell them correctly. We just got a note from his teacher that we need to teach him to spell the 20 words he missed on the test. Not thrilled about having to try to bridge the gap between K and first grade. Is this normal? Did we miss something? Any tips for teaching spelling?

And what is up with making the kids draw pictures to illustrate their writing and then critiquing the drawings as part of assessing their writing?

Sounds like the teacher is doing a crappy job of implementing Lucy Calkin's Writers Workshop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS's kindergarten teacher worked with them on sight words, but they weren't expected to be able to spell them correctly. We just got a note from his teacher that we need to teach him to spell the 20 words he missed on the test. Not thrilled about having to try to bridge the gap between K and first grade. Is this normal? Did we miss something? Any tips for teaching spelling?

And what is up with making the kids draw pictures to illustrate their writing and then critiquing the drawings as part of assessing their writing?

The picture is supposed to match the writing and include the details the child included in their writing.

+1

If the child writes “the dog sat on the bed” and draws a picture of herself with her mom and Dad, it shows that while she can spell, she’s lacking comprehension and understanding of the words.