Personal Spelling Card

The personal spelling card is another resource that students can use when they are writing. I always encourage phonetic spelling as a part of writing development, but when students are consistently misspelling a word that they use frequently, these misspellings can become visually imprinted and harder to correct down the road.

The personal spelling card has columns on the front and the back labeled with a letter of the alphabet. Words beginning with Aa-Mm can be recorded on the front of the card. Words with letters Nn-Zz can be recorded on the other side of the card.

When I am reading students’ writing or when they are reading their writing to me, I look for frequently used words that are misspelled. I first congratulate the student on using phonics to stretch the word. Then, together, we figure out the “book spelling” and write the word in the appropriate column.

I might say things such as, “You are right, sh can say the /sh/ sound, but in this word, it is actually ch that makes the /sh/ sound.” OR, “I like how you hear every sound in this word, but there is also a silent e on end that makes the vowel say its long name sound.” The next time the student uses this word in writing, s/he will use the personal spelling card as a reference. I will also occasionally add words for students upon request, but don’t get into this habit, or some students will keep asking instead of stretching their words and hearing the sounds.

Students now have three resources to use when writing:

1) The Classroom Word Wall

2) Important Word Card Envelopes (as explained in the blog post below)
https://theteacherspost.com/2019/09/important-word-cards-reading-motivators.html

3) Personal Spelling Card

Happy Writing!