Getting older students to work towards improving their spelling skills is no easy feat. By the time they reach middle school, struggling readers and writers have spent countless hours trying to memorize spelling words for their weekly tests just to forget them days later! I have always been a fan of Patricia Cunningham’s Phonics They Use and Month by Month Phonics books. One activity I learned from Ms. Cunningham’s work that my students are particularly fond of is the study of compound words. Students learn how to spell a few compound words at a time, which in turn allows them to use the word parts to spell even more new words! It’s a great way to reinforce the idea that good spellers do not memorize the spelling of all words, they see patterns within words. It’s a challenging yet engaging approach to teaching spelling, even for our most reluctant students!

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https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Easing-The-Learning-Curve