During parent consultations yesterday, Mrs Colgrave and I have been asked why we have not been sending home lists of words for the children to practise.
As literacy leader at the school, I am keen to move away from the learning of lists for spelling but rather encourage children to be able to spot patterns and apply different rules when spelling words. This is how we teach them in class – rather than asking them to memorise a list of words which may never be used in their writing books.
Sometimes, the particular spelling pattern or rule that we are focusing on may lend itself to a list – such as when we investigated the different suffixes used for plurals. On these occasions, we will blog a list of suitable words. Your child should also be able to tell you what spelling pattern they are investigating and a quick search on google will bring up a list of words. The website spellzone is also a useful resource.
At present, 5F are investigating contractions and the use of apostrophes. I need the children to know where the apostrophe should go and which letters are being omitted.
Mr Faithfull