Spelling Menus are Here!

Hi Parents-

     This week we will begin using our spelling menus. I reviewed the expectations for the menus in class after I passed them out, but I wanted to reiterate what I told the students in case anything was misunderstood. All students were given menu "b." This menu has activities for those students with 2 or more incorrect words on their pretest who are on list "B." (I believe the top of the paper says 3 or missed words, but it is 2...sorry). Only students studying list "a" this week were also given menu "a." Menu "a" has different activities that are more challenging and more suitable for advanced students. If your child is on list "a," they are only to choose activities from list "a." I gave them the "b" list as well, as some students are not always on a specific list depending on pretest results. In turn, any students who make list "a" in the future will be given the "a" list to choose from if they do not already have the list.
      
      Every Monday, the students will need to choose only 2 activities for the week from their menu. They will have 4 nights to complete the activities (Mon, Tues, Weds, Thurs) and the assignments will be due on Friday. The assignments are to be completed in their red spelling notebook UNLESS they choose an activity that requires glueing objects etc. In these instances, please have your child write me a note in their spelling notebook to "assignment on separate sheet" and they may hand in their assignment separately from the notebook. If an assignment is something that cannot be turned in, I am asking parents to write a note telling me the activity was completed with a signature (I think there are only 1 or 2 activities such as these).

    I decided to change our spelling home learning mid-year, as I felt that the students were bored with the 3 routine assignments we were doing each week. Furthermore, it is really important to provide "choice" to students to keep them more engaged and for them to have a sense of ownership over their work. Lastly, I found some of these activities to be more challenging and interesting which always makes learning more fun!


If you have any questions at all, please don't hesitate to ask. I want this to be a positive experience for everyone.


Thanks so much,
Ms. Walker