Grade: 3

Purpose: To develop successful strategies for memorizing the spelling of commonly misspelled words.

Skill:

·   Mnemonics – An association or trick to help you remember

·    Repetition – Doing something over and over again

Note to the teacher: Children often have difficulty misspelling words that sound the same, such as there, their and they’re.  This lesson is to help the children develop their own strategies for remembering how to spell such words and other commonly misspelled words. The lesson can be adapted easily to any spelling words.  At the end, we have included a list of words (and for some, suggested mnemonics as well).  Feel free to add your own.  

Introduction:  A good way to begin this lesson is with a pretest.  Tell them that they cannot ask any questions during the test, but are to do the best they can.  Warn them ahead of time that this spelling test may be frustrating.  Let them know that they will not be graded on it.  Give no indication of the meaning of the words.  Use the words below, or other homonyms. 

1. weather
2. weigh
3. witch
4. four
5. principle
6. to
7. sense
8. there
9. no
10.  its
11.  heard
12.  bare
13.  your
14.  then
15.  our

Have the children compare their results. Discuss the meaning of homonyms (words that sound the same but have different meaning and different spelling).  Have the children come up with other homonyms. Make a list on the board.  These words can be used in the following activities. 

 

Activities:

1.     Title:  Making up Mnemonics

Time: 10-20 mins.
Materials: paper & pencil
Instructions:  The children will work in groups of two or three for this activity.  Use the list of homonyms on the board or from the spelling test, and assign each group one set of homonyms.  Have the children develop a mnemonic device to help them remember which spelling is for which meaning. Give an example to help get them started.  Below is a list of possible mnemonic devices for some homonyms.

·       to
two - ‘w’ looks like a 3 sideways, so it’s a #
too - extra ‘o’, too much

·       there – opposite of here; points to a place, place ends with e, so does there
their – this means it belongs to someone, the ‘i’ in it, possession, there must be an heir
they’re - they + are à must have contraction

·       its – pronoun possession does not have an ‘
it’s – it + is à must have contraction

·       your – pronoun possession doesn’t have an ‘
you’re – you + are à must have contraction

·       way – the ‘y’ looks kind of like an arrow, pointing out the way
weigh – weigh weighs more - more letters, the ‘g’ for grams, a unit used in weighing (actually describes mass, but used for weighing also)

·       which – you have 2 h’s to choose from, which will you choose?
witch – think of the ‘t’ as a witch’s broom in the middle

·       cents
sense – must have “se” twice – the beginning of “see,” (one of the senses)– one for each eye.  In the middle is the “n” for the nose (where another sense comes from). 

·       principal – the principal can be your pal
principle

·       for
four – there are 4 letters in four

·       then
than – if spelled in caps, the A looks like it could go under a balance (scale), which the E could not.  THAN is used when comparing things, which is what a balance does.

·       know – I want to know how to spell ‘know’ NOW, oKay?
no – there are no extra letters in no. 

·       heard – you heard me with your ears, so the word “ear” must be in heard. 
herd – the letter ‘a’ as a word means ‘one’ there is more than one in a herd of animals, so there cannot be an ‘a’.

·       bear – a bear can make you full of fear, so it ends like fear
bare – you use a bar of soap on your bare skin, not on a bear. 

·       are -
our – looks like “your” without the y, similar meaning

·       weather – we look at her to tell us the weather
whether – whether or not you get recess depends on if you ‘het’ (hit) her or not. 

Try to allow the students come up with as many mnemonic tricks on their own as they can.  Be sure they understand there is no one right or wrong memory trick.  They are best remembered when self-generated.  Have them share their tricks. 

 

2.     Title:  A picture’s worth a thousand words.
Time: 30 mins.  
Materials: paper, coloring utensils. 
Instructions:  Ask the students if they can think of any other commonly misspelled words.  Write these on the board.  They can be used for this activity.  Have the students work in pairs again.  Give each pair some commonly misspelled.  You can use the suggestions at the end of this lesson plan or words from the list the class generated. Have the children develop mnemonics – memory tricks – to help them remember the spelling of the words.
Each student is to pick a word from the list of five given to each pair of students.  He or she will then illustrate a mnemonic device for that word.  The paper must have the word written on it somewhere.  If two words go together, such as “supper” and “super,” one student should illustrate both words.  Some mnemonic devices are easier to illustrate than others.  Developing a good vivid mental image helps encode the word into memory. 
Give them some examples: 

1.     The two l’s in parallel are parallel lines right next to each other. 

2.     Perimeter has the word RIM in it, and can be measured in METERS.

3.     Because can be remembered with the sentence, “Boys Eating Chocolate Are Usually Sloppy Eaters.”  (This would be a good illustration!)

4.     The word LIE can be found in believe. 

5.     The words PEN and IN can be found in peninsula, which (with some imagination) can look like a PEN sticking INto the water.  (This would be a good illustration!)

Have the students go around and share their drawings.  Post the pictures on the wall. 

3.     Title:  Collaborative Hill-Spell
Materials: List of Spelling words – same list for each group (different order of words)

Time:  20-30 mins.

Instructions:  Divide the teams into groups of 4-6.  Choose one person from each group to be a spell-checker.  This person is no longer on the team.  Give each spell-checker the list of spelling words.  Each list should have the same words, but in a different order.  When you say “Go,” have the spell-checker read off the first word.  The student to the right must then say the first letter of the word.  The next student repeats this letter aloud, then says the second letter.  The next student spells out the first three letters of the word.  They go around the group in this way, each student adding one letter.  When it comes to a student’s turn and he or she is about to spell out the entire word, (s)he begins with the word, says it, then spells it all the way out, then repeats the word. Then, they go around the group one more time, each one spelling the word completely, stating the word before and after.  Then the spell-checker reads off the next word, and they continue.  If a student makes a mistake along the way, the spell-checker immediately stops them, and the next person is to pick up where they left off. An Example Scenario:

Spell-Checker:  “Number 1: plateau.”

Student1: “P”

Student2: “P, L”

Student3: “P, L, A”

Student1: “P, L, A, T”

Student2: “P, L, A, T, O”

Spell-Checker: “That’s not right.”

Student3: “P, L, A, T, E”

Student1: “Plateau,”

Spell-Checker:  “That’s not right.”  [Stops student right away, because one more letter will not complete the word.]

Student2:  “P, L, A, T, E, A”

Student3:  “Plateau, P, L, A, T, E, A, O,”

Spell-Checker: “That’s not right.”

Student1: “Plateau, P, L, A, T, E, A, U, Plateau.”

Student2: “Plateau, P, L, A, T, E, A, U, Plateau.”

Student2:  “Plateau, P, L, A, T, E, A, U, Plateau.”

Spell-Checker:  “Number 2, Parallel.”

They go through the list of words until they are all finished.  The team that finishes first wins stickers (or some sort of prize).  All of the spell-checkers should receive a smaller prize if they did their job correctly. 

 

4.     Title: E-I-E-I-O
Time: 10 min.
Materials: Chalk & board
Instructions: Discuss with the class a common general spelling mnemonic device – the rhyme: “i before e except after c.”  Explain that although these rules are generally very helpful, they must be cautious of the exceptions.  Ask if any of them can think of exceptions to this particular rule.  Write the words on the board, and see if the students as a class can come up with any additional rules, such as the frequently added, “or in sounding like “ay” as in neighbor or weigh.” Some other added rules may be:
* if the ‘e’ and ‘i’ sounds are both heard, such as in, “science” or “deity,” the order depends on which sound comes first. 
* If the word is being transformed from a “cy” ending, it ends in “cies,” such as “fancies” or “frequencies.” (This comes from the other mnemonic drop the y for an i and add “es.”)
* Some other exceptions: caffeine, codeine, Einstein, forfeit, height, Keith, leisure, protein, seize, sufficient, vein, weird.)

 

Conclusion:

          Ask the students if any of them know what the term is to describe the method they used to memorize the spelling of the words when they came up with the associations or tricks.  The word is, “mnemonics.”  Have the class say the word together and put it up on the board. Give another example of a mnemonic – when to use a vs. an.  Thinking that the vowels will fight if they are close together, so they need a barrier – the n – in between.  Ask if they can think of any other mnemonics for spelling. You may wish to end with a written spelling test of the words with which you worked to see how well the children remembered the spellings.  After the test, ask them if they used any of the mnemonics discussed in the lesson.  Have the students vote on their favorite mnemonic for all of the spelling words that were on the test. 

 

Commonly Misspelled Words:

Pair 1

·       choose – must choose between the 2 o’s (options)

·       chose – already chose, so there’s only 1 o (option)

·       lose

·       loose

·       clothes

 

Pair 2

·       dessert - want more, seconds, two s’s

·       desert

·       super

·       supper - want more food, want seconds, two p’s for supper

·       dining

 

Pair 3

·       woman – singular, so has the word, “man”

·       women – plural, so has the word “men”

·       children

·       babies

·       cousin

 

Pair 4

·       dropped

·       hoping

·       hopping

·       quizzes

·       stopped

 

Pair 5

·       paid

·       said

·       rhyme

·       rhythm

·       friend – if you “fri” (fry) your Friend, then your friendship will come to an “end.”  … “end” must be at the end of the word. 

 

Pair 6

·       business

·       school

·       restaurant

·       environment

·       cemetery

 

 

Pair 7

·       calendar

·       happened

·       repetition – you repeat the ‘e’ first, then, the ‘i’.  You must have 2 of each; each is repeated once.  The ‘t’ is also repeated.

·       schedule

·       attendance

 

Pair 8

·       ninety

·       forty

·       fourth

·       eighth

·       before

 

Pair 9

·       alright

·       always

·       occasionally

·       sometimes

·       usually

 

Pair 10

·       especially

·       probably

·       particular

·       possibility

·       practically

 

Pair 11

·       February

·       went

·       were

·       when

·       where – talks about a place, so has the word, “here” in it

 

Pair 12

·       performance

·       preference

·       preferred

·       preparation

·       recommend

 

Pair 13

·       statue

·       tried – start with ‘try’ – drop the ‘y’ and add “ed”

·       tries – start with ‘try’ – drop the ‘y’ and add “es”

·       truly

·       until

·       village

 

Pair 14

·       bought

·       encourage

·       thought –Talented Hogs Open Up Gates However Tricky (because they THOUGHT about it!)

·       through

·       caught

 

Pair 15

·       appearance

·       balance

·       beautiful

·       excellent

·       experience

 

Pair 16

·       opinion

·       opportunity

·       privilege

·       procedure

·       proceed

 

Pair 17

·       beginning

·       belief

·       changing

·       coming

·       decided

 

Pair 18

·       definitely

·       definition

·       describe

·       description

·       sincerely

 

Pair 19

·       different

·       noticeable

·       separate

·       weird – WE are weird, well, at least I am…

·       would

 

Pair 20

·       embarrass

·       frightened

·       interesting

·       little

·       pretty

 

Pair 21

 

·       animals

·       height

·       heroes

·       lightning

·       receive

 

Pair 22

·       disappear

·       now

·       once

·       occurred

·       together  - to gather people gets people together, but there’s an ‘e’ instead of an ‘a’ because you want to get her in the group of people gathering together too.

Pair 23

·       category

·        

·       effect

·       grammar

·       knowledge

 

Pair 24

·       desperate

·       disappoint

·       looked

·       off

·       surprise – yoU aRe surprised when you get a PRIZE.  But when you are surprised, you don’t fall asleep (Zzz) so there can’t be a ‘z.”  You use the ‘s’ for both the beginning letter and to replace the ‘z.’