Spelling High-frequency Words
For this activity, the best texts to use have a single sentence per page and a pattern that includes recently taught high-frequency words.
Use small Post-its, or cut larger ones down to size, so that the targeted words can be covered without obscuring the rest of the text.
The targeted words will be slightly visible, which will offer a scaffold for when students write the words.
Once they have been taught the procedure, students can complete each step of the lesson during Literacy Centers. A single student can do all the steps for a single book, or children at the center can rotate books after each step.
When you first introduce the activity, explain the routine by briefly modeling each of the steps.
Activity Steps for Students:
- Look carefully at each page. If you see one of your targeted words, say the word and cover it with a Post-it.
- Optional: (Swap books with a classmate when you are both done covering your target words.)
- You can peek under the Post-its if you aren’t sure about the word, but say the word and its letters as you write: “Look, L-o-o-k, Look.” “My, m-y, my.”
After you have written all the targeted words in the book,
- Optional: (Swap books with a classmate when you are both finished writing your target words.)
- Pull off the Post-it notes, reading each one aloud.
- Optional: Organize the Post-its to graph the high-frequency words and determine which word appeared most frequently.