August 28, 2007

Rebecca Sitton Spelling Program Reference

Rebecca Sitton Spelling Program

Third graders are again working with the Rebecca Sitton Spelling Program. It emphasizes correct spelling in everyday writing, not just for the end-of-the-week test. …

Does your school website have references to the Rebecca Sitton Spelling Program? Please let us know by commenting here.

Mrs. Renz’s 4th Grade Class - Sitton Spelling

Thank you,

August 27, 2007

Apple Seeds Newsletter

The latest edition of the Apple Seeds Newsletter “Back To School Special Edition” for August 2007 is now available online. 

If you did not get a notice about it by e-mail, you can visit there and read it as well as sign up to get the next edition by e-mail.

 Part of the newsletter includes locations, dates and times of upcoming seminars and training classes.

Teaching Spelling

August 22, 2007

AFFIXES

AFFIXES.Many words are formed by adding something to the end of another word. The added part is called an affix; as ly, added to man, forms manly.   More on affixes

August 22, 2007

List of Homophones

Homophones Beginning With G - Spelling Vocabulary Words
gaff, gaffe

gage, gauge

gait (-s), gate (-s)

gamble (-s), gambol (-s)

gang, gangue

gays, gaze

gel (-s), jell (-s)

gene (-s), jean (-s)

gibe (-s), jibe (-s)

gild, gilled, guild

gilt, guilt

 gin (see djinn)

glair (-s), glare (-s)

glutenous, glutinous

gnaw, naw

gneiss, nice

gnomic, nomic

gnu (-s), knew, new (-s)

goaled, gold

gored, gourd

gorgeous, gorges (?)

gorilla, guerrilla

grade, grayed

grate, great

grays, graze

grip, grippe

grisly, gristly (?), grizzly

groan, grown

grocer, grosser

guarantee, guaranty

guest, guessed

guide, guyed

guise, guys

gyre, jire

List of Homophones « Spelling - Teaching Spelling

Homophones Beginning With F - List of Homophone Words · Words in which Y final is changed into ies in the Plural · Words in which f and fe are changed into

List of Homophones « Spelling - Teaching Spelling

This site has many additional lists of homophones. Just use the search box above to search for homophones or “list of homophones” and you will be able to

April 23, 2007

Spelling bee protesters: “Enuf is enuf!”

EDITOR NOTE: 

Kind of a funny article -protestors want to make spelling easier so people who can’t spell can fill out job applications.  If you get a job application with the “new spelling” all over it, are you really going to even consider hiring that person?  Are they going to mandate that people who can’t spell must be hired anyway?

 It is probably a good sign that they only managed to get seven protestors to attend.

Spelling bee protesters: “Enuf is enuf!”

By Carl Weiser, Gannett News Service
WASHINGTON — Protesters delivered a message Wednesday to the national spelling bee: Enuf is enuf!
Seven members of the American Literacy Society picketed the 77th annual spelling bee, which is sponsored every year by Cincinnati-based Scripps Howard.

The protesters’ complaint: English spelling is illogical. And the national spelling bee only reinforces the crazy spellings that lead to dyslexia, high illiteracy, and harder lives for immigrants.

“We advocate the modernization of English spelling,” said Pete Boardman, 58, of Groton, N.Y. The Cornell University bus driver admitted to being a terrible speller.

Protester Elizabeth Kuizenga, 56, is such a good speller she teaches English as a second language in San Francisco. She said she got involved in the protest after seeing how much time was wasted teaching spelling in her class.

Bee spokesman Mark Kroeger said good spelling comes from knowing the story behind a word — what language it comes from, what it means.

“For these kids who understand the root words, who understand the etymology, it’s totally logical,” he said.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-06-02-spelling-protest_x.htm

And here are some accounts of protests in the years 2005 and 2006.

http://www.spellingsociety.org/news/media2/spbee05.php

http://www.spellingsociety.org/news/media2006/spellingbee2006.php

April 19, 2007

Spelling Bee - Arizona Spelling Bee

WHAT IS IT?

Source:  http://www.azedfoundation.org/asb-about.html
The Spelling Bee is an event that challenges children K-8 to utilize their spelling and phonetic skills in a competitive environment. The top 27 spellers in the state compete in the State Spelling Bee to determine who will represent Arizona in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. The winner and an escort receive an all-expenses paid trip to Washington, D.C. to compete with spellers from all over the nation.

To compete in the Arizona Spelling Bee, finalists must win a series of competitions at local, district and regional or county levels. These top spellers compete in the State Spelling Bee to determine who represents Arizona in the National Spelling Bee. Scripps sponsors the National Spelling Bee.

 The 2007 Arizona Spelling Bee will air on KAET-Channel 8 as follows: April 18, 2007 at 8:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m.; April 23 at 4:30 a.m. and April 29 at 2:00 p.m.

HOW DOES IT WORK?
To become one of the 27 finalists in the Arizona State Spelling Bee, students must win their school spelling bee. They then must win their district bees. Finally, each county holds a bee to determine who competes as a finalist in the state bee. Due to the size of Maricopa County, six regional bees take place. The winner and runner-up from each of the six regional competitions become finalists in the state bee. Pima County sends two contestants to the state bee.

WHO MAKES THIS POSSIBLE?
U.S. AIRWAYS is the Presenting Sponsor of the Arizona State Spelling Bee.

Additional support provided by:

First National Bank of Arizona
KAET-Channel 8
Safeway

April 19, 2007

Arizona Spelling Bee 2007

Arizona Spelling Bee 2007

Wednesday, Apr. 18 at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m.
Sunday, Apr. 29 at 2 p.m.

Eight/KAET-TV hosts the Arizona Educational Foundation’s Spelling Bee finals in the Eight studios on the campus of Arizona State University. Scheduled for taping on Saturday, Mar. 31, 2007, the bee will bring together the state’s best spellers in grades four through eight to determine who will represent Arizona in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. The winner and an escort receive an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C. to compete with spellers from all over the nation.

More:  Arizona Spelling Bee

April 18, 2007

Homophones

Several posts on the topic of Homophones

April 16, 2007

Word-Making Activities for the Primary Grades

Rebecca Sitton Spelling and Word Skills Newsletter

Word-Making Activities for the Primary Grades

It’s true—when students routinely engage in word making and word analysis, the result is measurable

growth in essential language skills.

Here are activities of various difficulties to enrich your word work. Begin by writing each letter of

Thanksgiving on large autumn-colored letter cards and place them in a pocket chart or chalk tray to

spell Thanksgiving.Mix the letters. Students take turns respelling

Thanksgiving. If necessary, provide a model word

for students in order to reposition the letters.

Randomly distribute the letters of Thanksgiving among students. Ask them to work as a team

to respell Thanksgiving.Ask students to find small words inside

Thanksgiving (thank, thanks, than, in, an, giving).

Then they write sentences using the little words. Repeat the activity with current words from

across the curriculum (mathematics: mat, math, at, the, he, them, I).

Use the letters in Thanksgiving to spell small words (e.g., sting, thin, hats, kings, skin, giant,

asking, knight, visit, saving, having, ninth, sink, taking, thing). List students’ words on a

chart. Later, conceal the words for students to recall and write. Next, reveal the words for

self-checking.

Discuss Thanksgiving as a compound word. Post a chart, Compound Words We Know. Beside

it, place colorful sticky notes. Then students begin a compound Word Find. They write each

compound they discover on a sticky note and stick it to the chart. Later, you write the words on

the chart with a marker. Small groups can take turns reading the compounds. Play a deletion

activity with the compound words—for example, say Thanksgiving without giving. Later, cut

the chart to form two words from each compound. Place the words in a basket in your literacy

center for students to pair to make compound words.

Underline Thanks in Thanksgiving. Have students write a thank-you note to a friend. After

pairing for proofreading, students deliver their note.

 

Rebecca Sitton’s SOURCEBOOK Series for Teaching Spelling and Word Skills for Grades 1–8

Published by Egger Publishing, Inc. • Call us toll free 888-WE-SPELL •

April 16, 2007

Rebecca Sitton SOURCEBOOK Series - Ask Rebecca

 

Ask Rebecca

 

Rebecca,

I went to your seminar in Wisconsin

with two staff members in February

and wish more of my district teachers

could have attended. I looked at your

website for another seminar in our

location, and there are none. Can you

come to our school district for

a seminar?

Ellen Windsong

Language Arts Coordinator

 

Dear Ellen,

We do seminars, such as the one you attended, that are open

to educators from the area, and we do seminars just for schools

and school districts. Sometimes these schools or districts open

their seminars to other educators.

To schedule a seminar, call our office toll free at 888-937-7355.

Ask for information about scheduling a seminar. We’ll help

you. Discuss possible dates and expenses.

There are three other veteran presenters besides me who conduct

the Sourcebook Seminars for Teaching Spelling and Word

Skills. Each of us lives in a different U.S. city. We all provide

Sourcebook training, but we do it our own way. However, we

all use the same format and seminar handbook to be certain the outcome is the same.

The seminar is usually the same length as the one you attended—from about 8:30 in the morning until about

3:15 in the afternoon, with approximately an hour for lunch. Yet, some districts choose a different time

arrangement, such as meeting from 8:00 am until 1:45 pm with no lunch break. The total seminar length is

the same. On occasion, the seminar for all teachers is just one-half day, and the rest of the presenter’s day is

spent training a handful of “spelling mentors” who then train your other teachers using the Tutor Me Training

CD-ROM program.

In some cases, the seminar can offer “credit” for attendance. This depends upon the amount of class time, participating

credit source (such as a university), and the kind of credit that is desired.

There is nothing more effective for learning how to use the Sourcebook than to participate in a basic training

seminar. For veteran Sourcebook users, there is an extension seminar which has been immensely popular!

There’s even a seminar we do for parents!

Do you have a question? Call me at home or toll free at the office, send me an e-mail, or set up a complimentary

conference call for a group of colleagues who have questions. • e-mail: rsitton @ sittonspelling.com

• home phone: 480-473-7277 • office phone: toll free at 888-WE-SPELL (937-7355) or 480-596-5100

 

Rebecca Sitton’s SOURCEBOOK Series for Teaching Spelling and Word Skills for Grades 1–8

Published by Egger Publishing, Inc. • Call us toll free at 888-WE-SPELL •