Can anyone give me advice on how to help my first grader with her spelling test?

Question

When you ask her a word and how to spell it she can do it. But when it is time to write them she have a hard time.

Answer 1

My daughter has been making perfect 100's on her Spelling Tests since 1st grade. She's now in 3rd grade.

She brings her words home on Monday, so I know they've studied in class that day. On Tuesday, she writes each word 3 times. On Wednesday, she writes the word in a sentence. On Thursday, I give her a practice test. Each word she gets wrong, she has to write 3 times. I don't have her spell them verbally because they have to write them on the test in school. Sometimes, that confuses the kids, so I have her do it just how they do it in school.

For 3 years now, this has been effective. Last year, she was the only student to have a perfect Spelling year. This year, she's following the same path.

Hope this helps. Good luck!!

Answer 2

My son is a first grader and here are the 2 things he does:

First, he has his own composition book that he writes all of his words in. During the beginning of the week he is copying them and by Thursday night I am giving him an actual spelling test. Make it fun, though. When I read out the word for him to write, I will give him a funny sentence using the word. (i.e. THAT - That dog just farted. Hey, he's a boy! Flatulence is always funny).

He also has an index card file box. He writes all of his words down and then files them alphabetically. This was his first experience with alphabetizing, so he thinks it is pretty cool. It is the simplest things!

Answer 3

Does she have 10 or 20 words? If she has 10 then give her two to practice writing every night of the week (or morning before school) or if she has 20 make it 4 words... But that way she can just focus on a small amount and learn that then build up to being able to do it on her spelling test! Good luck!

Answer 4

I can sympathize, but this is what we have did for my son when he was in 1st grade (he's in 2nd grade now).

Monday- write words 3 times each
Tuesday - Write each word in a sentence.
Wednesday - Write a rhyming word for each word w/ the word
Thursday - Study for the test
Friday - Spelling test - review while getting ready for school.

In the course of the week, assess how she is doing w/ those particular words and add more help as needed. Really pay attention to how she learns things (does repitition work for her, does actually writing the words help, etc). Everyone learns differently. You might even try having your own "spelling test" the day before her real one to get her in the mind-frame for the test.

Answer 5

Don't go over board in making her practice, but..you could have a special book at home so she can write the words down. Try to make a game out of it..you spell one word, she does the next. Let her correect her spelling. She is learning, and the last thing she needs is to forced to constantly practise. That will just turn her off of wanitng to try any more.

The spelling it down on a book is much harder for her than spelliong it out loud as she has to do more than..first think of the word..recal how it is spelt..the actually spell it out on paper without making mistakes on how the letters go!..It's alot for a child just starting out in words and letters. She might not get them all right during tests..buts that's ok..it's all part of the learning process.

Answer 6

Don't ask the words in the same order every time. When you quiz her, ask her to spell the word then when your finished with that, you spell the words (in random order) and misspell some of the words and have her catch the words that you misspell. With the ones she misses, have her right them out 5 times each then spell out loud to you without looking. Also, make sure she knows the "I before e except after c" and all that.

Answer 7

My son is the same way, hes a first grader, Learning words like, hat, bat, fat, will, hill, hit, big, dig. Things like that. He has a big difficulty with the same thing, and he likes to write the "b"and "d" around. So the first spelling test the teacher calls home, and asked if we went over any of the words because he couldnt write any of them...IT was MY fault. I didnt realize they started them. So now what i do. Is on monday the words come home, and their test is on friday. So monday when he brings them home i write them all on a piece of paper and have him write them each twice. Then i ask him to look at them and read them to me, sounding them out. He has a little trouble doing this too. Then we move on to the test. I try to give him little pointers to trigger his mind. Like ill tell him...remember every word has an "i" and will and hill have to ll's He does very well with these "methods" Try going over them everyday and she will catch on....Goodluck :) and children do develop at their own pace and some things just come easy for some, just keep working with her.

Answer 8

Have her practice writing them with something other than paper and pencil. Maybe writing them in the sand with her finger, or using markers on butcher paper really big. I homeschooled my kids for 10 years, and sometimes they need to look at words and letters differently.

Another thing is to have 3 X 5 cards with a letter on each. You will need lots of "e"s and "s"s, etc. Have her arrange the cards as she spells the letters. Soon her brain will start to absorb the visual words and attach those images with the vocal ones.

If she gets frustrated, STOP! STOP! STOP! Let her go do something else, anything except work. Come back to it an hour later. You will be AMAZED what a break will do for her.

Answer 9

I agree that you should have her practice writing them since this seems to be where she gets caught. As someone else suggested having her write them in a new and fun way can motivate her. Maybe try bath crayons, a chalk or white board, chalk on the sidewalk, tape paper on the walls and let her write it out that way.

On the other hand, could it be that she gets anxious or nervous when it's the "test" and has trouble remembering because of that? Talk to her teacher and see if she thinks this might be. Her teacher might have some good ideas too.

Answer 10

My son does the same thing. We practice writing them everyday and if there is a word he struggles with he writes it 5 times in a row, saying the word outloud. It has really helped and he is less concered with the amount of time he takes (he thinks faster is better) than spelling it right.