Spelling Strategies for Long-Term Retention in First Graders

Abstract

First grade is typically when many students begin the chore of studying for weekly spelling tests. Many parents and teachers have students write the words a number of times to aid in memorization for the upcoming post-test. Teachers hope that the weekly spelling word list will transfer over into the students’ writing as they repeatedly write the words. This practice can be boring for the students though successful for the post-test. So often the weekly spelling words are forgotten after the post-test. This research project looks at the long-term effectiveness of learning weekly spelling words by the traditional method of rote or through engaging the students in spelling activities (games, puzzles, oral practice, etc.) In examining the data, there was not a significant difference between students learning spelling words by rote or by spelling activities for long-term retention. However, the students preferred doing different spelling activities over writing spelling words three times. The students were more likely to be excited for their spelling lessons when there was spelling activities which created a greater chance for exposure to the written word. Creating a classroom with many opportunities to experience how words are spelled creates long-term success in spelling.