Spelling

Our third grade spelling program is part of the Houghton-Mifflin Core Reading program adopted by Red Creek in 2002. This spelling program provides students the opportunity to learn developmentally appropriate spelling principles and patterns. They are introduced to strategies they can apply to both familiar and unfamiliar words when they are engaged in reading, thereby strengthening both fluency and comprehension. Our curriculum will also be guided by the New York State English Language Arts standards, which were revised and posted online in May 2005. Grade 3 standards and core curriculum begin on page 26 of this document. Click on the link below to view the revised standards.

Student Helper Great Website!!!!!!
To practice our current week 's spelling words, go to the following website. By clicking on the icon below you will now be taken directly to our list of spelling words. You no longer have to follow the directions underneath this icon. This is a great, fun way to practice our words.

Teacher Helper
If you use the spelling program contained in the Houghton-Mifflin Reading: The Nation's Choice Edition, there are links for ABC order worksheets that I developed to make this task a bit easier for the children. They can be found with each word list below.		Click on the links below for spelling test papers for each month. The graphics I used are from PCHugware and DJInkers. Both have great graphics! September February October March November April December May January June Review

Parent Helper
Each week students will receive a list of spelling words they are responsible for learning. Throughout the course of the week they will be working with these words. They may be putting the words into sentences, putting them in ABC order, finding the definition of the words, sorting them, or any number of activities. It is important that the students practice their spelling words since they will have a spelling test every Friday. You may be asking, "What can I do to help my child learn the spelling words?" Here is just one way you can help your child learn the spelling words: Ask them to look at the word, noticing the shape, say it, then spell it, then say it again. Ask them to tell you the rule that is the focus for the week (short vowel, long vowel, etc.). Ask them to say the word, trace and say the name of each letter, then say the word again. Have them use their finger to write the word on the table, saying each letter of the word as they write it, then repeating the word again. Now have them put their arm straight out in front of them and use two fingers to write the word in the air, saying each letter as they write it, then repeating the word again. Last, ask them to visualize the word (see it their head), and spell it, or write it again.
A great web site for children to practice their spelling words is Look, Say, Cover, Type, & Check. A description of the site can be found by clicking on the site title.

If your child has lost their spelling list, simply click on the week to print a new list!
Houghton-Mifflin Nation's Choice Theme 1- Off to Adventure!
Lost and Found Focus: Short Vowel Words ABC Order	The Ballad of Mulan Focus: More Short Vowel Words ABC Order		The Waterfall Focus: Vowel-Consonant-e Pattern (long vowel sound) ABC Order
Review 1 Focus: Vowel-Consonant-e Pattern (long vowel sound) ABC Order	Review 2 Focus: Vowel-Consonant-e Pattern (long vowel sound) ABC Order		Reading-Writing Workshop Focus: Frequently Misspelled Words ABC Order

Theme 2- Celebrating Traditions
The Keeping Quilt Long Vowels ai, ay, ee, ea ABC Order	Anthony Reynoso Long O Sound oa, ow, o ABC Order		The Talking Cloth Clusters ABC Order
Dancing Rainbows Long I Sound i, igh,ie ABC Order	Review 1 ABC Order		Review 2 ABC Order
Reading-Writing Workshop Frequently Misspelled Words ABC Order

Theme 3- Incredible Stories
Dogzilla Vowel sounds in clown and lawn ABC Order CHALLENGE LIST	The Mysterious Giant of Barletta Vowel + r sounds ABC Order CHALLENGE LIST		Raising Dragons /j/, /k/, and /kw/ sounds ABC Order CHALLENGE LIST
The Garden of Abdul Gasazi Homophones ABC Order CHALLENGE LIST	Review All ABC Order		Reading-Writing Workshop Frequently Misspelled Words ABC Order CHALLENGE LIST

Theme 4- Animal Habitats
Nights of the Pufflings The Vowel + /r/ Sounds in hair ABC Order CHALLENGE LIST	Seal Surfer Adding endings (-ed, -ing, -s) ABC Order CHALLENGE LIST		Two Days in May Prefixes and Suffixes (re-, un-, -ful, -ly, -er) ABC Order CHALLENGE LIST
Review All ABC Order	Reading-Writing Workshop Frequently Misspelled Words ABC Order

Theme 5- Voyagers
Across the Wide Dark Sea The Vowel Sounds in tooth and cook ABC Order CHALLENGE LIST	Yunmi and Halmoni's Trip The Vowel Sound in bought ABC Order		Trapped by the Ice! The VCCV Pattern ABC Order
Review All ABC Order	Reading-Writing Workshop Frequently Misspelled Words ABC Order CHALLENGE LIST

Theme 6- Smart Solutions
Pepita Talks Twice Words That End with -er or -le ABC Order CHALLENGE LIST	Poppa's New Pants Words That Begin with a or be ABC Order CHALLENGE LIST		Ramona Quimby, Age 8 Contractions ABC Order CHALLENGE LIST
Review ABC Order	Reading-Writing Workshop Frequently Misspelled Words ABC Order

Websites to Practice Spelling
Houghton-Mifflin Online Word Finds Your child can play a Word Find game online. Immediate feedback is given for answers.	Houghton-Mifflin Home Connection Activities This core program link provides review practice with the words used in our spelling program.		Houghton-Mifflin Hands-On Spelling Activities This core program link gives a wide variety of hands-on spelling activities.
Houghton-Mifflin Spelling This is our core program, Houghton-Mifflin's site to support the spelling program we use. You can print Word Finds and Word Puzzles to practice the words in a fun way.	Houghton-Mifflin Online Spelling Match Game This online game provides practice matching missing vowels to the words they belong in. Immediate feedback is provided.		Houghton-Mifflin Online Power Proof Reading This is a fun way for children to practice their editing skills. Children choose, then read a passage and correct the errors as they go along.
Houghton-Mifflin Wacky Web Tales Children pick the topic of their tale and plug in parts of speech to develop a wacky tale. When they have all of the parts of speech typed in the spaces, they simply click See the Wacky Tale and they can read the tale with the words they chose.	A-B-C Order Practice This game gives students practice putting words in ABC order. Immediate feedback is given upon completion of the task.		Harcourt Brace Spelling Practice Choose a grade level, then play the Word Builder game. Though this site does not use our spelling words, it is a fun way for practice of spelling in general.
Look, Say, Cover, Type, & Check This is a great web site for children to practice their spelling words. Ten spelling words can be typed into the fields. The child watches a flash card sequence to practice the words. Next the spellings are shown and then covered so the child can recall the spelling. The word is then typed into a field. If the child types the word incorrectly feedback is given and they can try again. They can also print flashcards of their words and do an online spelling test. This is a great site.	Houghton-Mifflin Online Fake-Out Children can practice vocabulary skills at this part of the site. They are given 3 words and they have to choose the correct meaning (definition) of the word. They can check their answer immediately and also see how many other people chose their answer. They can also submit their own definitions for each of 3 new words that will be used for future Fake-Out games.		Spelling City.com SpellingCity is a fun new educational site that can help children improve their spelling skills. There are links for students, parents, and teachers. It provides games, word searches, lists, and much more. This is definitely worth taking a look at.
KidsSpell.com This site allows you to pick from a predetermined list of words or to create your own list. There are 8 games that can be played to practice the words chosen.

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