Recognizing Patterns

The course material enables students to recognize common phonics patterns and structural generalizations. Students will encounter lists of words organized by similar characteristics such as rhyming words.

Evaluating Words

Throughout the academic year, the second day of every week involves a word study activity. Students will complete fill-in-the-blank activities with spelling words to see how those words are appropriately used in different contexts. Students will also develop proofreading skills throughout the course as they review their own sentences, checking spelling, capitalization, and punctuation. Dictionary skills are incorporated into nearly every lesson to teach students about alphabetical order, entry words, location skills, and word forms.

Expanding Vocabulary

The course uses activities which include high- frequency words, phonetic words, and words with irregular spellings to strengthen student skills. Handling commonly misspelled words, phonetic words, and challenging words help students develop a broad vocabulary.

Assessing Skill Level

Frequent assessments enable students to evaluate their own abilities and practice recalling words. These assessments also build student confidence and encourage mastery for producing God- honoring written communication. The first day of the week begins with a pretest on that week’s spelling words where the teacher will pronounce each word and use it accurately in a sentence. The third day of each week features a similar practice test, and the final day of each week determines whether students have mastered the words for that week.