(http://www.learner.org/interactives/spelling/index.html)
Spelling Bee is an internet resource, which helps pupils to spell some in common English words. You can chose which grade that you want to train your spelling in, and then you get to hear a short story about something. The story is written down on the page, and there are some gaps that you are supposed to fill in. If you didn´t hear the word, you can click to hear it again, as many times as you need to.
The homepage will help the pupils to train their spelling and their listening ability. This page could also challenge the teacher, because the highest grade gives some hard spelling words. Maria Estling Vannestål says in her book “Lära engelska på internet” that these kind of exercises can be very “old fashion”. When the exercises want you to fill in gaps, it can sometimes be hard for the students to really understand the context of the exercise. This is where we end up in an empty room, where no one really understands why we are doing this. Vannestål (2009) claims that all these kinds of grammar exercises are not so bad, but it is important that you as a teacher use the exercises as great tool for your pupils.
How can “spelling bee” be used by teachers and pupils?
I think this homepage could help pupils to spell the most in common words at their age. The pupils also get to hear the words in a correct context. The sentences are not difficult to understand, and if you would like to challenge yourself, it is just to pick a higher grade.
The spelling Bee is just one exercise that the homepage Interactives offer, and there are a lot of other good exercises. For example; you get to read a newspaper article, and then you will answer some questions about it. The Interactives offer you exercises in math, arts, language, history and science. I think “spelling bee” could really help the children that is having problem with the spelling or that find it hard to hear words that sounds exactly the same. Here the pupils get to hear the words in their context, and maybe that will help them to know the difference.
When the pupils have checked this homepage, they could maybe do their own spelling bee. If you just take some vocabulary that you have had in homework, and then put them in other sentences, you could get your own story.
I would only use this resource for the pupils outside the classroom. The pupils can use this resource when they are at home, and maybe when I want a pupil to train their spelling more. It is pity that the page doesn’t offer more than three stories at each grade. That might be boring for the pupils that all the same stories will come up. This is one reason I wouldn´t use this homepage in the classroom. Instead I would put this page at the class´s own blog, so they could do it whenever they want to.
Hi Sara!
ReplyDeleteSpelling Bee sounds like a good and fun exercise. The things I like about the exercise are:
- It is good that the children can follow the text the same time as it is beeing read to them
- The words are in a context
- The exercise consists of common words
As you write the website is limited, but what site is not?! As you also write this can be used as an extra task and I think that it sounds like a good idea.
The problem that I see with this kind of tasks is that it is difficult for the teacher to know if the pupils really learn something. It is also difficult for the teacher to help and explain the task or problems that arises when they are doing the task outside the classroom.
I like the idea that the children can do their own spelling bee. I think that the children would like this kind of exercise :)
Best regards Madelen
Hello Sara.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your tip!
Like you I think that it´s a pity that the page doesn’t offer more than three stories at each grade because I really think this is a good idea! The best part, I think, is that the word are placed into context. But, because of the limitations it can only be a extra 'task'.
The idea that the children can do their own spelling bees is what makes the idea last a little longer. When they have done this Spelling bee on the computer a few times and they have become familiar with this way of working the children could be assigned to do spelling bees for eachother from time to time.
It´s a pity that the site isn´t open for the users, to make their own spelling bee-stories to share with other users. That way there would be a almost endless bank of stories to work with and the children could make spelling bees on their own on the computer. I think the 'make-and-share'-part of ICT tools is what many times makes it so excellent so it is really a pity they haven´t used that idea on this site.