Your Try / My Try Spelling Chart

This Your Try / My Try Spelling Chart is one of the best additions I've recently made to my classroom.  Within 3 days, it completed eliminated the "How do you spell ...?" questions that brought my students to a halt during the writing process, made my students actually think about and attempt to spell the word instead of just shooting their hands up, and freed up my time to meet with more students and provide more meaningful feedback and comments while working on writing.  And the best part ... it literally takes absolutely no time or prep to implement in the classroom.  And that's a win in my books.

I set up this chart on a chart stand that didn't get a lot of use in the room so it could be a permanent fixture in the room.  The instructions are simple - during the writing process, if a student has a question about how to spell a word, they can check a dictionary (online or in print) or write the word on the chart under "your try".  As soon as I get a chance, usually within a few minutes, I will write the correct spelling beside it on the "my try" side.  I've also started to put a checkmark beside correct attempts by students, and I still rewrite the word on the my try side.  And that's it.  I started this chart mid November, and by the end of December, we were already onto our 4th page of chart paper - so it's definitely getting used by the students.  I've also seen them go back and check previous sheets when they know the word was on the chart before.

I do a lot of free writing in my room, and that is when the chart is getting used the most, but I've also seen students using it when writing responses during other subjects, so I've encouraged its use for that, too.  My friend, Tina, from Tina's Teaching Treasures, has a great little freebie if you want to do this on an individual basis with your students.  You can check it out HERE.

Check out some of my other writing resources: