Rainbow Spelling

I use this great strategy when we are working on a new phonics skill or just studying our spelling words. It takes a little while at the beginning of the year to get the kids used to this way of thinking, but it is definitely worth the headache because my kids can do it all on their own now! Here is how it works! The student use a different color for each sound. For example: c a t....each letter would be a different color because they make different sounds and none of them work together. Another example is r e a d....r is one color, ea are the same color, and d is another color. "EA" are the same color because they work together. Our reading program is very phonics heavy therefore we have what are called "sound spelling" cards hanging from our ceilings. My students refer to the cards if they have questions about any of the sounds.

What are the benefits of this you ask? It helps to reinforce all the phonics skills they learned in first grade and all the new ones they learned this year. It helps my struggling students work on recognizing sounds and letters. I also make them write down the number of sounds in each word. That is how they know how many different colors to use. Using rainbow spelling also helps with blending skills! My wonderful bff/instructional coach created this great rainbow spelling sheet I use in my classroom. I have the words written on the first line and then the second line is where the students use their crayons to do the rainbow spelling.

Click here to download! I can't take complete credit for this idea though! One of my friends last year started this in her classroom and I had to try it out! My kids just ate it up. If you have any questions about which letters would go together or any other phonics rules please leave me a comment! Enjoy!
[Glitterfy.com - *Glitter Words*]