Spelling App: A+ Spelling Test

A short but sweet snippet of a blog post today! I am always looking for new apps to incorporate into my third-grade classroom. I teach a self-contained class of 21 gifted third-graders, so I am always in need of differentiation for their wide array of abilities. At my grade-level, we flip-flop a week of word study and a week of Building Language (a program created by Michael Clay Thompson that focuses on prefixes, roots, and stems). I know that many classrooms are stepping away from word study (at least at my school!), but I am still a fan of it in my classroom.

HOWEVER. Although I am a word study fan, I used to dread word study on Fridays. I had so many differentiated groups that it took forever to bring them all in the back of the room and quiz them. I would always contemplate having less groups to quiz, but I did not want differentiation to take a backseat simply because of my own frustration giving a multitude of quizzes. I attempted to have students partner-quiz each other, but ran into trouble with my kids who couldn't pronounce the word correctly for their partner. I found a brilliant new app that has made my word study quiz anxiety a thing of the past.

A+ Spelling Test lets you type the words in for each word study group existing in your classroom. Kids can practice throughout the week hearing each word study word and writing it down. So often kids can write the word, but have difficulty connecting it to how it sounds. It is a great center if you have access to iPads, students can listen to the words and connect the auditory and visual learning!

You can use this app for: