“Don’t they teach you how to spell these days?” “No, they teach us how to use spell check.” -Jodi Picoult
I have to confess…I am one of those people who never had trouble with spelling. It came easily for me and my nickname in middle school was “dictionary”. I hated that then, but having the ability to spell has always served me well. In this “spell check” world, it seems as if spelling may not matter.
Fortunately, my 5 year olds have some of the same desire for spelling correctly as I. They don’t like to get things wrong and they get concerned when they are typing in Pages and they get the red, squiggly underline indicating they have spelled incorrectly.
Since we are focusing on personalized learning, I have different spelling lists for different groups in the class. We are working on word family words mostly at this point. Spell Test is a free (for now) app that is very basic and simple but provides me a helping hand in managing different spelling lists and tests.
How does Spelling Test work
1. Create a Spelling Test
2. Choose a Name for Your Test.
3. Start by adding Words to your test.
4. Record your own Pronunciations in an easy to use format.
5. Now Take a Test.
6. Listen to the Pronunciation and Spell the Word in the Box correctly.
7. Instant Feedback on how you did, Did you get that right or wrong
8. Complete the Test to see a Summary of Words.
9. Each time you take a test, you will know which words you got right and which you got wrong
10. Track improvements as you take the test multiple times.
The kids like using their own voice to record the words. I can also record words if pronunciation is an issue. The app doesn’t show them the words during the test.
This is an easy way to personalize spelling for each child. I’m not ready to give up to spell check completely. I still see value in teaching words, word roots, and phonics. Practicing with an app makes it fun for the kids, but it also allows me to individualize each list if necessary. Because it is an app that is available for iPhone and iPad, parents can also have students use it at home to practice.
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iTeach with iPads 
Thanks for sharing — this sounds like a great app! In any event, I’d like to respond to your quote: “In this “spell check” world, it seems as if spelling may not matter.” I taught a spelling lesson to my class earlier this week in which I put up a document that was “correct” by spell check standards, but grossly incorrect by Standard English standards. The culprit – homophones! Despite our “spell check world,” knowledge of spelling really does still matter!
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