Riggs Homework

We have moved on to our spelling words! However, please continue to have your child  practice their phonograms. As you are reading at night, passing signs while driving, etc,  please help your student recognize, point out, and name the phonograms they see. Homework should not take more than 15 minutes per evening. Each new word is to be written 3 times at home. There should be between 4 and 6 new  words a day. Your student should be speaking the phonograms out loud each time the word is written. When the ear hears the phonograms, the information becomes permanent much  faster! Missed words from our daily spelling tests will be marked with a check mark  (for incorrect spelling) or a "m" (for incorrect markings) in their Riggs notebook.  These words need to be written 3 times each below their new words. The check mark or "m" may be erased once they have written the word correctly on their homework. Non-Riggs HomeworkAny time your child is writing and they ask for help with spelling PLEASE USE  PHONOGRAMS! Even if you do not have the phonograms memorized, the "Spelling  Dialogue" that we use can help your child analyze the word they want to spell. It goes like this: "How do you spell turkey?" How many syllables in the word turkey?   (clap, stomp, chin...) 2 What is the first syllable? tur What is the 1st sound you hear? t Next sound? ur-the ur of nurse Last sound? k What is the 2nd syllable? ey (e) Which phonogram makes the e sound? (e, ie, ey, ei) If there are multiples they may or may not know which one to choose. You can help them select the correct phonogram at this point. Let's read it back and check- t-ur-k-ey - turkey. Now, how will we mark it?  (markings should be done from left to right, just as we read. Multi-letter phonograms are underlined, syllable breaks and phonograms with multiple sounds are numbered) I know that it is quicker and easier to "just give a child the answer", but helping your student  to internalize this dialogue is building lifelong skills for analyzing unknown words and looking at spelling patterns. It takes spelling away from straight memorization and puts the emphasis  on the thought process. As our words get more complex, students who do not rely simply  on memorization will be much more successful spellers. Thank you for all you do to support your child. If you ever have questions about the homework, or Riggs, please let me know! Ms. Kelsey Stacy