Teaching Spelling and Phonics Together

Teaching ​English Language Arts is a daunting task. The umbrella of skills that fall into this individual class is extensive: grammar, comprehension of literature, comprehension of nonfiction, spelling, phonics, writing, fluency… It can be overwhelming! I was able to maximize my classroom time and minimize the number of skills that we target each week by combining phonics and spelling instruction.

Instead of teaching phonics and spelling as two separate subjects, I now pair them together. For example, if my weekly phonics skill involves /oo/ and /yoo/ sounds, then I will teach this phonics skill throughout the week and then on Friday I will conduct a 10-word spelling test that focuses on words with these sounds. I spend two weeks on each skill and test on every Friday. Not only does this set students up for success but it unifies my classroom content. This has also been a tremendous help for struggling readers. 

Check out my year-long fifth grade phonics and spelling packets here! 

Here is a freebie of one of my packets!