Are you ready to scaffold CVC spelling in your classroom? Scaffolding academic skills in the classroom looks a lot like how you teach functional skills. When scaffolding CVC spelling, I usually start with visual prompts so my students are successful. Then, I fade the prompts so students become independent spellers.
In this post, I’m going to share two ways that I scaffold CVC spelling activities for students in my classroom. These spelling techniques are great for my visual learners and have a strength in memorizing and rote skills.
Whole Word Spelling
Some of my students are able to learn to spell whole words at a time. In order to scaffold for these learners, I use CVC spelling cards where the students are shown how to spell the word. They match the word with letter tiles.
Once they are able to spell the word, I fade the letters to a lighter color. This allows students to match or trace letters to spell words. After that, I move to boxes as prompts. Doing this allows students to see how many letters are in the word, but they are not prompted with letters.
Finally, students are given a blank box where they can build or write CVC words. Check out this prompt progression I use with my students:
Partial Word Spelling
Some of my students learn better in smaller chunks. For these students I use a different approach. In this style of scaffolding, I start by providing a full visual model of the target word. Then the student builds or writes the word on their own.
After the student can spell the word when given a model, I start fading the letters in the word. For example, if we are learning to spell “cat”, I would show them a model of __at and cue the student to spell the word. Now the student is given 2 letters as a prompt while remembering the third letter on their own.
Once they have mastered the first letter, I will present the model __ __ t and cue them to spell. I continue eliminating letters until there are no prompts remaining and the student can spell the word independently.
You can grab the spelling template I use here. I write my model on the line at the top and students build the word in the box below.
You’re not limited to teaching CVC spelling with these scaffolding styles. I’ve taught students how to spell sight words with these prompting activities, too. You can even use them to teach students to spell their names.
