Spelling Contracts

What is a spelling points contract?

Spelling contracts are a valuable tool to help motivate our children to learn their spelling words. A spelling contract gives children a sense of independence by allowing them to make decisions about how they would like to learn. Spelling contracts encourage children to commit to a certain amount of learning time, but they feature a variety of activities that children can choose to complete. A child who loves to write can make up a story with his or her spelling words, while an artistic child can choose to make a spelling word collage with pictures cut from his or her favourite magazines. If a child prefers the ‘read, write, cover, check’ approach to learning spellings then that is accepted too. The contract is also designed for pupils to take responsibility for their own academic success. This is a skill that will benefit them for the rest of their lives.

How does it work?

Spellings will be given out on Monday evening. Each child will be given a spelling contract containing a list of activities that relate to a points system. They must choose activities to complete each week to practice their given words and reach their points target. To begin with, we will give children a target of 20 points. Children can achieve their 20 points by selecting activities from the contract. (For example, they could complete four of the 5 point activities, two of the 10 point activities, or one worth 10 points and two worth 5 points.)  Children should bring evidence of their activities into school every Friday morning and should be encouraged to try a variety of activities during the term.

What should I do if I lose my spelling contract or my word list?

The spelling contract will always be available to download on the school blog and there will also be spare copies in the classroom.

How much time should I spend completing spelling tasks?

The contract is designed so that you can spread activities over the week. This will break up the activities into smaller chunks and    revisiting spellings regularly is the best way to learn them. The contract will not have an impact if you rush the work the night before homework is due.

Rewards
The value of each activity must add up to the number of points needed for the week in order to receive a token for doing spelling homework. 

·       10 bronze tokens will earn a bronze certificate,

·       10 silver tokens leading to a silver certificate

·       10 gold tokens leading to a gold certificate

If you have any further questions please call in at the end of the day.

Key Stage One