Little Green Beans

Every week, I work with third graders and we practice the words they accidentally stumble upon while reading. I make them flash cards with the word on one side and a sentence on the other side. (I am not a teacher, just a volunteer in a literacy program.) This sentence is something we both create together. For example, if the word is “kind,” then I ask them if they know someone who is kind. When they say their mother is kind, I write on a 3x5 card: “My mother is kind.” Of course, if the word is “huge,” we never, ever, mention their mother and I'm secretly worried those doe eyes are hiding the obvious sentence, "The volunteer lady is huge." Holding my arms apart I ask, "What is this?" To which they reply, "Big." Good, but this word is huge and when I point to the word they say, "Huggie."  Remember "cute?" Yes, they smile and I tell them to say the u in the same way. Finally, we have success.

 Yesterday, we had the perfect word for March. The word was "green,"  and we were reading a  book titled,“Green Beans and Other Silly Poems.” My personal challenge was trying to describe the difference between a familiar pinto bean and the strange long green bean that is somewhat rare around here. Obviously, the fact that the ee sound is exactly like the ea sound in certain words didn’t make things any easier. 

Unfortunately, they rarely study their little cards because family life and fun get in the way. Third grade is full of fabulous cool stuff and actually, I don’t blame them. I mean come on, by the time they grow up, not only will they have spell check, but also word recognition programs that will make people like me obsolete. You’re reading a book? Ha-ha, ha! You’re writing with a pen? That is hilarious. Well, I always wanted to make people smile, but maybe not laugh at me.

 Anyway, the point is that even adults make mistakes and we're never too old to brush up on our spelling. Not really meant as a test, I thought I'd share some common difficulties.

1.       Which is the correct spelling?

a.       Counterfeit

b.      Counterfit

c.       Countierfet

2.       Which word is misspelled?

a.       Judgment

b.      Handkerchief

c.       Cordoroy

3.       Are these all correct or should they all be two words?

a.       A lot

b.      Already

c.       All right

4.       The ‘I before E’ rule can be confusing. Which one is wrong?

a.       Freight

b.      Ceiling

c.       Counterfiet

                                         

5.       One more time—which one is spelled wrong?

a.       Cemetery

b.      Lucubration

c.       None of the above

6.       Which word means 'you’re exceptionally smart?'

              a. Genealogical

              b. Genius

              c. Genocidal

              d. Gentry

              e. Genus

Aren't we lucky we have spell check?