According to the feedback on the most recent survey about second grade, red-dotted words cause some consternation or confusion on Riggs homework. I will be following up on responses to other concerns raised in the survey soon. Thank you for your feedback and support!
Red-dotted words are words that a second grader missed on the daily spelling test on that day.
Each day we have a spelling test, I correct each test, and indicate which words were missed by putting a red dot next to them in the Riggs notebook.
If there is more than one dot, it means that the student missed the word more than one day in a row.
Students should practice the red-dotted words on the back of their homework, preferably three times for the first dot, five for the second dot, and ten for the third dot. Students do NOT need to use red-dotted words in sentences or a paragraph. They have shown understanding and correct use of the word already; they are just practicing it to cement it a bit better.
Generally, if a student misses a word, a little extra practice is what they need to get it correct the next time. I have noticed that some students may miss most of the new words, but get the older (red-dotted) words correct, because they practiced them a bit more. If you notice this with your child's red-dotted words, you might want to consider adding a bit more practice, so the red-dotted words can be avoided altogether.
Some possible ways for additional practice:
Write each word four times instead of three on homework.
Write them in rice, flour, salt on a cookie sheet.
Write them with window marker (or dry erase marker--it's cheaper!) on the way to school in the morning (we test each day before 8:30).
Write them in the fog on the mirror after shower/bath time.
Spell them out loud to someone who will listen.
Type them on a computer.
Draw them in fancy fonts.
Sculpt them out of clay, wikisticks, or similar.
Practice signing them in ASL.
AND MORE!
