FREEBIE- 8 Fun Ways to Practice Spelling and Vocabulary!

At the end of the year, I really try to keep learning until the last day. My principal pushed us to remember that we are given the task of educating our students for 180 days- not 170, not 175, not 179... 180! But the students definitely do start to get squirrely!

For me, I wanted to make sure we reviewed a lot of our learning at the end of the year while still giving them an outlet for all that summery energy. This is one that I need to remember to pull out all through the year!

This is a simple game called Spelling Scrabble! The students just take turns filling in words in the grid, trying to make them cross another word. You can play this with spelling words, vocabulary words, or anything else they need to review!

I just put up our newsletter with spelling and vocabulary lists on the SmartBoard (if they're not posted on my board for some reason), and they are good to go!

You do have to teach them not to "stack" two words next two each other (because it usually makes lots of little nonsense words) and you have to clarify if diagonal is okay or if they can write the word backwards.

The cool thing about this little grid is that you can have students do this and then color in the other squares- and it's an instant make-your-own crossword! (Sometimes I have the students do this and make up their own clues, too, which is GREAT for vocabulary!)

Or, you can fill in all of the other boxes with random letters- and you have a make-your-own word search! (The kids love to trade and solve each others, which is great for that first day exposure to a new list.)

Sometimes I even add letters and numbers around the outside, put up a file folder between two partners, and have them play Spelling Battleship! (And- bonus- they get to practice using a coordinate grid!)

It's really a simple grid, but it's so versatile for lots of different spelling activities!


I've changed the title of the grid for Spelling Scrabble, Vocabulary Scrabble, Spelling Battleship, Vocabulary Battleship, Spelling Crossword, Vocabulary Crossword, Spelling Word Search, and Vocabulary Word Search- and you can get them all here!

I also included a few grids with generic titles so that, if you want, you can just print out tons of and tons of them and use them in the different ways. (I do that for at my spelling center, and I leave a list of how they can be used for the students to choose.)

Laminating these sheets (or sticking them in page protectors) also works well for repeated use with dry-erase markers.

You can spice up your spelling practice with my Super Spelling & Vocabulary Grid Games for FREE- but please leave a comment or consider following my blog! :)