Why Your Students Struggle to Apply Spelling Rules—and What You Can Do About It

Why Your Students Struggle to Apply Spelling Rules—and What You Can Do About It
Support Your Literacy Block with No-Prep Word Sorts

If you’re teaching Year 1 or Year 2, you’ve likely had this moment: a student spells “phone” as fon and proudly hands in their work, convinced they’ve nailed it. Despite your explicit phonics instruction, students still mix up vowel patterns or default to guesswork.

It’s not that they haven’t heard the rule.
It’s that they haven’t had enough practice applying it.

The Problem: Not Transferring What They've Learned 

One of the biggest challenges teachers face is helping students transfer what they’ve learned during phonics instruction into their independent writing and spelling. Without meaningful practice, students may recognize patterns during a lesson but still struggle to apply them correctly in context.

Enter: word sorting and spelling application tasks.

Why Word Sorts Support Spelling Mastery

Word sorts are more than a matching activity—they provide the kind of analytical thinking and pattern recognition students need to become confident spellers. According to the Science of Reading, spelling isn’t just about memorizing—it’s about understanding how sounds map to letters and patterns.

By sorting words into spelling categories (like oa, ow, o_e), students begin to internalize these patterns—and more importantly, they start to use them when they spell on their own.

What Makes This Resource Different

I created Search, Sort & Spell because I wanted a simple, no-prep way to give my students repeated, targeted spelling practice that’s actually grounded in research.

Each pack includes: 

• ✅  Search, Sort and Spell pages with different spelling combinations and word families for each focus sound

• ✅ Opportunities for students to write their sorted words in original sentences

• ✅ Picture dictionary to support independence and vocabulary

• ✅ Answer keys for easy checking or review

• ✅ Black-and-white format to save ink and simplify prep

Each page encourages students to analyze, categorize, and apply what they’ve learned—giving them that crucial bridge between explicit instruction and independent spelling success.

Designed for Real Classrooms

Use it during:

• ✏️ Literacy rotations or word work centers

• ✏️ Early finisher time

• ✏️ Small group intervention or review

• ✏️ Homework for spelling reinforcement

It’s ideal for students who need differentiated spelling practice—the repeated patterns with fresh word lists make it easy to scaffold learning and build confidence throughout the year.

Want to help your students become more confident spellers?
Grab Search, Sort and Spell for CVC and Long Vowels here. 

Or pin this post to your phonics board for later!

Teaching Skip Counting to 1st and 2nd Graders: Tips and Fun Activities

Skip counting is a foundational math skill that helps young mathematicians develop number sense, recognize patterns, and prepare for more advanced concepts like multiplication and division. For 1st and 2nd graders, mastering skip counting can boost their confidence and make math feel approachable and fun.

 

Why Skip Counting Matters

Skip counting helps children:

• Understand number patterns: Recognizing sequences like 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 helps build a solid foundation for identifying numerical relationships.
• Build fluency with basic facts: It’s an essential stepping stone to mastering multiplication and division.
• Improve mental math skills: Skip counting allows students to add or subtract quickly in their heads.
• Strengthen problem-solving abilities: Recognizing patterns supports logical thinking and problem-solving.

Introducing Skip Counting and Number Sequences

When introducing skip counting in 1^st grade, I like to start with the 10s since students are already familiar with counting by 1s. This also helps us when learning place value, by being able to skip count the bundling sticks or Base-10 blocks. After that, I like to move to 5s, and focus on the 5 and 0 pattern, before working on the 2s. Once students have a good grasp of these simple number patterns, I then move onto introducing patterns that start from any number (e.g. counting by 5s but starting from 8) and 2-step patterns. I like to use frames and arrows for this, as students can record on the arrow above the numbers, how much the number has increased or deceased by from the previous number.

Now that we know why it’s important, let’s dive into some fun, low-prep and low-cost activities and games to make skip counting practice enjoyable for everyone!

 1. Skip Counting Hopscotch Grab some sidewalk chalk and draw a hopscotch board, but instead of numbering the squares 1 to 10, write numbers in a skip counting sequence (e.g., 2, 4, 6, 8, 10). Have students hop along while saying the numbers aloud. This active approach helps kinesthetic learners.

2. Count with Popsicle Sticks Label popsicle sticks with skip counting numbers (e.g., 5, 10, 15, 20). Mix them up and challenge students to arrange them in the correct order. To differentiate, use different colored sticks for different sequences (e.g., blue for 2s, red for 5s).

3. Skip Counting Songs Music makes learning memorable! Teach skip counting through simple songs or chants. There are many engaging skip counting videos on YouTube that you can use with your class.

4. Skip Counting with Manipulatives Provide students with small objects like beads, buttons, or counters. Have them group the items into sets (e.g., groups of 2, 5, or 10) and count aloud as they place each set on the table. This hands-on activity reinforces grouping and sequencing.

5. Roll and Skip Pair students up and give each pair a die. One student rolls the die to determine the skip count (e.g., if they roll a 3, they count by threes). The other student writes the sequence on a whiteboard or paper. Then they switch roles. This game is quick, easy, and adaptable to any skip counting sequence.

6. Mystery Number Line Draw a number line on the board and mark only some of the numbers in a skip counting sequence (e.g., mark 10, 20, and 30 but leave the others blank). Challenge students to fill in the missing numbers. For more of a challenge, try starting from a random number, like 7, and skip counting from there.

7. Classroom Counting Walk or Toss Take students on a skip counting walk around the classroom or playground. Count aloud by 2s, 5s, or 10s as you step. This simple activity gets kids moving and reinforces number patterns in a natural, engaging way. Alternatively, have students stand in a circle and toss a ball underarm to each other. When they toss the ball, they need to say the next number in the skip counting sequence.

Once students have had plenty of hands-on practice and understand the concept of skip counting, we work towards automaticity and mastery with plenty of small group and independent practice activities during math centers or workstations. Teaching students to recognise number patterns (and not just rote learn the pattern to skip count) is why it’s important to also teach pattern finding, 2-step patterns and using patterns that start from any number.

Task Cards

Task cards are perfect for giving students multiple opportunities to practice identifying and continuing number patterns. Place the cards around the room and have students move around to find and answer them to make a more active way of getting in that practice!

You might also consider poke cards to change things up. With poke cards, students poke their pencil through the hole in the card that they think is the correct answer. A dot or star sticker on the reverse lets them know if they were correct. This is a great teacher timesaver as students can correct their own work!

 Of course, sometimes we need to have students show us what they know. I love using worksheets as formative assessment to track how my students are going. 

If you are interested in the printable activities shown in this post, you can find them here in my TpTshop.

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