Body Spelling- Adapted from Alberta Education. (2006). Daily physical activity: A handbook for grades 1-9 schools. Edmonton, AB: Learning and Teaching Resources Branch.
Materials
- Letters of the alphabet
- Jump ropes
- Large, cut-out, lowercase letters
- Talk with the students about the various characteristics of letters (straight, curvy, and angled lines) of the alphabet.
- Choose a letter, and ask the students to make the letter with their body or body parts. Repeat with several letters.
- Begin with letters that are easy to replicate (I, T, C, L, O, V and X)
- Allow the students to make either upper or lower case letters
- Use jump ropes to create large letters on the floor. Challenge the students to follow, using various locomotor skills, the paths created by each letter. For example, you might invite them to first walk along the shape of each letter. Could also have the students run, jump, skip or gallop.
- Have the students work in partners or trios. Have them form letters using multiple people (i.e. T or H)
- Have the students work in small groups and create short words. This could be with their body or with skipping ropes.
- Scatter large letters on the floor throughout the room. Tell the students you are going to give them a locomotor skill to perform. On your signal, they move to any letter on the floor by executing the designated motor skills. Once at the letter, instruct the students to take on the letters shape.
- GLO 2.1 - Use Strategies and Cues
- Uses phonics and structural analysis
- GLO 4.1 - Enhances and Improves
- Expands knowledge of language
- GLO 4.2 - Attend to Conventions
- Attend to spelling
- Attend to spelling
- GLO 5.2 - Works within a group
- Cooperates with others
- Works in groups