Spelling: Paddy's Game

A gal I worked with in Korea drempt this up in a brilliant flash of inspiration. Her name was Paddy and all the other teachers just called it Paddy's spelling game, and I can't think of a better name for it. Its beauty is in its simplicity.

Write the alphabet on the board. The first player from the first team can write any word they feel they know how to spell correctly. The longer, the better, because it's two points per letter if he/she spells it right. If it is mispelled, the team gets only one point per letter - for the correct number of letters of course. You can teach phonics at this point (maybe) to add to the suspense. :-)

Then, you erase the letter of the alphabet the team just used. The next player has one less letter to choose from.

If you play this game a few times in a row, the kids will, on their own initiative, learn how to spell many huge words in no time at all.

Peter Dearman,
Taipei