Spelling Trail Oh! What Vowels!

The spelling trail is a new type of educational resource that helps elementary school students master the writing of CHECKED AND UNCHECKED vowels in words in a playful manner. The writing of unstressed vowels in the root of the word is the central theme; all topics of language material, starting from the first grade to the fourth, are structured around this. Therefore, our goal was to gather training material grouped around the letters "a-o"; "i-e-ya", both checked and unchecked. We were driven by the desire to teach students to see the root, to get accustomed to it. The final section is reserved for prefixes. The ability to see them and separate them from the root, in our opinion, significantly enhances literacy. We tried to collect as many variations of such words as possible. This type of resource allows for both individual and pair work. If a child is working alone, they can be offered to insert letters both inside the word and on the trail itself. The trail can also be used for testing (placing " + " and " - "), in order to later count the number of correct answers. If necessary, a child can be timed (working with a stopwatch): start - finish (beginning-end of work), they stop where they have reached. In this case, not only correctness is checked, but also the number of words produced. Of course, it is more interesting to compete in pairs. Therefore, the tasks are identical on two sheets. The ease of evaluating results and the playful form are advantages over other training-type resources. At the bottom of the sheets, words are given within frames. They are dictionary words. Therefore, special attention should be paid to them. Rhyming lines help in their quicker memorization. As a basis for memorization, either similar writings in other words {^>), or related checks (=), or oppositions (but) are given. Subsequently, all the words provided in frames are gradually incorporated into training tasks and appear on the following pages. Particularly difficult words for checking or memorization are placed in the middle. Separate work with them is planned. Training exercises constructed in this manner allow covering a large number of words that are beyond the scope of textbooks, expanding students' vocabulary, reinforcing their knowledge, thereby contributing to the increase in literacy levels. These exercises are compiled based on fifteen years of experience in improving the literacy level of 'weak students' labeled by the school and who achieved success later.