The class must be divided into responsible, working partnerships. Students will take turns in the role of speller and tutor. The tutor will call out a word from the speller's list. The speller must write down the word and tell the tutor the letters aloud. If correct, the tutor awards the speller two points. If incorrect, the tutor must point out the error and the speller must rewrite the word correctly three times in order to receive one point. After 5 minutes, the roles are reversed. Each student adds up the total of points received. Tally the points at the end of the week to determine the high scoring student.
Create or purchase grid paper on 8.5-by-14-inch paper. The paper should have two 12-by-12 grid squares. The horizontal axis should be labeled with numbers and the vertical axis with letters. Students will write each of their spelling words, either vertically or horizontally, on the top grid. The bottom grid will be used to track the opponents spelling words. Divide the class into partnerships. Students take turns calling out coordinates trying to locate letters of their partner's spelling words. As letters are found, they are written on the bottom grid. Once a spelling word has been written completely on the bottom grid, that word is considered discovered. Play continues until one player discovers all the spelling words.
Place three chairs in front of the chalkboard. Three volunteers must be chosen to sit, one person per chair, in front of the class. As the students in the chairs are unable to see the board, write one spelling word on the board behind them. The class must offer clues to the three students in the chairs about the spelling word without saying the actual word. When one of the three students thinks they know the spelling word, they jump out of the seat and attempt to spell the word correctly. If correct, replace the other two in the chairs and the speller stays for a new round. If incorrect, replace all three players.
Write the weekly spelling list on the board. Talk about each word with the students. The game begins with students putting their heads down on their desks while you erase one word from the list and rewrite it incorrectly. Use a typical misspelling, for example, the word "receive" could be misspelled "receive." Invite students to raise their heads and write the word they think is now misspelled on their paper correctly. At the end of the game, grade the papers to see how many misspelled words each student was able to recognize.