These word work activities provide students with a variety of ways to practice playing with words. You’ll notice that the activities reinforce many of the same skills in different ways. You can differentiate by selecting pages for students based on their learning styles. Some of these activities work best as an independent task either in class or at home, while some can be completed together in a small group setting, such as the word sorts or word riddles.

Who can use these Word Work Activities?

These are available as individual units with three weeks in a unit. There are a total of 10 units. These align with the spelling skills and words from the Benchmark Advance curriculum, but they can be used in any classroom or homeschool setting. You don’t need any additional curricula or programs to use these.

See the preview file for:

• A look at each week’s spelling skills/patterns and words
• Photos and descriptions of each activity
• You can test out Unit 1 Week 1

Included activities for each week:

• Word sorts: In one word sort, students are required to write words into different columns. The second word sort involves cutting out the words to sort them.
• Word searches: One word search includes the spelling words. The second one requires students to create their own word search using the words. Both versions require students to attune to the individual letters that make up the words. However, the create-your-own word search will require students to find relationships with words (spelling overlaps) in order to place all the words on the interlocking grid.
• Word build: This activity involves students cutting out individual letter tiles and building/gluing their spelling words on their mat. Additionally, this can be taken a step further by having students color the letter tiles in each word that represent the pattern being studied that week.
• Type to spell: This activity promotes keyboarding skills by having students pretend type their spelling words and then coloring each keyboard letter found in each spelling word.
• Letter colors: This one is for those kids who enjoy color coding! They use their crayons to color segments of each spelling word that include the spelling pattern for that week. Next, they tell how many syllables are in the words.
• Crack the code: This activity is best for students who already have strong letter correspondence skills. Each letter is represented by an image, and the students need to use the key to figure out each spelling word.
• Word riddles: This one is my favorite! It is a way to incorporate phonemic awareness development (initial, vowel, and final sounds), review letter blends, and focus on syllabication. In some cases, prefixes, suffixes, and synonyms are incorporated, too. They can be tricky but if you do these with your students, you will be able to see where there are gaps in students’ word study & phonemic awareness skills.
• Highlight: A simple activity where students highlight the spelling pattern in the spelling words plus new words that follow the pattern.
• Sentences: Lastly, there’s a sentence writing page. This is the most traditional activity. Students apply the word in the context of sentences. Good for quick practice or a homework extension.

Benchmark Advance Editions:

• CA Edition
• National Edition
• Note for 2021 and later editions – The spelling patterns for each week are the same. Some of the words are different, though. If you’re not tied to your weekly spelling word list and instead place emphasis on learning the patterns and not memorizing a set list of words, then this will be great!

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For additional word work practice, check out my Word Work Pamphlets!