Multisensory Monday- Connect Four Spelling

Spelling skills are very important to both reading skills and writing skills.  We at Brainspring Orton-Gillingham feel a student has mastered a phonetic concept when the student can both read and spell the concept.  Spelling reinforces reading skills.  It is very common to be able to read words you can’t spell, but it is very rare to be able to spell a word and not be able to read it.  So if a student can spell a word, they can almost always read that same word.

Many students need practice with spelling, as it is a difficult skill to master.  Today’s Multisensory Monday Activity uses the classic game Connect Four to help students practice spelling words!

Connect Four Spelling Game

As a child, I loved to play Connect Four! As an educator, I still enjoy playing Connect Four, but with a little twist. I took my beloved game and added letter stickers to one side of about half of the round game pieces. I left the other pieces blank.

Materials

• Connect Four game
• Several packs of letter stickers

How to Play

This is a two player game. Place game pieces letter-side down on the table. Player One chooses a game piece and may play it immediately or “bank” it to play later. Player Two then chooses a game piece to play or “bank”. The object of the game is to create a word without being blocked by another player. Players may block their opponent by playing a blank came piece. Players may also steal a word by adding an additional letter to the word to change the word to another word. For example, if Player One completes the word “the”, Player Two may add a game piece with the letter “m” on it to create the word “them.” Player One could steal the word back by adding an “e” and changing the word to “theme”. Whoever completes the word gets the point for the word. Tally scores by either assigning one point for each completed word or by assigning one point for each letter in each word.

Words may run horizontally, diagonally, or vertically. ENJOY!

Tammi Brandon, M.Ed., CDP

Tammi Brandon is a Master Instructor and Education Consultant with Brainspring Educator Academy.

Brainspring’s Educator Academy helps teachers bring Orton-Gillingham based multisensory instruction to the classroom. Our nationally accredited Phonics First® curriculum helps transform struggling readers into skilled learners with an effective, fun, multisensory approach.

For more information please visit brainspring.com or call 1-8007323211