When it comes to teaching spelling, one size doesn’t fit all. Some students breeze through word lists, while others need more support with decoding, phonemic awareness, and spelling patterns. That’s why a spelling choice board is one of my favorite ways to bring differentiation, engagement, and structure into spelling instruction.
This low-prep spelling activity sheet provides students with a variety of meaningful ways to practice spelling—whether they’re in first grade or fourth grade. While it was designed with first and second grade learners in mind, I’ve had teachers tell me they’ve used it successfully in kindergarten and even with third and fourth graders who benefit from hands-on, multi-sensory learning.
Why Use a Spelling Choice Board?
Unlike a traditional worksheet, a spelling choice board gives students ownership over how they learn. With a tic-tac-toe or Connect 4 format, students choose activities that build essential skills like sound identification, phoneme manipulation, and vocabulary building—all while staying motivated and engaged.
Some students might enjoy making words out of playdough or writing words in sand. Others might want to identify beginning, middle, or ending sounds in words or change one letter at a time to create new words. Each of these spelling activities taps into a different skill set—and that’s the beauty of this tool. It supports all types of learners, from your strong readers to those still developing foundational skills.
Looking for more ways to engage your students? Check out my post on how to engage students AND save time with no-prep phonics activities!
What Makes This Spelling Activity Sheet Different
This isn’t just another busywork worksheet. Every task on the board is carefully chosen to align with the Science of Reading and support early literacy development.
Here’s what students are doing with this spelling words activity sheet:
- Identifying and manipulating individual phonemes
- Practicing high-frequency and decodable words
- Categorizing words by sound and spelling patterns
- Building vocabulary and phonemic awareness in creative ways
Whether you’re using it as part of your word study routine, literacy centers, homework, or small-group instruction, the spelling choice board offers flexibility while keeping expectations clear.
How to Use the Spelling Choice Board
This spelling choice board is easy to implement and flexible enough to fit into any classroom routine. You can assign a specific board or let students choose based on their goals or skill level. Students complete tasks of their choosing and aim to form a bingo pattern—like four in a row, blackout, center box, or around the edges.
Want to boost motivation? Offer simple incentives for completing multiple patterns, or challenge students to beat their own record week to week. Whether you use it for literacy centers, morning work, or take-home practice, it encourages independence, accountability, and meaningful spelling practice—all in one no-prep format.
Built-In Differentiation Without the Extra Work
If you teach in a split or combined classroom, like I have, you already know how valuable it is to have an activity that works across ability levels. This spelling activity lets all your students work on the same board but focus on words that are appropriate for them.
You can easily pair it with your current spelling program or word list. Some teachers use it as morning work, while others incorporate it into literacy rotations or weekly homework. However you use it, the choice board format keeps things fresh and manageable—for you and your students.
Want to target other key literacy skills like reading, writing, or reading response? Read why my ELA choice boards are the ultimate classroom multitool (psst… or grab it here). Looking to take it a step further? Use my editable templates to easily personalize your own choice board to meet the needs of every learner.
Explore My TPT Store
Looking for more spelling activities and phonics resources? Visit my Teachers Pay Teachers store, Primed for Primary, for no-prep spelling games, literacy centers, and word sorts that align with Science of Reading best practices.
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