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Spelling Test in Kindergarten?

Do any other children out there have spelling tests in Kindergarten? My son got bumped up in his literacy class (so proud of him!!) and we were told on Tuesday that he would have his first test tomorrow. We have been practicing all week but it isn't clicking. The words are:

The
You
A
We
Has

Does any one have any suggestions on how to help learn spelling words? I know there isn't much more we can do for tomorrow but moving forward we need to find something that works. We have tried:

Writing the words 5 times at each sitting several times a night
Flash Cards
Dry Erase Board
The spongy letters he used to learn his ABC's - I set them out and he did the best with this and was able to pull the correct letters out, but struggled with puting them in the right order.
Rainbow letters - Writing the word once and then using 3 crayons writing over it

Any other suggestions?

Thanks!

What can I do next?

So What Happened?™

Beth - yes it is a spelling test on his sight words. Next week he moves on to the next 5 sight words. The teacher will say "spell HAS" and the kids must write on their papers the word Has.

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It sounds like a sight word test. Just doing what you're doing is fine. It will click, it just might take a little time. Those words will be on his continuous list until they're automatic for him and he won't need to "read" them but will know them by sight aka "as sight words."

There are a lot of words that you can read without reading them. For instance, every word in the sentence right before this one had words in it that you don't have to actually read but the brain can identify them instantly simply through sight. :-)

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Get a plate/pan of sugar. Have him trace the words in the sugar with his finger. Put the sugar in a ziplock bag to use for next time.

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It sounds like a sight word test. Just doing what you're doing is fine. It will click, it just might take a little time. Those words will be on his continuous list until they're automatic for him and he won't need to "read" them but will know them by sight aka "as sight words."

There are a lot of words that you can read without reading them. For instance, every word in the sentence right before this one had words in it that you don't have to actually read but the brain can identify them instantly simply through sight. :-)

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First let me say I am TOTALLY against Kindergartners doing this type of work. They should not be doing this until they are 7. (I won't go into all the developmental reasons why).

However, since your son has to do it, and I'm sure my opinion that he shouldn't is not going to make you run out and enroll in a Waldorf school ; ) ......

Try making up little songs for the heart words (what we call ones you have to learn by heart because you can't spell them phonetically). Some children learn easily when things are musical. Such as (and this is off the top of my head, so don't be making fun of my lame example!)

(To the tune of Row, Row, Row Your Boat)
You is Y O U
Y O U is you
You and me together is We
and that's spelled W E

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Haven't read any of the other responses. But last year in KG my daughter brought home "popcorn" words. Basically sight words above. The teachers used white paper and shaped them like popcorn (big enough to read from a distance) and wrote (printed) the words on the "popcorn". I bought magnets and we put them on the fridge.

When I was cooking dinner or in the kitchen she would come in, tell me a popcorn word she wanted to practice and we practiced spelling. We used them in a sentence then spelled them again.

I am a firm believer in figuring out how to best help/teach people to learn things. I for one am a Kinesetic learning. I can't stand visuals or learning by lecture, I have to physically do it and make mistakes to get it. My daughter learns better by audio and visual. So I try to teach her using what works for her. (BTW I am a trainer in the corporate world and have studied this myself)

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I've never heard of spelling tests in kindergarten, are you sure this isn't a sight word test? Those are sight words here.

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In case he learns while moving:

Remember Ring-Around-the-Rosie? Grasp hands with him and spell the words while going around in a circle. Some kids learn while "doing" something with movement. Perhaps that might make things click during the test.

Hmm...I wonder if I could get my teen to practice his Spanish vocab with me like that??? Never mind!

Good luck!

D.

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We used to do bath crayons, writing each letter on a different tile.
I didn't like it when my son had spelling tests in kindergarten because the teacher counted it wrong if he spelled it correctly but formed the letters backwards.(He still writes letters backwards even in 4th grade).

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Shaving cream in the bathtub. Also, have him look at the flashcard while he says the letters aloud.

Maybe you could "pickle" the words with him. He says one letter, you say the next, his turn, etc...

Good luck! He will get it.

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