I originally saw this idea from The Twice Remembered Cottage for making a game/memoboard (link here) for the home. I took the idea and adapted it to my classroom. This next semester, I’m going to try more center-time for the students to work on spelling and writing. I plan to use the back of my teacher desk as one spelling center. The desk is huge and the back provides a very large metal (magnetic!) surface for the tiles. This whole project cost $13.
I got magnet strips with a strength of 2 (out of 10). They seem to be strong enough without being too strong. I cut each magnet strip into 8-9 pieces so that I’d have enough for each tile. The two blank tiles became punctuation marks so the students can create sentences and questions.
I will (hopefully) put a picture up of the spelling center when the school building opens again after the holidays.
One of the things I like about this center is that it’s portable. The tiles travel easily in the bag that comes with the game. Just substitute the desk (or file cabinet or storage cabinet or metal door) for a cookie sheet. This could even be used for in the car “while traveling”.
thoughts and songs 