Poverest Primary School
“The big change I noticed as a class teacher was the enthusiasm for learning spellings and the weekly hive game was anticipated with excitement from the children.”
Case Study
Spelling Shed takes a structured literacy approach to learning new words. Our approach is based on research that shows many students benefit from a structured literacy approach.
Our digital platform is highly engaging for students. We provide multiple levels of support for those students who require it as they learn new words. In addition, we offer a variety of learning games to maintain student engagement.
We are much more than just spelling. We incorporate phonics development along with vocabulary knowledge into our activities. Teachers can use spelling shed for in class learning or as a remote learning tool.
Our spelling games allow students to practice with just the right amount of support. The “Easy” level provides the child with the highest degree of support. Students will hear and see the word prior to playing the game. Students will only be provided the letter tiles that make up the word. As the child progresses through each level the amount of support they receive will become less and less. Finally at the “Extreme” level they receive almost no support and are provided a full keyboard of letter tiles.
Students will also build phonemic awareness skills with our phonics based word lists. Students build words with graphemes as well as single letters. This unique solution allows the student to progress from phonetic reading to spelling strategies and develop automaticity.
Our variety of games are engaging for students and help build word study skills.
We provide up to 36 weekly word lists for each grade level K-5 that are based on letter and sound patterns and follow a progression. In addition, we also provide lesson plans and printable activities to supplement our digital games. Each lesson plan includes a PowerPoint that can be used for direct instruction or as a supplement for at home learning.
Weekly assignments based on the word list and spelling pattern are available for each child. “Hive Games” which are live spelling tests (and way more fun than regular spelling tests) that can be used at the end of the week for assessment purposes.
By leveraging technology, our platform enables learning to happen anywhere and everywhere. Our game just requires a device. With our app, an internet connection is not even required as long as the required word lists have been loaded first.
Many schools use our platform in school, particularly those with 1-1 devices. Others use our game as a part of home learning to consolidate the skills they have taught in school. However, any combination works and even Hive Games can be run with a mixture of local and remote players.
For self-directed play, children can create their own multiplayer hive games to play with friends. Challenges give specific tasks for groups of learners to work towards and our leagues provide a way to recognise achievement within a class or whole school.
Spelling Shed tracks student game plays along with their responses. Data is provided at the student level that demonstrates the students proficiency over time with a particular spelling pattern. Teachers can monitor weekly activity including any errors the student is making in order to remediate.
Teachers can monitor assigned activity progress of the group or individual students through our data portal. Our Hive Game results data makes it easy for teachers and parents to identify particular misconceptions that a child may have with a specific pattern.
Per year
Per student / year
Per student / year