Making Words

Cunningham and Cunningham made it clear that invented spelling is essential.  I've seen 1st graders do this and I always wondered why teachers were not concerned with the spelling. It finally makes sense! If children are freely choosing to write to express themselves then why should we stop them?  The Making Words activity that the authors provided seemed very challenging to me.  Teachers would need to dedicate a lot of time to plan the activity and come up with all the possible words. Personally, I found it challenging to come up with words with only a handful of letters.  The activity is challenging but I can see how students could enjoy it.  The internal rewards from working so hard can be very encouraging to young children. This article made me wonder about strategies that other teachers use to teach this material. Below is a video where a teacher turns a spelling lesson into a game:
http://www.youtube.com/watch/?v=qh0Sb2SC_38

Questions to Consider: Can you come up with another activity that is just as effective?