In first grade, your student will take a phonics rule spelling test each week on Wednesday. These spelling words will be based on the OG phonics skills that we have been working on in class. These are different from spelling tests that you might remember taking in school, as a list of specific words to study will not be sent home. Instead, each week you will get information about the skill we have been working on during our OG lessons and some practice words that are similar to the words on the list to study at home. In this way, we can assess whether the students are learning and can apply the phonics rules to help them become successful readers and spellers, rather than just memorizing a list of words for a test. You will not see "Spelling" listed as a subject on your child's report cards. Our weekly OG spelling assessments will be graded as part of the "Orton-Gillingham" grade on report cards. When grading these assessments, I will be looking for correct spelling and letter formation. Letters made backwards will be counted as half off on the assessment starting in January.