First Spelling Test

Spelling has never been my forte.  It was my least favorite subject in school.  Weekly spelling test...blah.  It was the worst!  My darling son though has been saved from my fate.  So here is the big shocker.  Spelling the way we learned it...doesn't work.  Having kids memorize random list doesn't work.  Shocker, they learn the words for the test and then they forget them.  Schools now focus more on having kids learn the rules.  This is how spelling works for Captain E.  His teacher gives him five words at the beginning of the week.  This week they were:
mat
fan
can
hat
that

All week the kids work on the rules.  They build word ladders.  They talk about similar words.  They make word groups.  Then on Friday they have a test.  Like a typical spelling test they are asked the five words they were given.  Then they get five new words they haven't been asked to memorize using the same patterns.  Then they get 2 extra credit more challenging words that use a similar pattern.  Captain E got all ten words right, plus one of the challenge words.  Yeah Captain E!  I love first grade!