Valuable Time-Saver

Fourth-Grade Teacher Appreciates Time-Saving Features, Easy Grading, Accessible Tools — and Low Cost

Sharon Riddle
New Braunfels Christian Academy
New Braunfels, TX
School demographics:

  • Private school
  • 355 students
  • Grades PreK-12

In what grade level does your school use VocabularySpellingCity?
Fourth grade.

How did you start using VocabularySpellingCity?
The first thing VocabularySpellingCity has done for me is save time. I was able to enter our entire word database one weekend. Since then I have had those lists available every year and have shared them with other teachers.

I appreciate the low cost of your Premium subscription because I’ve had to pay for this extra myself.

Which devices do you use?
Computers and tablets.

How do you use VocabularySpellingCity in the classroom?
I got a Smartboard several years ago and would copy and paste the week’s list onto this so the class could practice marking phonics and analyzing patterns. I love the video lessons VocabularySpellingCity added that helped us with writing in general, and we also enjoyed playing HangMouse or LetterFall games at the end of class.

I love FlashCards and how easy it is to print them with different options: definitions, sentences, etc. I added all the vocabulary words for history, science and reading texts so they were always available to help my students prepare for tests.

I love the analyzing/grading features. I can print a list of words the student was still struggling with halfway through the week so Mom and Dad know how many words we still have to tackle before the test.

Grading is simplified. I don’t have to muddle through a lot of messy handwriting. At the end of the year, I can print out a list of words students still struggled with for the next teacher and their progress so they could feel a sense of accomplishment.

What have been the key benefits for your students in using VocabularySpellingCity?

Using the program has made spelling help accessible and customized. The app has helped us practice spelling anytime and anywhere. It also meant I could move achievers on to more challenging lists (especially when they had to conquer 800 plus words for a yearly competition) while giving extra motivation to strugglers.

Spelling has always been a challenge to teach; it’s daunting to try and convince parents and students of how important the written word is in college applications, job interviews and in life. Although spellcheck is a helpful tool, especially for correcting words we’ve learned to misspell semi-permanently, the brain is a much better tool because it’s always with us.

I hope it helps to know how much good you’ve done for so many students and teachers. The millions of correctly spelled words and trained brains that now dot our world are so valuable. Thank you, VocabularySpellingCity!