Elementary School Most Commonly Misspelled Words

Here is a list of elementary school most commonly misspelled words.

Teaching Strategies

Teaching spelling can be difficult enough, without the added stress of teaching commonly misspelled words.

Be patient with the students. Yelling at students about spelling is just going to frustrate them. It will not help in making them become better writers. Furthermore, the students will appreciate that you are patient.
Use flashcards. Even older learners can benefit from the usage of flashcards. Sometimes just seeing the word before them is enough to help them remember it.
Encourage the use of tools like Spell Check on the computer. Spell Check should not become the ultimate source for students, because it does have errors in it. However, it allows students to see the word in front of them.
Distribute handouts that have both the correct and incorrect spellings of words on them. Allow students to figure out which one is correct. It does not create the high pressure environment of having to spell out a word by one's self, but it does have a similiar effect.
Ask students which words they have trouble spelling, and admit that everyone has a few problematic words. Students might feel that they are the only ones who cannot spell.
Be sensitive to learning disabilities. Spelling words correctly is going to be much move difficult for someone who is dyslexic than for someone who does not have any learning disabilities.
Encourage students to edit their own work. If they learn to pick up on their own errors, they will be more likely to correct them.