Ellen Malone

Malone’s innovative teaching idea, “Spelling Camp,” is a spelling camp run during the summer months to help students who struggle with spelling and may not receive sufficient support during the regular school year. The Voya grant will go towards the materials needed to adequately help them succeed in this area. The spelling camp will target specific spelling strategies, rules and guidelines. The Spell-3 and Spell-links programs will be used to support her curriculum. According to Malone, after students complete the online spelling test, she is able to view a report that highlights all areas in spelling where the student is underperforming. Through that, she can customize a program that is tailored to the student’s specific needs. By doing so during the summer, Malone thinks the skills will carry over into the next school year, bringing up the student’s overall spelling skills.