One-day open enrollment seminars are offered throughout the country. This is a fun-filled and informative day that includes the necessary background on the philosophy of the materials, a walkthrough of each unit component, ideas for differentiation, student accountability for spelling in writing, and lots of ideas for creating meaningful partnerships with parents and caregivers. You will also receive a handbook of notes and teaching ideas as well as a catered lunch. Seasoned Sitton users as well as those new to the Sourcebooks, or educators just looking for new ideas rave about this energizing day! Check out our 2009/2010 seminar schedule for a location near you.

If your school or district is offering a Sitton training seminar plan to spend an energizing and rewarding day. You will receive all of the information and materials given at the open enrollment seminars but in a format that can easily be customized to the needs of your school or district. For more information on Sitton professional development, be sure to visit www.epsbooks.com/pd.

You may also consider investing in a Tutor Me Training CD Rom offered for each grade level and narrated by Rebecca Sitton who walks you through the details of your first unit. We suggest that you begin by viewing our complimentary Overview DVD that is packaged with your Tutor Me CD Rom. The Overview CD can also be ordered for free at www.epsbooks.com/sittonspelling. Then, with your Sourcebook in front of you, view the CD-ROM.

Many teachers view the CD-ROM as a grade-level team. Watching as a team provides a great opportunity to develop shared understandings and to benefit from the expertise of your professional learning communities.

The CD-ROMS are not only a great resource for teachers who are new to the Sourcebooks, but many teachers who have been using the Sourcebooks also love them! They are a useful interactive tool for refreshing your memory of specific unit sections. Because the CD-ROMS are menu-driven, you can click on the section that most interests you without having to filter through sections that you may already feel confident about and comfortable with.

Whether you have attended training, used the Tutor Me Training CD-ROM as a guide, read through your teaching notes, or some combination of the above, you will find that you are now well on your way to a successful start!

As you gain more confidence and momentum with your Sourcebook teaching your planning will become efficient and quite natural. However, taking a little extra time to ensure that the first unit is a success will repay you with well established routines. This preparation is like an insurance policy guaranteeing that the rest of your school year will be smooth sailing!

Five teaching posters are incorporated into your Sourcebook lessons at each grade level. Make sure these are accessible and perhaps laminate them so that they are durable and lasting. If you have misplaced your Teaching Posters, you can order a new set from www.epsbooks.com/sittonspelling.

For each Teaching Poster, you will find a matching student Personal Poster Blackline Master. See the Blackline Master section of your Table of Contents for these and other great resources! Although you will not need to make copies of the Personal Posters just yet, keep in mind that these are available as your students gain deeper insights into how words work.

Visit your Table of Contents to find the Core Word List for your grade level. This list is toward the back of your book, along with the other Blackline Masters. Make two copies for each student, and perhaps laminate copies or mount them on heavy tag paper so that they last.

Students should keep one Core Word List for classroom use, and the other can be sent home as a resource for building parent-child partnerships. Many teachers laminate or staple the at-home Core Word List into a homework folder for easy retrieval. If you have the consumable Practice Books you will find a Core Word List in the back of each student Practice Book. In this case, you will only need to make one additional copy for each student's at-home use.

Each student will need a Spelling Notebook to use as an in-class running record of words to learn that they miss on their Cloze Story Word Test and/or Sentence Dictation Tests. To make the Spelling Notebooks, use heavy tag or construction paper as a cover, and staple about 5-10 pages of lined paper in between. Select paper with lines that are appropriate and accessible for students at your grade level.

If you have the Practice Books, the student Spelling Notebook is included in the back of the book, right before the student Core Word List.

If you are making the Spelling Notebook you may wish to involve students in the process, saving you time as well as engaging them in stapling, writing their names and perhaps decorating their special book!

In the Blackline Masters section of your Table of Contents, as well as on the first page of your first unit, you will be directed to a Blackline Master titled Introducing Spelling. This is a great introduction to the Sourcebook for parents and caregivers. Make sure to have a copy prepared for each student to distribute the first week of school.

Many schools also purchase the Parent Tutor Me DVD which walks parents and caregivers through the philosophy and materials of the Sourcebook. This is a great resource to play at Back-to-School Night to introduce the program or to refresh understandings as your Sourcebook curriculum evolves.

As you walk through the Build Skills and Word Experiences section of your first unit, you will notice many opportunities for students to discover how words work. A few materials that are useful to have on hand include chart paper, markers, sticky notes, and highlighter pens.

If you are interested in summative information to aid in assessing students' yearly spelling growth, check out and prepare to administer the first of 3 Achievement Tests located towards the back of your Sourcebook. We recommend that you administer the first assessment after completion of Unit 2 in your Sourcebook. This gives your students enough exposure to the routine of a Cloze Story Word Test so that they understand the process when taking the assessment.

We all know that the first few weeks of school are essential for relationship building and establishing clear routines and expectations. This is also true for launching your Sourcebook teaching. In fact, it is often best to work through the first unit slowly to establish your spelling and word study routine and expectations with your class. When you slow down those first few weeks, you provide the groundwork for speeding up as the school year gains momentum.

For example, once the Word Preview routine is established, this short, but powerful practice activity should only take about 5 minutes. However, during the first Word Preview or two, allot 10-15 minutes. Use the extra time to model each step, perhaps even creating a chart outlining what the teacher does and then what students do during each step of a Word Preview exercise. Use the first Word Preview as practice not only for learning to visualize words but also for how to carry out the routine.

You will find that once students know how to do a Word Preview, they will be able to complete this important activity quickly and effectively in each subsequent unit. The same goes for all other components of a unit. Once a student knows how to do an Exercise Express, Seeds for Sowing Skills, Test Ready, Cloze Story Word Test, and the Skill Test, the only thing that changes is the concept or particular words used.

There is no need to complete an entire Sourcebook by year's end, so don't let the number of units determine your pacing. Let your students be your guide for pacing.