Hip,
This is very helpful. Sounds like Red Hot Root Words might do the trick. Since he is in 3rd grade, maybe Book 1 would be a better start. They will use this in place of the current spelling words - he gets 100% every week on the test, but promptly forgets the words, and he isn't even getting the benefits of new vocabulary from it. We thought that giving him harder words, but not many, that he doesn't know would encourage him to break down the sounds (because of roots/prefixes/etc.), slow down and actually think about how the words are put together.
They will be using this in a class of 22 for him alone, so I can't expect them to do much except give him some worksheets, etc. so actually the Red Hot series might be perfect - they won't be able to do group activities and don't have time to deal with errors in the materials. They will want him to do some writing using the words, but that is usually done at home so that part we can oversee.
Would you suggest book 1 or 2 of the Red Hot series? His Explore scores put him at the 98% normed to typical 8th graders. He is a strong reader and has a big vocabulary - is the difference in level just the sophistication of the vocabulary, or does book 2 require more writing?
Thanks, Cat
