This is one of my literacy centers, Spellatron 5000. I made it from a cardboard box, pieces of an egg carton, cardboard tubes, and fruit cup bowls. (Everything was hot-glued on, but it gets rough handling from first graders so its mouth had to be repaired with clear tape a few months ago.) Inside, it’s filled with ping pong balls, each one with at least one spelling word on it.
I start the year by putting in all the students’ names, plus a few kindergarten words (I, the, and). Then, every word that gets added to our Word Wall also gets added to Spellatron. I always write the first grade word on one side in black, and a harder word (the “challenge” word) on the other in a different color, so there’s differentiation. I also put in science and math vocabulary words when they come up, and my own name, the school name, and a few “wild card” balls which just have a star on them and mean that the student can practice ANY word they like.
So to use the center, students reach in (no peeking!) and pull out a ping pong ball, then decide which word (if there is a choice, as the name balls only have one choice) to practice, then they either build that word with magnetic letters or write it with chalk (the boards I have are magnetic white boards on one side and chalkboards on the other). They have to do at least five words before moving on, but they love this center and often practice so many words that the holding tray on Spellatron’s head will fill up and overflow. Fun!