Spelling ideas...

[LG Gone Wild]

How do you administer spelling and spelling tests? Do you just present a rule and the words, then assign kiddo to study independently. Then on Friday, give a test? Do you do pretests?

I have SL LA2 spelling. It's okay. I will use it because I paid for it but it's nothing to get excited about. When we are done with it, I would like a different program. I tried Spelling Workout a year or so ago. I thought it was stupid.

[Lori D.]

We use "Natural Speller", "The ABCs and All Their Tricks", lists of common sight words, misspelled words from the children's writing, and word lists from "Natural Speller" to create our own lists. Then we practice in various ways (see below) and then test on Friday and move on. Hope something here is of help! Warmly, Lori D.


- out loud spelling (1x/day)
I clearly say the word, then say it by syllables, spell the word aloud to the child, and then toss the child a beanie toy. The child then clearly says the word to me, and then spells it back to me, and tosses me the beanie. At the beginning of the week, we have the words on the whiteboard so the child can look at it and spell it correctly letter by letter. By the end of the week not only does the child not need to see the word, but often can correctly spell the word first to me, and then I spell to the child. The tossing of a beanie keeps the child alert and focused (knowing their turn is coming). The key is to *immediately* correct any misspelling by you correctly spelling it aloud several times so it doesn't embed in the child's memory incorrectly.


- feel/spell the word (1x/day)
Have the child spell the word out loud while involving their body:
* write the word letter by letter with fingertip in a tray of fine sand or cornmeal while saying each letter
* write the word letter by letter with finger (BIG letters, using whole arm) on a table top, while saying each letter
* write the word letter by letter with a marker on the whiteboard, saying each letter, then "unwrite" the word letter by letter by tracing over the letter with a fingertip, while saying each letter


- work with words (2-3x/week)
* point out vowel patterns
* practice syllabication
* practice adding endings/suffixes and prefixes
* draw little pictures to help remember the difference between homophones


- dication (1-2x/week)
Dictate 3-5 short sentences with 1-3 spelling words in each to practice simultaneous thinking/writing/spelling. Do this towards the end of the week when the child is more sure of the spelling words.

[JenniferB]

LG,

I have a similar spelling curriculum history as you. I started out teaching my dd (now 9) the phonograms from Writing Road to Reading, but I didn't know where to proceed after teaching the phonograms. Then we went to Sonlight Language Arts 1, then onto 2. I didn't really know how to implement the spelling, so I usually skipped the spelling lessons. After that I tried Sequential Spelling (recommended by Sonlight), but the words were grouped so that if the student learned the base word, it was pretty easy to figure out the rest of the words on the list. So, she would do well on the daily "tests", but she wouldn't do well in everyday life spelling. Then, I went to Spelling Workout. Flop! She was just mindlessly filling out the workbook, and there was no spelling improvement in her original writing.

NOW, I have thoroughly researched spelling (at least as thoroughly as I have time to), and I have recently purchased Spell to Write and Read. It is phonics and spelling rule based. If properly applied the 70 phonograms and 28 spelling rules make up most of the English language. WARNING - This program is not easy to implement! It takes work to set it up and get going, and it takes work (one-on-one) with the child to do the program. Usually, I wouldn't choose something that is this teacher intensive, but in all my research, I believe this is the best spelling system out there, and we really need it in this house. My daughter has such holes in her knowledge of the English language and how letters are put together to make words, and her spelling and writing are suffering greatly. I believe once I can build up the foundation of our English language with her, she will blossom in her writing and general confidence in school.

I hope this helps you.