Dictation question...

[King Alfred Academy]

When I do dictation with my 2nd grader, he likes to try to spell the words on his own. I like the confidence that shows. However, if he spells a word wrong...

1. Do I have him correct it?

2. If so, when? While he is writing the dictation, or after he is done?

I am leaning towards having him correct it because I do not want to reinforce incorrect spelling.

OR...should I have him ask me how to spell a word he doesn't know as he is writing out the sentence?

Thanks. :001_smile:

[dcjlkplus3]

We have this same dilema.
I think in WWE they suggest correcting the spelling right away.
I usually remind my daughter to ask me if she doesn't know and also correct her as she goes along. I have learned to wait until she puts a wrong letter down (otherwise she gets offended). If she is using pen (which i sometimes allow) her page is messy, its not so bad with pencil.

[Colleen in NS]

When I do dictation with my 2nd grader, he likes to try to spell the words on his own. I like the confidence that shows. However, if he spells a word wrong...

1. Do I have him correct it?

2. If so, when? While he is writing the dictation, or after he is done?

I am leaning towards having him correct it because I do not want to reinforce incorrect spelling.

OR...should I have him ask me how to spell a word he doesn't know as he is writing out the sentence?

Thanks. :001_smile:

I correct my kids' spelling right away, as soon as I see that they are writing it down incorrectly. Like you said, I want them to see and feel it written correctly, so it's reinforced that way. With dd, who is still gaining spelling skills, it wouldn't work for me to tell her to ask me how to spell a word - she just plows through, hoping I won't notice that she doesn't know how to spell something. So I quietly interfere :). But in writing she does on her own for fun, I let her spell however she wants. She sometimes asks me then.

[MerryAtHope]

When my kids are done with their dictation or copywork, I have them go back and edit. We use the COPS acronym: Capitalization, Organization (in this case neatness, spaces bt. words, readable etc...), Punctuation, and Spelling.

They look for each thing one at a time. They often find their own errors and correct them, which I think is better than me finding them for them! If they don't find them, sometimes I'll put an X on a line with an error, and see if they can find the mistake in that line.

For spelling, have them read the sounds they wrote. If they can sound out exactly what they wrote (and not what they meant to write, or think they wrote, :) ), then they can often find errors this way.

After this process, if they don't know something was wrong, I show them the word in the original, and let them discover their mistake that way. They see the correct version, erase the part they got wrong, and correct it. We talk about why the word is spelled the way it is if they don't already know why. (There isn't always a reason--like ee words vs. ea--but sometimes there is).

HTH! Merry :-)

[sailmom]

I... uhm... don't do dictation in 2nd grade. ;) We do copywork, primarily. Then we move on to studied dictation. I understand the idea of being able to keep your own thoughts in mind, so I'll ask him if he remembers the first sentence of his narration and challenge him to recite it back to me, but I don't make him write it from dictation yet.

When my kids do start dictation, I find it better to give them the original after they write it, and ask them to correct themselves. If they can see the error and make their own corrections, they tend to internalize it better, I guess. They also don't take it so personally (I have perfectionist kids...lol). :D I make notes of issues that keep coming up (specific spelling/grammar/usage errors), so I can address them apart from our composition time.

[Mommy22alyns]

I have Becca correct it right away. I know she's a visual speller, so I want her to have the look of the correctly spelled word in front of her. I let her try to spell whatever she feels she can independently, but I also tell her that I'll help her spell anything she needs help with.

[dmmosher]

See the other thread that HappyGrace started. I'm sorry, I don't know how to cut and paste it here.

[myfatherslily]

Could you mark the incorrect words afterward, then have him look them up in a children's dictionary either together or by himself, depending on his level? I don't have a 2nd grader yet, so it's just a thought I had as I read. Might be a totally useless idea, in which case, just ignore me;) It might be a good way to encourage that independence!