Help! I am working as a resource teacher with a group of fifth graders who are just dismal spellers. They are mostly good readers and writers, but couldn’t spell a word correctly if their lives depended on it. So far this year I have abandoned the spelling workbook and tried to integrate spelling with creative writing. I give them about 10 high-frequency words to learn every 2 or 3 weeks and try to create writing activities that use the words in meaningful context as frequently as possible. It’s no use! When the same words come up later, they are inevitable mispelled. Any suggestions?
Do you have my son? :)
So true of his spelling….. and frustrating.
As a parent, I subscribe to the theory that the hardest thing to do is unlearn incorrect material. Ive seen posts on the boards from teachers who advocate always giving the child a multiplication chart when they do their workpages so they are never ‘learning’ that 6x2=14 because thats what they wrote(and wrote and wrote)on their worksheets and it stuck.
My son never mastered spelling basic words yet he was continually moved through the spelling curriculum working on ‘legislature’ while he was still writing ‘thay’ in his writing.
I would suggest a writing wall(3rd gr teacher did this)with all the commonly used words in plain sight. LET THEM COPY-hopefully, writing ‘they’ enough times will knock out whatever neuron formed(whatever)and created that ‘thay’ connection(which they are strengthening every time they write it-marking it wrong later really doesnt affect that part)
Also, be aware that, at a deeper level, they may be progressing. Putting ‘ay’ in ‘they’ may actually have been a huge sound/symbol connection for my son and a good thing!
Re: teaching spelling
A few years ago I was trained in an orton-guillingham based reading program. The LD students I work with do not always hear the sounds and needed multisensory techniques to help them with the phonics. The first thing that I notice improve with my students was their spelling skills. As we have worked through the program the students have learned rules and sight words in order to improve spelling. My students are in the middle school and most of them recognize that spelling is difficult for them. Word Processing with spell check is also helping them learn to recognize errors. I know that students are not always able to use spell check but I am tring to give them skills for the future. Use mirrors/ motor activities/ movement-large-small to help students with spelling. Remember some students will never distinguish the difference between sounds and must rely on other sences.
Re: teaching spelling
My son has a reading disability, is in 4th grade, and reads just at 5th grade level after thousands of hours of reading tutoring. But he is at grade level, which makes me very happy. Still, his spelling isn’t so hot so I hired a tutor.
His tutor uses the Henderson-Bear-Ganske approach to spelling. He learns to spell around groups of sounds. These authors have specific developmental spelling stages with brief assessments to determine where a kid is in the process. Some sounds just don’t match their spelling and must be “burned” on the brain through various games using the various senses. Kathy Ganske’s book Word Journeys has a great appendix at the back of the book with lists of words. Donald Bear et al also has lists in Words Their Way. Both books have a variety of games. The Resource Room also has similiar word lists.
I know that Phono-Graphix and AVKO Sequential Spelling are also highly regarded. Gandske is the approach my tutor uses so we went with it. I am seeing improvement in spelling when my son journels or brings home written assignments.
It is my understanding from the research literature on spelling that spelling doesn’t stick with many kids until they write the words over and over in sentences and book reports.
Hope this is helpful.
Re: teaching spelling
Hi Laura,
I, too, am working with two 5th grade students (a boy and a girl) who were dismal spellers. They were either trying to memorize the spellings of words or trying to figure out which letters (from a multiple of choices) represented a particular sound.
Here’s a procedure that really helps unravel the problem.
First they need some phonics ammunition. However, the key is to teach ONLY one sound for each letter or letter-combination. As a result, they will have an IMMEDIATE response to each letter or letter-combination because ONLY one sound is known. This RELIABLE phonics information covers about 90% of the information they need.
Second, using this RELIABLE phonics information as a focal point, they can now ANALYZE each spelling words - “Is this a PHONICS word (a word that CAN be sounded out) or a STUDY word (a word that CAN’T be sounded out?”
For words that CAN be sounded out, they simply SOUND AS THEY SPELL the word. It’s like “telling yourself the answer” as you write the word. Ex. WISH - ww - ihh - sh
For the words that CAN’T be sounded out (Ex. said), you ask them, “What does it REALLY say when you sound it out?” They will reply “sayd.” They simply SOUND AS THEY SPELL the mispronunciation. Ex. ss - ai - d. Then they give the correction pronunciation (sed). This reminds them to spell the word with “ai” in the middle rather than an “e” (or other “ehh” symbols).
Reintroduce every word on the Dolch List with this ANALYTIC approach. From there, continue to use this ANALYTIC approach with any further spelling list of your choice. It works like a charm. I also recommend the Scott Foresman/Addison Wesley spelling books because they include written language exercises along with the spelling lesson. Just introduce the words with this “simplified” ANALYTIC approach in place of the approach they recommend.
For further information on this technique, check into www.OnlineReadingTeacher.com/spelling.html.
Re: teaching spelling
We may not be able to make perfect spellers of all children but we know there are stages children (and adults) pass through on the path to becoming better spellers. This sequence was verified by Edmund Henderson and his students at the University of Virginia in the early 80’s.
I’ve tried to categorize these stages into a table format that you can find at
http://www.spellangtree.org/Levels.html
Also on that website you can find a list of 140 high frequency words arranged according to levels of difficulty. You can also find 10 assessments that will help determine problems with the lowest level words.
When children have mastered the low level short vowel words, they’ll begin to look at within word patterns such as long vowel patterns in single-syllable words and doubling of consonants when creating two syllable words that need to retain the short vowel spelling.
I think Sue Jones has a list of the six kinds of syllables somewhere on her website at http://www.resourceroom.net
You may find that helpful. Grace
Try AVKO spelling. It teaches patterns. It requires kids be able to read multisyllable words. It only takes a few minutes a day.
Beth