I am wondering if I should change spelling programs. I have been using Sequential Spelling by AVKO. I haven’t used it this year because I need something for my ds to work independently. Also AVKO teaches patterns but not the rules. I think my ds needs to know spelling rules. He reads very well (high 9th grade level). His spelling would be considered at about 6th grade level. IS there anything that he could use independently? I have tried Spelling Workout which is the traditional spelling program of pretest, several exercises using words, and then a posttest. HE would memorize for the test and then forget how to spell the words. It is through his writing that I see whopping spelling mistakes. Here are some examples: laybor, machiens, Texes, constallation, inventers, capitallist, inprove, declers, Mexecian, gennral, sighn, terotory, Arazona, and strugles to name a few. The reason that I need him to work independently is that I have two younger dd’s that need much attention in their school work. The oldest girl is dyslexic. My son is very good at working independently, but I need to give him something to help him here with his spelling. Thanks,
Jan P.
Re: Spelling question for eighth grader:
Rudginski’s _How to Teach Spelling_ is an excellent source for this level of spelling, has lots of good references for rules & patterns, and I believe has workbooks. It’s at www.epsbooks.com
Question about How to Spell book
Is this book a “stand alone book” or do I need to get the workbooks? I have looked at the sample pages for these workbooks. They look good, but I wouldn’t know which one to get. I couldn’t get the third workbook to come up, so I’m not sure what is in it. I wish that EPS would give table of contents or a more indepth summary of what are in their workbooks. Thanks,
Jan P.
Re: Spelling question for eighth grader:
Dear Jan,
I may have a solution for you. I am a special education teacher, parent of an LD child, and the author of Looking Glass Spelling. It is a textbook designed for older kids with LD that teaches strategies for spelling and vocabulary development. The method is designed for students to use independently with minimal supervision.
Your son’s difficulties may be resulting from his trying to memorize words rather than “attacking” them as he would a reading word. Looking Glass Spelling uses the decoding/word attack strategies of Dr. Gerald Glass (Glass Analysis) in a multisensory framework to teach kids how to attack a spelling word and conquer it. It uses clusters of sounds rather than individual phonemes like Orton Gillingham and Wilson in a sequential format that allows for continual reinforcement. There is a section that helps students generalize the concepts taught and carry the techniques over into new situations, a skill that is very difficult for LD students and not usually addressed in other spelling texts.
Please email me for more information or visit my website to see a sample of a lesson: www.gwhizresources.com
Hope I can help.
Fern Goldstein
Re: Question about How to Spell book
YOu might want to ask for their full catalog — it’s just got more info than online. The workbooks were written after the book and I have never used them; however, spelling is part of the multisensory reading program I was trained in so I had those resources as well.
I’d send an email asking about the third workbook or call them (I had trouble getting through with email earlier this summer but got lots of answers on the phone).
Re: Spelling question for eighth grader:
Jan, What he needs is basic spelling strategies. I have taught Phono-Graphix to kids very fast because of the way it handles the advanced code and it can be converted into understanding the way words are spelled. They have a component to the program called Super Speller, after that I have used Spelling Power from Castlemoyle publishing. If you would like some more help, email me directly. Shay
I am taking a round about way of dealing with this. My son does exactly what your son does. He spells great on tests. He is a phonetic speller and does a really good job of sounding out words on tests. This isn’t working with the writing.
I believe that my son’s problem is with symbol imagery. He can’t see the word in his head. He has visual motor problems. He relies heavily on his auditory strengths. I have been thinking that if he could learn to visualize the words and the sounds better it would help him in writing. Sounding out words while you are trying to write a story is laborious and as your example implies even if you use the correct sounds it may not be correct. It also needs to look right. I think the only way to spell well is to be able to use the two skills of sounding out and visualizing what the word is supposed to look like on the page. I know for my son the latter is the weak link.
So, we are going to do lindamood bell seeing stars and visualizing and verbalizing and hopefully we will add a new skill.