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How have you made AAS more independent?


Amber in AUS
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I input each lesson's spelling list and extra words over at Spelling City. We usually do 2 hands on lessons a week at the letter tile board, then, when the kids request computer time, the first stop is always Spelling City. They love the games and I like the spoken spelling test feature. It is a huge help if you are short on time. Plus, if you take the time to label each list according to the corresponding chapter, when the next kiddo comes along, it already done for you. :001_smile: This summer, when I was putting together my file box, I took some time and went through the whole AAS book that we were using and input all the words at once, by chapter. It has really been a big time saver as the year has progressed.

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I wouldn't say it made it more independent, but to streamline it we often skip using the tiles to spell all of the words. I just let my son write them on the whiteboard after we use the tiles to explain the new rule. It makes it faster and frustrates him less because he can erase a single letter if he makes a misspelling.

 

Another thing that helps is that I use the phrases and sentences from AAS for dictation instead of using a separate program. I dictate the phrases or sentences while doing the dishes, or folding clothes, he repeats it to me, and then write it in his notebook. Afterwards we go over it and I star anything that isn't correct so he can edit it. But I waited until we started the AAS2 before doing this because I wanted to correct the mistakes before he repeated them and they became habit.

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I wouldn't say it made it more independent, but to streamline it we often skip using the tiles to spell all of the words. I just let my son write them on the whiteboard after we use the tiles to explain the new rule. It makes it faster and frustrates him less because he can erase a single letter if he makes a misspelling.

 

:iagree: But, we never use the tiles, my dd won't. She uses the dry erase lapboard, or spells orally.

 

Once we hit AAS 2, we kicked back to only 2-3 days a week as well. She's in 1st, so i'm not in a hurry with it. We should still finish it by summer.

 

I would not recommend making this program independent.

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We've used AAS for 3-4 years now and since my kids are pretty good spellers, the main thing we do differently than the book suggests are the number of times/week. We actually do all the lesson in one day - about 20 minutes. My dd likes to write on the white board for the instruction part of the lesson. My ds uses the tiles. If dd is having trouble, I insist she use the tiles and that usually helps her figure things out. When we do the list of words, dd does them on paper but ds often does them orally or on the whiteboard. DD does 3 sentences (I may increase that to 5), ds does 2 or 3. Both do the writing station activity (starts in Book 3, maybe?).

 

In the course of their writing, if I find mistakes that are from previous lessons, I make a note of it and review it the next time we do spelling. Currently dd is reviewing the rules for adding suffixes - she tends to over-generalize.

 

All in all, I'd say it's not an independent kind of spelling program.

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I used the tiles for AAS 1. Ds (8 and 6 ) used to do all the writing on their lap white board. Now they do them mostly orally and we don't use the tiles except when I introduce a new rule. Then they both write their dictation sentences on their boards.

We do one whole step a day. I think we will finish AAS 3 in less than three months. We will do one step in two days instead of one day to make it stick more, especially for my ds who is only 6 years and 1 month old. He does very well with AAS 2 that we just finished.

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I guess independent was a poor choice of wording, streamlined is what i am after. We are in level 3 now. I might look at a voice recorder for the words and phrases and i will check out Spelling City. I will certainly still be teaching the rules and lesson part :)

 

Well, I add to AAS to make it more independent and provide more practice, but it is more work for me, so I hesitated to post. I make worksheets that state the rule being learned and then require DD to write the word in a way that highlights the rule. For example, if the lesson is about the soft G sound I type the list of words and require her to copy them writing the G in one color and the E following it in another color. I've also made WS that require her to divide and label syllables. I try to have one for each concept taught.

 

She keeps these sheets in a binder in the order in which they are learned. I also require a spelling story using some of the new words. She has a ball with the stories because I have told her they do not have to be serious stories. We all love to hear them because they turn out so funny!

 

When I make the worksheets, I bring the TE to the computer with me and make quite a few at a time so all I have to do is print them when we get to the lesson. I label them with the step #. There have been a couple of times that I have assigned a worksheet more than once if she needed extra practice. We move through some steps more quickly than others, depending on her retention and how much review of past material I plan for the week. I also make up worksheets that have words from more than one step to use as review too.

 

I like her binder of worksheets because it provides me with a handy reference for review. I still teach the lessons, but we don't use the tiles or cards--too many things to keep track of for me. I know some really like the cards, but the binder works better for me. Maybe I have a touch of ADD because I just feel overwhelmed when I look at all the cards and tiles! Lately, I've been thinking about adding in some practice with the cards, to see if it benefits DD. I don't want to deprive her of some good practice just because of my own issues!

 

With the worksheets and the story as assignments, I have cut my teaching to about twice a week. Like others here we mostly cover an entire step in one sitting. I save a few of the dictation phrases and sentences from the lesson for whiteboard review just before I teach the next step. That helps me see how much she is remembering. In AAS 1 I just covered the material as suggested. I felt bogged down by the method and wasn't seeing enough retention. Now I see more retention and I am free on several days to work with DS because DD has her spelling to do independent of me.

 

And that is my long-winded answer to how I make AAS more independent (streamlined)! Hope it gives you some ideas.

 

Shannon

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I don't think you could make AAS more independent without losing what makes it work. The strength of AAS is that it facilitates a conversation about spelling. I think any efforts to make it more independent will make more work for you.

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I haven't really streamlined AAS, but I do involve 3yo dd during the spelling and spelling review times by placing the cards to do that day upside down on the table and she picks them up one at a time. We also do spelling three days a week for a slightly longer time. I've found that longer lessons less often work better here than short lessons everyday.

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Well, I add to AAS to make it more independent and provide more practice, but it is more work for me, so I hesitated to post. I make worksheets that state the rule being learned and then require DD to write the word in a way that highlights the rule. For example, if the lesson is about the soft G sound I type the list of words and require her to copy them writing the G in one color and the E following it in another color. I've also made WS that require her to divide and label syllables. I try to have one for each concept taught.

 

She keeps these sheets in a binder in the order in which they are learned. I also require a spelling story using some of the new words. She has a ball with the stories because I have told her they do not have to be serious stories. We all love to hear them because they turn out so funny!

 

When I make the worksheets, I bring the TE to the computer with me and make quite a few at a time so all I have to do is print them when we get to the lesson. I label them with the step #. There have been a couple of times that I have assigned a worksheet more than once if she needed extra practice. We move through some steps more quickly than others, depending on her retention and how much review of past material I plan for the week. I also make up worksheets that have words from more than one step to use as review too.

 

I like her binder of worksheets because it provides me with a handy reference for review. I still teach the lessons, but we don't use the tiles or cards--too many things to keep track of for me. I know some really like the cards, but the binder works better for me. Maybe I have a touch of ADD because I just feel overwhelmed when I look at all the cards and tiles! Lately, I've been thinking about adding in some practice with the cards, to see if it benefits DD. I don't want to deprive her of some good practice just because of my own issues!

 

With the worksheets and the story as assignments, I have cut my teaching to about twice a week. Like others here we mostly cover an entire step in one sitting. I save a few of the dictation phrases and sentences from the lesson for whiteboard review just before I teach the next step. That helps me see how much she is remembering. In AAS 1 I just covered the material as suggested. I felt bogged down by the method and wasn't seeing enough retention. Now I see more retention and I am free on several days to work with DS because DD has her spelling to do independent of me.

 

And that is my long-winded answer to how I make AAS more independent (streamlined)! Hope it gives you some ideas.

 

Shannon

 

Thank you for sharing this. When I first saw this thread, I didn't even bother opening it because I thought, "AAS isn't meant to be independent." :ohmy:

 

Then I noticed that my daughter hasn't gotten in one single day of spelling this week because her little brother is so demanding of my time. Off to look for this thread! :tongue_smilie:

 

It never even occurred to me to make worksheets from AAS! My daughter (surprisingly) loves worksheets! And she needs to review the spelling rules at least twice a week or she'll forget them.

 

After reading your post I realized that I could at least make worksheets of the spelling rules (blue cards) and maybe we can do the rest orally and on the white board like we've been doing. That would really cut down on the time I would need to stop 'directing' my son and working one on one with my daughter. (I feel guilty about this, but managing my son feels like a full time job in and of itself. :( )

 

Thanks for the idea!

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Thank you for sharing this. When I first saw this thread, I didn't even bother opening it because I thought, "AAS isn't meant to be independent." :ohmy:

 

Then I noticed that my daughter hasn't gotten in one single day of spelling this week because her little brother is so demanding of my time. Off to look for this thread! :tongue_smilie:

 

It never even occurred to me to make worksheets from AAS! My daughter (surprisingly) loves worksheets! And she needs to review the spelling rules at least twice a week or she'll forget them.

 

After reading your post I realized that I could at least make worksheets of the spelling rules (blue cards) and maybe we can do the rest orally and on the white board like we've been doing. That would really cut down on the time I would need to stop 'directing' my son and working one on one with my daughter. (I feel guilty about this, but managing my son feels like a full time job in and of itself. :( )

 

Thanks for the idea!

I'm glad my idea was able to help someone. What level are you on? We are just about finished with AAS 2. Maybe I can e mail you my worksheets to save you time. Then you would just have to tweak them for your DD.

 

And I don't think you should feel guilty for needing to give DS direction he needs. I do the worksheets and story, on purpose to give myself days of no spelling instruction so I can devote time to Ds (12) in other areas where he needs it.

 

Shannon

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How to Spell workbooks are a great way to review the rules and phonograms that you have learned on days when you can't get to AAS.

 

http://eps.schoolspecialty.com/products/details.cfm?series=1847m

 

The lessons are almost exactly the same, as they are both Orton-Gillingham programs.

 

I find AAS to be simpler and easier to understand. With How To Spell, unless you have the teacher's guide you will not have dictation phrases or sentences. I find the layout of How to Spell (both TE and Workbooks) to be confusing. While it teaches the same rules and phonograms it seems to follow a different progression. I had the How to Spell workbooks, was going to use them, and then sold them. What I designed for my DD myself based on AAS is a better fit and seems more logical to me. I'm opting to stick with AAS and then transition later to Megawords (which is what my older DS uses).

 

Shannon

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I'm glad my idea was able to help someone. What level are you on? We are just about finished with AAS 2. Maybe I can e mail you my worksheets to save you time. Then you would just have to tweak them for your DD.

 

And I don't think you should feel guilty for needing to give DS direction he needs. I do the worksheets and story, on purpose to give myself days of no spelling instruction so I can devote time to Ds (12) in other areas where he needs it.

 

Shannon

 

What a generous offer! I already started making the worksheets... LOL... but if you don't mind, I'd love if you can send me a couple samples of yours so maybe I can glean some more ideas! :001_smile: We are also on Level Two with my daughter.

 

Thanks so much! My email addy is: whimsicaltwist @ gmail . com [remove the spaces]

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For those of you who have already typed up words on spelling city- is there any way for others to access those words? I'm just thinking it would be a big time saver. I'm new to Spelling City - just signed up.

 

We're about to start AAS book 3. Wish I would have known about spelling city with the first two books.

 

Thanks!

Rachel

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I find AAS to be simpler and easier to understand. With How To Spell, unless you have the teacher's guide you will not have dictation phrases or sentences. I find the layout of How to Spell (both TE and Workbooks) to be confusing. While it teaches the same rules and phonograms it seems to follow a different progression. I had the How to Spell workbooks, was going to use them, and then sold them. What I designed for my DD myself based on AAS is a better fit and seems more logical to me. I'm opting to stick with AAS and then transition later to Megawords (which is what my older DS uses).

 

Shannon

I also gave up using How To Teach Spelling as our main program, (though I had our schedule working alright after I had already ordered AAS, the rules are stated in an overly complicated manner, IMO.) but I do find it great as a supplement. If we need to work on a particular rule or phonogram for a longer time I can pull up more words and sentences or pull out a couple of worksheets. Edited by Lovedtodeath
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I find AAS to be simpler and easier to understand. With How To Spell, unless you have the teacher's guide you will not have dictation phrases or sentences. I find the layout of How to Spell (both TE and Workbooks) to be confusing. While it teaches the same rules and phonograms it seems to follow a different progression. I had the How to Spell workbooks, was going to use them, and then sold them. What I designed for my DD myself based on AAS is a better fit and seems more logical to me. I'm opting to stick with AAS and then transition later to Megawords (which is what my older DS uses).

 

Shannon

 

Will you be working all the way through the AAS levels and them moving to Megawords? Or are you switching before then? How old is your DS and how is he doing with Megawords? I wanted to use AAS with my DD (9th and terrible speller) but we just don't have anymore time to fit in another curriculum that we have to do together. I need something more independent for her.

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Will you be working all the way through the AAS levels and them moving to Megawords? Or are you switching before then? How old is your DS and how is he doing with Megawords? I wanted to use AAS with my DD (9th and terrible speller) but we just don't have anymore time to fit in another curriculum that we have to do together. I need something more independent for her.

 

 

I started DS (12- almost 13 now, but 11 at the time) on AAS and it was just too much easy stuff to slog through, so I switched him to Megawords. It is definitely more independent. He is doing well with it. I think the best way to make sure he transfers the learning is by requiring corrections in his other writing.

 

On one of SWB lectures she suggests making them rewrite misspelled words 5X(I think) each. She made the remark that middle school age kids often just don't want to be bothered to make corrections. I have found this to be true and as she suggested, once they are forced to make those corrections they are much more careful and you get a truer picture of spelling abilities, which helps you see what is laziness and what is a true spelling weakness.

 

The way I've restructured AAS for DD has given me about 2 days of instruction with her and 2 with DS to go over Megawords. There are some dictation pages with Megawords. Sometimes we do these, sometimes not. I think they are benificial, but I have to be realistic about time.

 

With MW we follow a similar routine that I use for DD. I go over the rule and quiz him on the words with a whiteboard. He keeps a notebook of rules and words to illustrate them. The rule he copies from the TE and then I tell him how many words to copy as examples. Usually I pick words that are difficult for him. I circle them in the TE so he knows which to copy. I also have him hightlight the rule in the words in some way-- either underlining, labeling vowels w/ v, consonants w/ c, separating by syllables, dividing syllables or writing some letters in another color. Then I assign pages from the workbook. One list might take us two weeks to cover, but I do several whiteboard quizzes and also quiz about the wording of the rule. As a final assignment he writes a one paragraph story using the words. He prefers a story over sentences as he has created a strange creature that he writes every story about. Interestingly, they are much like the stories in Life of Fred.

 

I am not sure how many levels of AAS I will go through with DD before switching to MW. At least through level 3, maybe 4. HTH

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I started DS (12- almost 13 now, but 11 at the time) on AAS and it was just too much easy stuff to slog through, so I switched him to Megawords. It is definitely more independent. He is doing well with it. I think the best way to make sure he transfers the learning is by requiring corrections in his other writing.

 

On one of SWB lectures she suggests making them rewrite misspelled words 5X(I think) each. She made the remark that middle school age kids often just don't want to be bothered to make corrections. I have found this to be true and as she suggested, once they are forced to make those corrections they are much more careful and you get a truer picture of spelling abilities, which helps you see what is laziness and what is a true spelling weakness.

 

The way I've restructured AAS for DD has given me about 2 days of instruction with her and 2 with DS to go over Megawords. There are some dictation pages with Megawords. Sometimes we do these, sometimes not. I think they are benificial, but I have to be realistic about time.

 

With MW we follow a similar routine that I use for DD. I go over the rule and quiz him on the words with a whiteboard. He keeps a notebook of rules and words to illustrate them. The rule he copies from the TE and then I tell him how many words to copy as examples. Usually I pick words that are difficult for him. I circle them in the TE so he knows which to copy. I also have him hightlight the rule in the words in some way-- either underlining, labeling vowels w/ v, consonants w/ c, separating by syllables, dividing syllables or writing some letters in another color. Then I assign pages from the workbook. One list might take us two weeks to cover, but I do several whiteboard quizzes and also quiz about the wording of the rule. As a final assignment he writes a one paragraph story using the words. He prefers a story over sentences as he has created a strange creature that he writes every story about. Interestingly, they are much like the stories in Life of Fred.

 

I am not sure how many levels of AAS I will go through with DD before switching to MW. At least through level 3, maybe 4. HTH

 

Thanks Shannon. I will look into MW. I am thinking about maybe just having her make a spelling notebook. Having her write one rule to a page with some example words on each, at her level. Then as she is editing her writing and misspells a word, she could add it to her notebook. I need to keep it pretty simple as she has a full load already as it is.

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I like AAS a lot, but if you're heading into a tough year, do something totally independent like the Calvert spelling on computer and be done with it. Anything you miss now you can make up later, honest. Sometimes with think things ride too much on us. The child keeps growing and maturing, even when we're not watching. Make sure she reads. Give her things that can get done. It will all work out fine.

 

BTW, we're doing AAS at a much faster pace (5-8 lessons in one session), so it's totally possible to make up later, even much later. A year or six months of something different will NOT ruin the child. We did the Calvert spelling on the computer one year when we needed to change things up, and it was really good for us.

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