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Barton Level 3, where, were, we're


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My daughter is having a really hard time differentiating between these words when she reads. She's not having as much trouble spelling them. She did fine on the lesson on contractions and totally gets that we're is a contraction of the two words we and are, but she reads we're as were every single time. Where is frequently were as well. I hate that these stinking words are so close in spelling. It's making us crazy! Anyone with any tips?

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Yes, time and lots of practice.  

 

Does she have any developmental vision issues?  DD and DS have developmental vision issues that have caused some glitches like this.  Me too.  I had an eval through a COVD for me, as well, and found that my eyes NEVER actually hit exactly on target.  I am always slightly off so basically I am seeing words sort of with more of my peripheral vision.  Makes it hard to see the little differences and it means it takes a lot more time to master this. 

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What I might try-

 

I would constrain the flash card pile to these three flash cards just for a little while and train her to look for the differences. Lay out the three cards on the table and point out the differences. All the silent letters etc. should be marked in red. Go through them a few times specifically pointing at the h or apostrophe and say the word. I'd probably run my finger across the bottom and stop at the h or apostrophe pointing at it while I say the word. Then when you do "were" your finger will go all the way across without stopping. Once or twice after you point at each word and say them then have her say them WITH you 2 or 3 times using the same finger motion. I wouldn't have her read them by herself the first couple days although this is dependent on how difficult sight words are for your child. After a few days start by reading them with her and then have her read it by herself. When having her read the flash card by herself go ahead and point to the differences in the same manner as before to have her automate looking for the difference. Explaining the difference and automating it is different. When she is reading it will have to be automatic. I would take just a minute to do this before each lesson for a few days depending on your child. Once she says the wrong word she is practicing the wrong word and then the next time she will wonder which one was the right one so for awhile do it with her until you really think she has them down. Then move to you doing the finger motion for a day or two. Then move to her doing the motion and stopping her finger at the difference and reading it. It sounds like a lot but really you are looking at about 1 minute before each lesson and then do your regular lesson. Once she can do it by herself without you reminding her at least three times you can add them to your review pile. I also would add another game thing at the END of our quick lesson where I would rearrange the flash card and have them find "we're" or "where" then mix up the cards and find a different word. But this needs to be when she has had a lot of exposure. You don't want her guessing, you want her looking for the difference. Guessing will get rid of the automaticity you are looking for so only play something like that after she knows and will look for the right cue.

 

 

 

Don't forget to review sometimes! They will go away unless she is reading them in books and seeing them all the time.

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What I might try-

 

I would constrain the flash card pile to these three flash cards just for a little while and train her to look for the differences. Lay out the three cards on the table and point out the differences. All the silent letters etc. should be marked in red. Go through them a few times specifically pointing at the h or apostrophe and say the word. I'd probably run my finger across the bottom and stop at the h or apostrophe pointing at it while I say the word. Then when you do "were" your finger will go all the way across without stopping. Once or twice after you point at each word and say them then have her say them WITH you 2 or 3 times using the same finger motion. I wouldn't have her read them by herself the first couple days although this is dependent on how difficult sight words are for your child. After a few days start by reading them with her and then have her read it by herself. When having her read the flash card by herself go ahead and point to the differences in the same manner as before to have her automate looking for the difference. Explaining the difference and automating it is different. When she is reading it will have to be automatic. I would take just a minute to do this before each lesson for a few days depending on your child. Once she says the wrong word she is practicing the wrong word and then the next time she will wonder which one was the right one so for awhile do it with her until you really think she has them down. Then move to you doing the finger motion for a day or two. Then move to her doing the motion and stopping her finger at the difference and reading it. It sounds like a lot but really you are looking at about 1 minute before each lesson and then do your regular lesson. Once she can do it by herself without you reminding her at least three times you can add them to your review pile. I also would add another game thing at the END of our quick lesson where I would rearrange the flash card and have them find "we're" or "where" then mix up the cards and find a different word. But this needs to be when she has had a lot of exposure. You don't want her guessing, you want her looking for the difference. Guessing will get rid of the automaticity you are looking for so only play something like that after she knows and will look for the right cue.

 

 

 

Don't forget to review sometimes! They will go away unless she is reading them in books and seeing them all the time.

This sounds great!!! And yes, we review review review. It takes a long time for something to really stick.

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Yes, time and lots of practice.

 

Does she have any developmental vision issues? DD and DS have developmental vision issues that have caused some glitches like this. Me too. I had an eval through a COVD for me, as well, and found that my eyes NEVER actually hit exactly on target. I am always slightly off so basically I am seeing words sort of with more of my peripheral vision. Makes it hard to see the little differences and it means it takes a lot more time to master this.

Yes, she has been seen by the COVD. She seems ok in that regard. It's hard for me to understand how hard rote memorization is. Of course, our evaluation was only in November so I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the whole thing I guess.

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Yes, she has been seen by the COVD. She seems ok in that regard. It's hard for me to understand how hard rote memorization is. Of course, our evaluation was only in November so I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the whole thing I guess.

Yeah, it can take time to really understand, especially if you learn very differently.  Rote memorization is a different process than learning material through conceptual understanding.  For some, without other things to hang the information on, it is like trying to hold onto sand.  

 

I cannot rote memorize numbers.  I CAN rote memorize words.  They process differently in my brain.   When I was about 10 my parents moved to a new city.  I was struggling to learn our phone number.  Just reciting it over and over or writing it over and over didn't help one iota for long term recall.  Mom finally helped me come up with some mnemonics to make the numbers stick.  I finally had something to hang those numbers on.  You know what?  I remember that phone number better than any phone number I have ever had again, and that was decades ago.  But if I were just rote memorizing it wouldn't have stuck at all.  There was nothing for my brain to hang the numbers on, if that makes sense.

 

My brother is the opposite.  Numbers stick in his head very well.  Written words?  Nope.  His comprehension is high for spoken/auditory input but visual is terrible.  His spelling is atrocious.  Spelling patterns don't stick.  Just repeatedly writing words over and over and over doesn't help him at all.  He has to have something else to hang those words on.  He needs associations.  And time to think.  

 

DD does better if things are linked to pictures.  She is very visually oriented.  DS does better if there is a strong auditory and conceptual component.

 

Not sure any of that made sense...

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Yeah, it can take time to really understand, especially if you learn very differently.  Rote memorization is a different process than learning material through conceptual understanding.  For some, without other things to hang the information on, it is like trying to hold onto sand.  

 

I cannot rote memorize numbers.  I CAN rote memorize words.  They process differently in my brain.   When I was about 10 my parents moved to a new city.  I was struggling to learn our phone number.  Just reciting it over and over or writing it over and over didn't help one iota for long term recall.  Mom finally helped me come up with some mnemonics to make the numbers stick.  I finally had something to hang those numbers on.  You know what?  I remember that phone number better than any phone number I have ever had again, and that was decades ago.  But if I were just rote memorizing it wouldn't have stuck at all.  There was nothing for my brain to hang the numbers on, if that makes sense.

 

My brother is the opposite.  Numbers stick in his head very well.  Written words?  Nope.  His comprehension is high for spoken/auditory input but visual is terrible.  His spelling is atrocious.  Spelling patterns don't stick.  Just repeatedly writing words over and over and over doesn't help him at all.  He has to have something else to hang those words on.  He needs associations.  And time to think.  

 

DD does better if things are linked to pictures.  She is very visually oriented.  DS does better if there is a strong auditory and conceptual component.

 

Not sure any of that made sense...

 

It ALL makes sense. We have been trying to memorize sight word spelling Barton style... Very frustrating and doesn't work for her at all. We've made up some mnemonics and printed little cards. For example, we have a card that says, "Mr.  Mister Rooster" and has a picture of a rooster on it. She came up with that one on her own.  We also have Mrs., Mister Rooster's Sister and somehow I managed to find a picture of a hen in a tutu to put on that card. We laugh every time we see it. Anyway, we've had a lot more luck with this. We're also working on Times Tales which was of absolutely no use to my oldest. She just doesn't think that way apparently. My little one, however, is doing remarkably well though we are taking it more slowly than the instructions recommend. Anyway, the other thing I've learned about her learning is that we really need to "over-learn" something to make it stick, and even then we have to review pretty frequently. She's a very visual learner. That's not me at all. I take in information best by reading it. Jokes on me, right?

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If you email Barton she'll send you a document with three other ways to work on sight word spelling. My DS does well with the original way, but he still misreads sight words frequently even if he can read them ok on the flashcards. Mixes up were & where, has & as, of & off, etc. I need to try the method frogger suggested.

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If you email Barton she'll send you a document with three other ways to work on sight word spelling. My DS does well with the original way, but he still misreads sight words frequently even if he can read them ok on the flashcards. Mixes up were & where, has & as, of & off, etc. I need to try the method frogger suggested.

Thank you. I'm always amazed at how quickly she responds. She must get a lot of emails, but she always gets back to me.

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