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Spelling...for my mildly dyslexic 8th grader


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She has already done 7 years of Spelling, including 3 intensive years of using Apples and Pears from Sound Foundations.  I was hoping to stop teaching spelling this year, but I really don't think that would be responsible.  I am seeing many, many words spelled correctly, but also many, many that are spelled totally wrong-   So, she had 3 lab reports that only had about 4 spelling errors each....but she had significant errors in her Worldview book- both had plenty of errors to choose from. :)

 

I wonder if I should do that thing where you keep a list of the words the student has spelled incorrectly and then you use those in the future, as their spelling words.  And I could give her, say, ten per week ...with the usual exercises of write five times each, write on the white board, write in marker or crayon, etc.

 

With significant practice she IS able to learn to spell correctly, but it just takes much more practice than with other kids.  She cannot break words up into syllables very well, and she definitely doesn't do well with rules.  The rules-based programs make her extremely frustrated to the point of tears...

 

If I do go about this method, does anyone have any tips, ideas, or pointers?

 

Thanks!

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My worst speller (also 8th grade) loves that method of spelling, and does very well with it. He was never a terrible speller and isn't dyslexic at all, but he was the weakest of my boys (so far) and has used that method for a couple of years already. He learns a lot by having a word list, writing them out, and then having me test him. So I say it's worth a shot, especially if rules-based doesn't help much.

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I am mildly dyslexic. I have trouble spelling. The big problem for me is that I don't even see the spelling mistakes. I have many relatives who have dyslexia, some profound,some mild and all ranges in between. They all struggle with spelling. After year 7 here I allow my children to use technology with spell check on for written assignments. The red line underneath the misspelt word instantly alerts me and my children that the word is spelt wrong, and immediately correcting it helps reinforce the correct look of the word in the brain.

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Typing things (rather than hand-writing) along with Spell Check helped him see errors more easily, and then combined with a (good) sense of pride of not wanting to look ignorant in his conversations for online gaming helped DS#2 care more/try a bit harder with spelling.

For DS#2 here with Stealth Dyslexia / mild dyslexia, what we ended up using through middle school and all through high school: Megawords + individualized spelling I created for DS#2 from The ABCs And All Their Tricks + spelling practice ideas:

- Andrew Pudewa's Spelling and the Brain audio session -- auditory-sequential nature of spelling, and outloud back-and-forth spelling practice

- Stevenson Blue Spelling Manual -- visual mnemonic ideas and idea of out-loud spelling of short dictation sentences to practice simultaneous thinking/writing/spelling

- Sequential Spelling -- idea of small words within bigger words, and practice of syllabication (ideas combined well with Megawords and making our own spelling list)

- Carol Barnier's Toss-It idea -- combined with the outloud spelling practice, to keep focused


You might also look into Dianne Craft's suggestions for dyslexics on visualizing spelling and vowel patterns.

Another possibility is to strengthen the dyslexic's weak auditory-sequencing (absolutely needed for correct spelling) through something like Andrew Pudewa's Phonetic Zoo.

And if she's dyslexic, you might check out Sequential Spelling, which was specifically designed for dyslexics.

 

I doubt you feel up for all of that, so I would suggest just going with Megawords, which practices phonetic and vowel patterns, and syllabication (breaking longer words into smaller "bites" for sounding out and spelling attack). Megawords really did help DS practice slowing down and breaking words into syllables, which definitely helped.

I will say that it really might be worth it to hang in there with your DD for another few years and keep plugging away at Spelling. DS did not even *begin* to click with Spelling in any way until he turned 12, and every year there after up through about age 17-18, I saw him "click" a bit more with Spelling, so it was totally worth the extra effort, IMO.

Don't know what else suggest -- some people just never click with simultaneous spelling and writing, so maybe the best thing in those cases is repeated reminders that writing is a multi-step process and going back and checking the spelling in their writing is absolutely critical -- and schedule time to practice, practice, practice those steps of writing.

BEST of luck, whatever you decide! Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited by Lori D.
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Lori D.  Yes those suggestions sound great but definitely not up for all of that.  

 

I think we might try Megawords...

 

Sequential Spelling was a total failure.  We tried it for months and she came almost to tears regularly.  The idea of getting it wrong and then having to cross it out was just emotionally disheartening for her.  Go figure. I thought that not having to "take tests" would be great :P

 

Back to look at Megawords again...

 

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We went through vision therapy for some minor eye tracking problems on top of mild dyslexia and worked with a special ed teacher last year for my then 12 yr old. We learned methods from her that are very similar to the Dianne Craft methods and have been using them for a year now with the best spelling results we have ever had for her. 

 

Those methods involve using mostly a whiteboard for learning the words. (2 whiteboards actually. I write the word on mine, and she looks at it for a few seconds, then I take it away and she spells it aloud, then if she gets it correct writes it on her board, then finally, wipes that away and has to spell it backward aloud,) 

 

I have also learned that color works well. She uses multiple colored whiteboard markers and also colored markers and gel pens on paper when working on spelling. I have found the Thinking Tree Spelling workbooks that integrate the coloring and other helps for making the word pictures and we have used a couple of those for her spelling lists, adding words I notice in her daily work that she needs to get. We have the "Master the top 150 Misspelled Words" from them plus another one that is a bit younger, but that is still a good fit. Then this year we added A Reason For Spelling which has a lot of things built into its week that help her. It is a pretty full curriculum including bible and a lot of time, so we won't do it all of the time, but the workbook pages are really good, especially the word boxes. On weeks I don't do it, we will stick to the TT books. 

Edited by 2_girls_mommy
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Similar to 2_girls_mommy -- whiteboard work and color were hugely helpful here -- spelling the word outloud one letter at a time while writing that letter on the white board, and then spelling out loud one letter at a time while using a fingertip to draw over the letter and erase that letter while spelling.

Also, we would spend some time daily using the white board and colored markers to see the patterns in word endings, prefixes, compound words, and words within words We also used the whiteboard for doing visual stories to help with spelling of homophones. Example:

meat

draw the "a" like a heart, or a heart around the "a", and tell a "story" like: "I LOVE to eat meat -- see the word eat in meat?"

meet  greet

draw 2 little stick figures meeting and shaking hands, one figure over each "e", and tell a "story" like: "it takes 2 people to meet and greet -- see the 2 "e"s in meet and in greet?

Edited by Lori D.
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On 9/6/2017 at 7:12 AM, Calming Tea said:

Sequential Spelling was a total failure.  We tried it for months and she came almost to tears regularly.  The idea of getting it wrong and then having to cross it out was just emotionally disheartening for her.  Go figure. I thought that not having to "take tests" would be great 😛

Back to look at Megawords again...

No, I can absolutely see why that would NOT fly with your DD -- would NOT have worked with DS here, either. He would have felt "stupid" and shut down on trying. Also the physical act of handwriting was difficult for him, and having to cross out something he just put effort into writing would be horrible.

I strongly encourage out-loud practice of spelling words (along with whatever else you're doing). It only takes 5-10 minutes of your time, and it really helps build that weak auditory-sequential aspect.

You spell the word, then toss a beanie toy to her and she spells it and tosses the beanie back. Repeat. Then move on to the second word. Tossing the beanie keeps everyone focused. Days 1 and 2 have the list on a whiteboard or paper and spell while looking at the word! That gets the word set correctly into the visual memory.

Be sure to *instantly* correct any misspelling to prevent that from getting "stuck" in the brain -- look at the word and you spell it correctly out loud several times pointing to each letter as you spell, and then have her spell it outloud pointing to each letter as she spells.

BEST of luck in finding what works best for DD! Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited by Lori D.
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My Year 8 child is similar. He's done so much with spelling and English rules and such and he just doesn't retain that. I've considered dropping it, focusing more on good spell check use that I know plenty of adults who are poor spellers rely on, but as he's unlikely to be able to use those for exams and such, I feel we do need to try something new.

 

He does have personal spelling work that he does independently with words I've collected (and try to put together by similar mistakes) from either his work of the Essential spelling list he does with his Year 6 sibling. It has boosted his confidence a bit - he usually only takes a few days to get each new set right - but it doesn't move to his work well. Like this past week, he's misspelt coming, traveling, potatoes, appeared, steadily among other words. We ended up doing a new spelling assessment for the beginning of the year and...yeah. 

 

A recommendation I got was The Word Wasp and Hornet as better for a older kid than Apple and Pears and both have colour text similar to above posts. I'm debating between this and Megawords to begin with him. 

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  • 5 weeks later...

I also like the look of Megawords. But here is a post I read today on how "self-correction" works the best for correcting spelling problems with dyslexic issues. She also talks about getting a Franklin Speller, which sounds helpful. If you do go with the keeping a list idea, which I thought maybe I'd add with Megawords to correct what they're spelling wrong in their papers in other subjects, here is a curriculum or notebook that looks helpful to organize their lists.

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  • 1 month later...
On 11/18/2017 at 10:14 PM, marylandhsmom said:

And what grade is MegaWords for?

Megawords is listed as for grades 4-12. I have seen several families with advanced students use it in 3rd grade. I have also seen families start in in 8th grade with a struggling speller.

Our experience: We used in in grades 7-12 with our struggling speller. DS did not even begin to click with spelling before 6th grade, so it would not have worked to try Megawords with him before the spelling portion of his brain finally started to mature.

On 10/9/2017 at 11:12 AM, Amy Meyers said:

I also like the look of Megawords. But here is a post I read today on how "self-correction" works the best for correcting spelling problems with dyslexic issues. She also talks about getting a Franklin Speller, which sounds helpful. If you do go with the keeping a list idea, which I thought maybe I'd add with Megawords to correct what they're spelling wrong in their papers in other subjects, here is a curriculum or notebook that looks helpful to organize their lists.

That's great that this method worked for the author of the article. Typing and the Spell-Check feature was instantaneous "self-correction" feedback for him. DS would have lost focus, and hence, the correct spelling, if having to move to a separate device like the Franklin Speller, and then back to whatever he was either hand writing or typing. YMMV. 🙂

Also, we did briefly try How To Teach Any Child to Spell/Tricks of the Trade (your link). Not a fit for a strongly visual-spatial learner (VSL) -- which is the brain-wiring of most students who struggle with dyslexia. These students think and process randomly and whole-to-parts, not sequentially and parts-to-whole (which is the set up of this program). Also, the program is based on writing and letter placement, which slides right by for  the VSL. They need color, picture, and story to make sequential letter placement "stick", which is why the visual spelling practice ideas explained here by Dianne Craft tend to work much better for the VSL and students dealing with dyslexia.

Megawords is helpful in breaking long words into small "bites" for spelling attack. Students dealing with dyslexia frequently see the letters of a word changing order (that random brain processing, rather than sequential processing), and focusing on a short syllable helps them not have so many letters hopping around, which makes it easier for them to do the "heavy lifting" brain work of putting letters into a sequence.

Out-loud spelling practice, and diction of very short sentences in which the student spells out-loud every letter of each word while writing it, both work well to help "exercise" and strengthen auditory and sequential memory, which is typically weak in the VSL.

All of that is just our experience. Every student is different, and your student's needs and your experience may vary! 🙂 BEST of luck in finding what works best for your student! Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited by Lori D.
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