LadyAberlin Posted September 16, 2009 Share Posted September 16, 2009 Why would a student who makes 95's and 100's on her spelling tests then immediately after taking the spelling test then turn around and misspell all the spelling words when she is writing down her dictation? I was looking at her paper and they give her the spelling test and then at the bottom is her dictation. All her spelling words are listed and spelled correctly, but they are all spelled wrong in the dictation passage. What is going on? TIA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue G in PA Posted September 16, 2009 Share Posted September 16, 2009 My dd12 is a great speller...always has been...except in her writing. :glare: She can memorize, take a test and score 100% in her sleep. 5 seconds later those same words will be misspelled in a writing assignment (we're talking easy words that she knew 5 years ago!). I think what is happening is the brain is only focusing on ONE task for a spelling test. The "camera" part of the brain is turned on, the child "sees" the spelling word in her brain and "spits" in out on paper. Sometimes you'll even see my dd staring up at the ceiling trying to "picture" the word. But, with a writing assignment (either dictation or original), the child is actually focusing on more than one task. Does that make sense? Spelling seems not to be the primary focus in dictation or original writing...it is spitting out those words on paper quickly as not to forget (or lose ones train of thought). Just my thoughts...probably much more to it than that...but those are my 2cents! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 The 5 yr old is doing this, or an older child? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmschooling Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 have the same spelling words used in sentences to see them in context. Do copywork a couple time with those-- she should immediately find and correct any errors, then the "test" is to have her do dictation with it. If you know her trouble woods, use those for dictiation. If there ae so many, heve her start a personal spelling list to which she adds trouble words to. Pull your dictiations from that, sprinkle it with a bit of jargon for the history/science readings, and there's your copywork for a couple days then the "dictation test". Whatever isn't getting missed moves on, but if she still misess, it's back on the list. Don't mind me...I've just taken a pill to treat insomnia that needed an hour to kick in...I do believe it ws working overtime as we're only 15 min. out and it's kicked in. LOL My whole screen is moving and those little smilies like to dance. Quite funny , really. LOL I do use and believe in the method I mentioned above thoug. Perhaps I can explain in better another time . I hope it is clear enough as in though. :001_huh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 (edited) I agree with Sue--I also think that spelling looks at one or two patterns typically, which is a good thing at first--it helps kids categorize words and sounds together for recall, and makes words that don't fit the pattern stand out. The spelling test in these cases is really testing whether the student understands how the pattern works. Dictation takes that challenge to a whole new level though because a student has to think about many patterns at once, plus she has to engage more listening and memory skills. For some kids, working memory is a tough challenge, and trying to hold the words in their mind can be hard work. She could be spending a lot of energy repeating the sentence to herself so that she doesn't forget it, and this energy takes away from being able to focus on spelling. What she may need to do after taking dictation is to then go back and edit her work. Look at each word carefully, sound it out exactly as written, think about the rules that apply, and see if anything needs to be changed. If she doesn't find her errors, what I do is put a light pencil X by the line for each error and ask them to look again. So I'm not telling them which word is wrong--I'm asking them to try to engage their skills to find it. Then if they don't, I tell them which word and have them see if they can figure out what is wrong with it. I might pronounce it as written and see if that helps, or I might quiz on a related rule. Is your daughter 5? I wonder if she just needs to slow down a bit. Break up the spelling list and the dictations over a few days to make sure the patterns and rules are really being cemented. Merry :-) Edited September 17, 2009 by MerryAtHope Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadyAberlin Posted September 17, 2009 Author Share Posted September 17, 2009 Sorry I should have clarified. I'm tutoring a public schooled 4th grader. So don't worry, I don't have the 5 yr old doing dictation:lol: He does have a few spelling words which he has no problem with. I'm hoping that he is natural speller. I've started trying to do dictation with my student and it does take her a while to get the sentences down. I don't know exactly how much time is given in her class to write the sentences and then edit them. For this week I've created about 8 sentences to have her write from dictation that contain all of her spelling words. I'm hoping that will help her with it when she does it in class. I so wish I could homeschool her. I think she would really benefit from it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coralloyd Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 We are doing spelling through copywork then a dictation test with dd7. It is working great! We tried the list approach and we had the same problem you are. This book is what we are using: http://www.ecrater.com/product.php?pid=1490908 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 Aberlin, the girl may have been taught to write by teachers who didn't give a flip about spelling. They just told her to get it on paper, no matter what. End result: kid who gets it down on paper and doesn't even stop to think if it's correct. So you have that habit to break, plus learning the whys of spelling (SWR/WRTR/anything with rules), plus getting enough practice to cement things. Have you seen the Spelling Plus dictation book? It would be perfect for that. It has dictation sentences using the spelling words and the sentences spiral to review past words. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 Sorry I should have clarified. I'm tutoring a public schooled 4th grader. So don't worry, I don't have the 5 yr old doing dictation:lol: He does have a few spelling words which he has no problem with. I'm hoping that he is natural speller. LOL, I thought, boy her 5 yo is really cruising along there! But then it did sound like the paper you were looking at was from school & not homeschooling--so then I wasn't sure! Merry :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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