Overteaching spelling method

[Laurie4b]

This is what I posted on the old boards (found it by googling)

 

These are both Word doc's so some punctuation may be missing

 

Use Fry s list of 1000 most frequently used words . The first 250 or so comprise 65% of written lang. Go through the list till the child misses 3 words. Have the child write these three words in some way that points out the difference between how the child spells it and the correct way. 1) You can use a marking method, like Sanseri s or Spaldings, or just underline two letter combinations that make one sound, etc. or 2) Write the tricky part of the word in a separate color from the rest of the word or 3) teach the child a way to pronounce the word to himself that helps with the spelling. e.g. instead of again pronounced a-gen, with a short e, teach him to say the second syllable with a long A sound when spelling.)(Additionally, you can use words misspelled from your child s work.) 4) Have the child write it with index and middle fingers on a textured surface, such as carpet. (These two fingers have lots of nerve endings). 5) Have the child write it in the air, as if she were spray-painting it on a wall. The motion should be from the shoulder. (You don t have to do ALL of these. Select some.)

 

The next day, dictate the three words in a sentence, or sentences. Additionally, give some more words from Fry s list.

 

Eventually, you have a full spelling list, 3 words at a time.

 

Set up a system on your computer that is divided into on deck (new words missed) day1,2,3,4,&5; week 1,2,3 and month 1,2,3.

 

Each day that a word is spelled correctly, it moves forward to the next day slot, till it gets to week 1. Then each week it s spelled correctly , it moves to the next week spot, till it gets to the monthly spot. Once a word has been spelled correctly 5 days in a row, 3 weeks in a row, and 3 months in a row, it is done. Any time, whether in spelling or in written work, one of those words is misspelled, it goes to day 1 again, and through the same process.

 

On the first day of the week, since I will be going through 3 weekly tests, I just dictate words, not sentences. I do the rest of the program Tues-Fri. On the first of the month, we take a couple days to go through the words in the monthly spots, then go back to the routine.

 

The computer makes this less work than it sounds, but it certainly is more work than a boxed program. However, it s actually yielding steady results! Yes, my child complains about it, but if he had a physical injury and had to do the physical therapy exercises, I d expect him to do those, too. My ds also has trouble with language mechanics, so I make sure anything new that we are focusing on is incorporated in the dictation.

 

Here's the outline for a workshop I've presented at a special needs conference:

 

SPELLING THAT WORKS

 

 

Step 1: Phonetically regular words: short vowels, blends, consonant digraphs

 

Short vowel keywords and signals (these are from Wilson)

Tapping (this method is from Wilson)

Letter tiles

Mapping (this is from Phonographix)

Overteaching if necessary

Teach pattern, not specific words

 

 

Step 2: High Frequency Words

 

Fry s Most Frequent Word List

First 100 words comprise 50% of our written language. First 300 words comprise 65% of our written language

 

Overteaching: The difference between writing in sand and chiseling into stone

 

Pre-steps

Step 1 Create Word file:

 

On deck:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Month 1

Month 2

Month 3

Done

 

Have to pass each level in a row. ONE miss (during spelling, or in writing) and the word goes back to Day 1. It is not on deck so it does not count in the new words. It then goes through each level again.

 

 

Step 2: Give dictation test of 25 or so most frequent words. Put all words missed on deck. Put all words spelled correctly in done.

 

DAILY STEPS

 

Step 1: Teach 3 new words (choose the first 3 from on deck )

 

3 new words a day: initial input

Multi-sensory input (choose what works best for your child)

Write in two different colors, using a contrasting color for the part that he messes up

Use a marking system, such as underlining digraphs

Say to spell where that is helpful: again = agayn or beautiful = be-ay-yu-ti-ful

Tactile: use index and middle fingers to trace word while mapping or saying letters. (Say letters if it is irregular. Say sounds if it is regular.)

Arm-slapping, stomping

Mnemonic devises: here is in here, and there, and everywhere (These are all location words.)

 

Step 2 Dictate sentences composed of as many of the spelling words at once as you can. Incorporate language mechanics that you are working on. Introduce no more than two new language mechanics items at a time. (E.g., Capitalize the first word of each sentence. Use end punctuation.) You can correct other items, but they are not WRONG, just FYI.

 

Start with the words in day 5, and move backwards to day 1. There is no reason that you cannot combine words from day 4 and 5 if it makes a good sentence.

 

Step 3. Check each sentence immediately after it is written. Do not dictate the whole thing and then check. Words spelled correctly move to the next slot. Words spelled incorrectly move to Day 1.

 

 

WEEKLY:

Monday morning: Dictate words in all weekly categories. Start with Week 3 words. No sentences at this point unless you are dealing with a homophone.

You can skip dictation of sentences for daily words if that will put your student over the edge.

Tuesday-Friday, do daily steps.

 

MONTHLY:

Dictate all words on monthly lists. Divide this into 2-3 days. No sentences except for homophones.

 

 

Tricks:

Word tricks to make your task easy:

Highlight plus Ctrl X lifts a word off the page. To put it in its new category, click cursor on the category and hit ctrl v.

Ctrl F will allow you to type in a word and see if it is anywhere in the document. This is useful if your student misspells a word in his daily work and you cannot remember whether you have done it or not yet, or where it is on the list.

 

Sentences

Use homophones and words that are mistaken for each other in the same sentence:

 

They re over there with their team.

He s here, he s there, he s everywhere!

Where were you? (Where and were are frequently spelled as the other word)

What do you want? (What and want are often confused with the h appearing or disappearing randomly.)

Do you two want to go to the store, too?

You two have had too much to eat.

 

Word Sorting

When you come to a long vowel word on the most frequent word list, consider teaching a set of words with that pattern.

 

E.g. sentences to teach most common oa words:

Float the boat across the moat at the coast. The goat and the foal pull the coach. Do not boast, gloat, or moan from your throat. Roast the loaf above the coals and get toast. Loan me some soap and a coat.

 

You can do this with a set of sentences that the child writes. Later, he does word sorting.

throw know snow

phone stone home shone

open no over hero

toe doe goes

 

I'll be glad to answer questions.

[Sara R]

Laurie, I'm resurrecting this old thread to say thank you for posting about the overteaching spelling method! I'm using it with my older, probably-dyslexic daughter who has a terrible time spelling, despite practicing her spelling words at school with the Spalding phonograms.

 

I'm using the Spelling Plus list, word practice, and dictation sentences in conjunction with the system you posted here. And it really doesn't take much time. I give my daughter the daily spelling test at the beginning of the day. While she is doing her math fact drill I head over to the computer and open up the Excel document where I have her list. I have the words organized by column in the Excel list: on deck; day 1, day 2, day 3, day 4, day 5; week 1, 2, 3 and month 1, 2, 3. On "Sheet 2" of the Excel document I have her spelling list for the day.

 

Each day, while dd does math drill, I select the words that she got right on her daily test and move them to the next column to the right. I move the words she got wrong back to "day 1" (if she has space on her list) or "on deck." I notice how many words went from "day 5" to "week 1," and I select that number of new words from the "on deck" column and move them to "day 1." Then I move to "sheet 2" and delete the words that fell of the list that week, and replace them with the new words. Then I print up her new spelling list. I use a font (Jarman) that looks like Italic handwriting so she can trace it as part of her spelling practice. I started with a list of 15, but I've moved her up to 25 without a problem. When the words start getting harder I may have to bump her back down. This takes 5 minutes tops for me to do.

 

During spelling practice she goes over the words in the Spelling Plus way (say the word and spell it orally while pointing to the letters; say the word and spell it orally while tracing it; cover the model and write the word on another sheet of paper; check against the model; close eyes and spell it). Later that day we do dictation.

 

DD is in 5th grade. She got 1/4 of the 1st and 2nd grade Spelling Plus words wrong on the pretest. The words she missed on the pretest made up our first batch of "on deck" words. We've only been doing this method for about 6 weeks now, but she's worked on about 75 words so far. Her spelling is improving.

[Laurie4b]

I'm glad that it's helping your dd. :)

[ElizabethB]

That's the only good use of sight words! (Actually, they're good for ESL students, too.)

[ondreeuh]

Can I kiss you? Would that be improper?

 

Thank you so much. This is exactly what I need.

[proudmamma]

I know this thread is old but I am wanting to use this with my son and have a question I am hoping someone can answer ;). During the daily work, do you practice spelling all the words in each daily slot each day? Say it's Tuesday, do I give three new words and then practice all of the words from days 1-5 too?

 

Mon- weekly tests

Tue- 3 new words, practice words from days 1-5

Wed-3 new words, practice words from days 1-5

Thurs- 3 new words, practice words from days 1-5

Fri- 3 new words, practice words from days 1-5

 

Right?

Edited January 4, 2012 by proudmamma

[Laurie4b]

I know this thread is old but I am wanting to use this with my son and have a question I am hoping someone can answer ;). During the daily work, do you practice spelling all the words in each daily slot each day? Say it's Tuesday, do I give three new words and then practice all of the words from days 1-5 too?

 

Mon- weekly tests

Tue- 3 new words, practice words from days 1-5

Wed-3 new words, practice words from days 1-5

Thurs- 3 new words, practice words from days 1-5

Fri- 3 new words, practice words from days 1-5

 

Right?

 

You won't add 3 new words a day once you get going, because the student will miss words. In the first few days of implementing the program, you do.

 

A word goes through all the levels: spelled correctly for 5 days in a row, 3 weeks in a row, 3 months in a row. If it ever is not spelled correctly, it starts back at day 1, so missed words end up on the daily spelling lists. It's a judgment about how many words to have on the list at any given time. You have to judge by your own student's capacity. So if your child has just taken a weekly or monthly test and missed several words, you may not add any new words for a while. Hope that makes sense.

[proudmamma]

Yes, thank you!

[ondreeuh]

I am bringing this thread up to the top to share the spreadsheet I made to use this method with the Spelling Plus word list. It's on a google spreadsheet - you should be able to save a copy and then use it for your own kids.

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0At8jzvVozVm0dElIZTVXWDFlZWVrZ09wYjJyeGF6akE

[houseofkids&pets]

Thanks ondreeuh for the spreadsheet. I am glad this thread was resurrected. Thanks also to Laurie4b for the great info.