5LittleMonkeys Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 what resources do you use and how does it look on a weekly basis in your home? Dd12 is a terrible speller but I'm finding it difficult to determine if it is laziness or if she doesn't know all of the rules. We had been using Megawords last year and while she liked it and was doing well with the book I wasn't seeing it translate over into her writing. Same thing when we used Spelling Power the year before. She is lazy when it comes to thinking about words, their meanings and how to use them so I think a vocabulary element would benefit her as well. She is visual-spatial and thinks whole to parts so I'm really wanting to do something that is within the context of her other subjects but something more than just writing down the words in a spelling notebook and making note of the spelling rule she should use for it and after CLE LA being a bust, I'm really wanting to try to stear clear of workbooks for her this year. I'd like to do something maybe 3 times a week, maybe highlighting a rule and exploring words that would fall into that rule. Once we create a workable list of words we could also explore the vocabulary of those words, if those words can be made into new words by adding prefixes and suffixes, what the roots of those words are and some experiments in actually using those words. Basically a rules based spelling and vocab combined, but very hands on, open ended, lots of discussion and application. I have so much on my plate right now and I know this will be more time consuming than handing her a workbook but I just know she learns differently than any of my other dc and teaching her effectively means more time from me. I would however love to see how others might be doing something similar or what types of resources\spines they might be using. I posed the question, on the other board, about using Phonics Pathways spelling rules as a jumping off point for teacing spelling but I don't know if that would be the best resource for ALL the spelling rules for a 6th grader. Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated. TIA! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 If she is a whole to parts learner, perhaps she would do well with Sequential Spelling. It helps kids develop a sense of the patterns of English spelling. Perhaps this would be more whole to parts than a rule based approach? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5LittleMonkeys Posted July 10, 2011 Author Share Posted July 10, 2011 If she is a whole to parts learner, perhaps she would do well with Sequential Spelling. It helps kids develop a sense of the patterns of English spelling. Perhaps this would be more whole to parts than a rule based approach? Okay...I feel completly stupid. I never even thought about a rules based approach being parts to whole! Good grief, these whole to parts, parts to whole methods confuse me sometimes. :blink::blush: Maybe I need to educate myself better about how to teach a whole to parts person spelling before I go experimenting on creating my own curriculum. I'll look at Sequential Spelling.:D Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chepyl Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 You could try spelling plus and the dictation book that goes with it. Even if she quickly gets through the book, it gives great instruction on how to create your own lists. It also breaks the words down by spelling rules. It has premade lists of the 1000 most common words. Then, for each rule there are a lot more words listed in the back. We are alternating a spelling list one week, dictation for that list the next week. I really like the method it sets up! It is easy, but has repetition that is more meaningful that spelling worksheets (I found that the spelling we did last year was really just reading comprehension, not really working his spelling!) This method just uses the word lists; and I love the idea of dictation, it forces them to transfer their spelling into their writing. They have to remember a sentence and how to spell all the words in it. (It also has great grammar benefits!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 (edited) One note about spelling not translating over to writing: spelling, the act of writing, and thinking of what to write are each processed in a DIFFERENT area of the brain. It is extremely difficult for some students to simultaneously juggle all 3 tasks at once; with many, as they mature it gets easier, but some people never learn to do it. Far more useful (for everyone, not just spelling strugglers!) is to teach the student to view writing as *process*, not a "one-and-done" activity. So, as soon as the student is done writing, set it aside for a few minutes to "change brain gears", and then start editing for spelling errors and punctuation. You might try a completely visual method of placing words directly into the brain's long-term memory (Jeff Freed in "Right-Brained Children in a Left-Brained World". (BTW that book has lots of specific tips for teaching middle-school aged VSL-ers!) Dianne Craft outlines a very similar method in her materials on teaching children with blocked learning gates. I have a struggling speller who is a VSL learner, and while brain maturity of the spelling area has helped some (slowly kicks in more each year, starting at about age 12), spelling will most likely always be a hard area for him. He "sees" misspellings better when he types rather than writes (he also has writing issues, and just can't simultaneously juggle writing AND spelling). I know, I know, at this age you'd love to have a program that doesn't take much from you and is the magic wand that fixes this issue that has been on-going for years (me too!!! :tongue_smilie:) -- BUT... alas, if you REALLY want improvement in this area, it's going to require some extra work from both of you, probably in the form of specializing/individualizing what you do for spelling with this child. Below, I've re-posted an old response to someone else who had a struggling speller. We tried Freed's ("Right-Brained Children...") visual method, but DS insists he can't "see and memorize words", so we've gone the harder, longer route of working on strengthening his weaker area of auditory-sequential learning. BEST of luck in finding what works for you and your VSL!! Warmest regards, Lori D. A visual-spatial learner intakes information very concretely (see it/touch it) and processes information very randomly -- order doesn't matter. Unfortunately, spelling is not very "touchable", and correct letter order is everything! What has worked for our struggling speller: 1. Megawords 2. individualized spelling The Megawords has helped him learn vowel patterns and to break words into smaller syllable chunks for spelling attack. VERY helpful! Strengthens working on seeing the parts (syllables) that make up the "big picture" (the whole word) -- and each unit starts with a very "big picture" of several specific types of spelling patterns. The individualized spelling is me creating his spelling lists -- in addition, it works *great* for working on vocabulary words! We are slowly working through "The ABCs and All Their Tricks". I pick 2-3 spelling patterns and then use words from "The ABCs" and Megawords. We practice several times a day (each time using a different method) in short 5 minute bursts. To create our own spelling, we've used ideas from: - Stevenson Blue Spelling Manual for visual ways of remembering the spelling/phonics - Sequential Spelling (for us -- to practice adding prefixes/endings/syllables to a root) - IEW's Phonetic Zoo (practice outloud spelling back and forth) and even more, Andrew Pudewa's description of sequential/auditory spelling in his lecture "Spelling and the Brain" - ABCs and All Their Tricks (phonics/spelling rules and "whys") - Alternate Group Rules, from file on using Spelling Power, at Paula's Archives website (allows you to see the "big picture of ALL the patterns of how a sound is spelled, and then match up your specific words) How I Make the Spelling List: Based on Sequential Spelling type of lists. For example, if working with "long a" words: 1. Long A spelled with "A"-consonant-"E" (we call these words "magic E" words -- the silent "E" at the end of the word magically jumps over the consonant and makes the vowel say its name -- its long sound) 2. Long A spelled with "-ai-" (we call this vowel combination: "2 vowels go walking, the first one does the talking") 3. Homophones (words that sound alike but are spelled differently) 1. ate 2. date 3. dated 4. predated 5. dateless 6. made 7. pane 8. glaze 9. glazed 10. deglazed 11. maid 12. maiden 13. unmaidenly 14. pain 15. painful 16. painfully 17. rain 18. rainy 19. rainbow 20. eight 21. reign So you have 6 words (roots) with 15 variations: adding prefixes, endings, suffixes, additional syllables, homophones, etc. 1. ate (eight) 2. glaze (glazed, deglazed) 3. date (dated, predated, dateless) 4. maid (made, maiden, unmaidenly) 5. pain (pane, painful, painfully) 6. rain (rainy, rainbow, reign) (Over time, the word lists are more at grade level, with fewer variations, but still focused on only 1 or 2 vowel patterns.) Then we practice the words: 1. Out Loud (4x/week, 3-5 min/day) -- CRUCIAL!! (idea from Andrew Pudewa/Phonetic Zoo) This helps strengthen the weak auditory-sequential aspect, AND helps the student hear the sequence -- when they look at the word, they tend to see it as a whole, with order of letters not important; with out loud spelling you only hear one letter at a time, AND in correct order. You clearly say the word aloud, spell it (syllable by syllable if that helps), and toss the child a beanie toy; then the student says the word/spells it correctly, and tosses the beanie back. The beanie toss helps keep him focused and mentally prepared. *Immediately* stop and correct any misspelling by spelling it aloud correctly several times and have the student spell it correctly by looking at it and reading it letter by letter several times (from the idea "Toss It" from Carol Barnier's "How to Get Your Kid Off The Refrigerator and onto Learning"). Hearing the letters in correct sequential order really helps cement correct spelling in the mind. 2. Work with words on whiteboard (3x/week, 5-10 min/day) (expanded from original idea from Sequential Spelling) - reinforce vowel patterns, syllabication patterns, etc. - write out root words and practice adding endings, prefixes, etc. -- tell it and draw it as a story with character pictures (ex.: "hope" -- the vowels at the end of the word like to fight with vowels at the beginning of an ending (like "-ing", or "-ed"), so you have to drop the "-e" at the end of "hope" and then add the endings such as "-er" or "-ing"; adding endings such as "-ful" or "-less", or prefixes such as "-un" are not a problem, because they start with a consonant, and consonants don't fight with the vowel at the end of the word) - work with homophones -- see the different spellings, and draw a picture and tell a little story to help the difference stick (ex: "meet" and "meat"; it takes 2 people to "meet" and there are 2 "e"s in "meet"; draw the letter "a" to look like a heart and say "I love to eat "meat" -- and see, the word "eat" is IN the word "meat"; etc.). Stories, visuals and the funnier or goofier the better -- that is what sticks in the long-term memory!! 3. Dictate sentences (1-2x/week; 5-10 min./day) (idea from Stevenson Basic Blue Spelling Manual) Dictate 5 short sentences, (slowly, one at a time) each with 2-3 spelling words in them for student to practice simultaneous thinking/writing/spelling. 4. "Feel the Word" (4x/week, 5-10 min/day) Try one of these techniques to help the VSL FEEL the word: - Say each letter and use fingertip to write each letter in a tray of sand or cornmeal. Helps the child see, say and feel the spelling. - Fingertip on tabletop; write each letter large (involve whole arm), saying each letter. Helps the child see, say, and feel the spelling. - Child say each letter aloud while writing it; then child "unwrites" the word, saying each letter and going over the letter with fingertip to erase it letter by letter. Helps the child see, say and feel the spelling. Other Spelling Practice Ideas: - Paula H.'s "alternate group rules for Spelling Power" (at Paula's Archives website) to teach the different spellings of the same sounds. For example: start with a sentence that has all of the spellings for "long a" (see "The ABCs and All Their Tricks): "Hey! Wait eight days to make a great apron!" Rather than repeatedly writing this sentence to memorize it (which doesn't tend to make things stick for a VSL), what about drawing it as a very visual picture-story (as Dianne Craft suggests), and then visually "attach" new spelling words onto the root picture where the spelling pattern matches up? For a very young student: - Magnetic letters; either child says each letter and lays out each magnetic letter, or look at a written version word and sort out magnetic letters to match. Helps the child see, say and manipulate the letters for spelling. - Roll out "snakes" of clay and shape each into a letter of the spelling word. Helps the child see and feel the spelling. Edited July 11, 2011 by Lori D. added links; fixed typos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5LittleMonkeys Posted July 11, 2011 Author Share Posted July 11, 2011 Lori, your posts are always so incredibly helpful, thank you so much! That was very helpful and confirmed a lot of what I was thinking and gave me some new information too. I'm going to revisit it later to absorb it better.:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 (edited) I'm going to revisit it later to absorb it better.:D Yes, it WAS a bit much! :tongue_smilie: Because I keep adding to it, I finally hit the 10,000 character limit and had to pare it back a bit! ;) In reflecting on your particular situation with 4 youngers, if you were looking for advice, I think I would say: What is realistic is to continue with Megawords (a page a day) as your "spine" and for your word lists, and add in several of the types of practices 3-4 times a week -- especially, in this order, 1. trying out a visual memorization technique 2. the out-loud spelling practice 3. working with words on the whiteboard 4. dictation of short sentences with several spelling words in them. BEST of luck, Aime! Warmest regards, Loir Edited July 11, 2011 by Lori D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5LittleMonkeys Posted July 11, 2011 Author Share Posted July 11, 2011 Lori, Dd12 looked at the free sample of Sequential Spelling and said she really liked the lists better than those of Megawords. I'm not suggesting letting her dictate what we use based just on that but I'm wondering, since you've used both, what the advantage to Megawords would be over Sequential Spelling? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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