Questions for those who use dictation for spelling.

[kandty]

I am not even sure what I want to ask. Do you think dictation and dictation only for learning spelling has good results? For a struggling speller? For a visual learner? Do you have any favorite resources for spelling dictation? Any ways you make it fun? Any words of wisdom? :tongue_smilie:

 

ETA: I thought I should add that studied dictation is what I am considering.

Edited February 18, 2012 by kandty

[Tabrett]

I uses Apples and Pears spelling. It is great for struggling spellers. It also uses dictation. The sentences that are dictated are all made up of words that they have been learning to spell.

I can't explain how happy I am with the program.

[Kuovonne]

Do you think dictation and dictation only for learning spelling has good results?

 

I think that dictation is a wonderful activity for practicing spelling. However, I think that the student should also study the spellings of troublesome words. Ideally, the student is taught all the words in the passage before writing the dictation, and then if the student misses any words the student studies those again.

 

The student can study the troublesome words in any way: copying the word several times, analyzing the word phonetically, comparing the word to other words with similar spellings, etc.

 

If you are new to dictation, start with simple passages so that your child can experience success. Increase the difficulty of the dictation very gradually and always pre-teach new words.

[In the Rain]

Do you think dictation and dictation only for learning spelling has good results? For a struggling speller? For a visual learner?

 

We use dictation as part of All About Spelling. I think it is very useful for practicing skills. I don't think my kids could learn from dictation only.

 

You specifically mention visual learners and struggling spellers. I think both of those types of children would benefit from something more systematic.

 

A visual learner or struggling speller might do well looking at lists of related words and noting the similarities. The struggling student might need help noticing the patterns. I also think a struggling speller would likely be overwhelmed by having to spell a number of unknown words in a sentence. :001_huh:

[kandty]

I edited my origninal message to add that I am considering studied dictation.

[Joyofsixreboot]

We're using studied dictation from HOD. He seems to do better if he uses the words. He can do lists but it doesn't transfer to his writing. Studied dictation seems to help him see the words in a sentence.

[kandty]

We're using studied dictation from HOD. He seems to do better if he uses the words. He can do lists but it doesn't transfer to his writing. Studied dictation seems to help him see the words in a sentence.

 

HOD is what got me thinking about dictation. My youngest DS is using HOD next school year. I got Bigger this week and was looking at the spelling and it will be too easy for him next year. I was considering buying Spelling Wisdom from SCM to use for him. I also have AAS 3 that he will be ready for by that time. I thought about doing both, but maybe dictation is enough. (Note he is not my struggling/visual learner, that is my oldest.)

[birchbark]

We have only used studied dictation for spelling and it has worked beautifully. I do have a natural speller/visual learner.

[Homemama2]

I really like Spelling Wisdom from Simply Charlotte Mason for studied dictation.

[serendipitous journey]

We're using the Modern Speller, a vintage speller, which has Button do copywork for new words and sentences and then write them from dictation later in the day. So far it's working well, but we switched from AAS a month or so ago so it's Early Days for us. FYI, Button likes knowing rules, so I am still doing AAS drills with the cards, orally, about twice a week -- ideally it would be daily. But we don't use their sentences or phrases, or do any written spelling from AAS.

 

ETA: Button is accelerated generally, and has an academic bent, but has been a reluctant reader and not a "natural" speller. For some reason he HATED AAS dictations (we're in AAS2), but the Modern Speller is going much better. I think because the sentences form a loose story. Hope that helps your assessment.

Edited February 19, 2012 by serendipitous journey

[Caribbean Queen]

I like the McGuffey Primer for my 6 year old, and any book for my 8 year old. My 8 year old tries to be a visual learner in spelling, but I encourage him to think about the sounds in words he can't spell. I use The Writing Road to Reading on and off (and tweaked) so I can't say that dictation alone is my spelling program. My 6 year old likes to draw a picture under her dictation. My 8 year old doesn't find anything about dictation fun. He doesn't like writing.

[raceNzanesmom]

We use AAS, which includes dictation. We switched to this from HOD only spelling/dictation because I have a struggling reader. He needs rules to memorize, tiles to build with, etc. My older ds, a very advanced reader/speller, would have been fine with only using studied dictation.

 

So, to answer your question, it depends on the child.

[Joyofsixreboot]

HOD is what got me thinking about dictation. My youngest DS is using HOD next school year. I got Bigger this week and was looking at the spelling and it will be too easy for him next year. I was considering buying Spelling Wisdom from SCM to use for him. I also have AAS 3 that he will be ready for by that time. I thought about doing both, but maybe dictation is enough. (Note he is not my struggling/visual learner, that is my oldest.)

 

We use harder sentences for him from Dictation Day by Day off Googlebooks.

[ChrissySC]

I use Simply Spelling ... and love it because it is studied dictation.  There are more benefits than just spelling.  :)

[lorisuewho]

We do studied dictation from Dictation Day By Day which I think is also called The Modern Speller although it is anything but modern. I use it with my 6 year old (we are doing year 2 of the program) and it works beautifully for him. I also like how much he is looking at sentence structure as he writes. I like that review words are built in. We look over the sentence together and we analyze any difficult words in an O-G way. (We did LOE so that is the markings we use). The following day we do dictation of the passage. And we do the new sentence as copywork and analyze the new words again.

 

Now, my 8 year old I started off in this same program this year and it was awful. AWFUL. He was terrible at it. We were doing the same sentence over and over and over. I finally gave up and moved him into Rod and Staff Spelling by Sound and Structure which is a much better fit for him. I have no idea why it works so wonderfully for one child and not for the other, but I believe I was going to go bald if I continued with studied dictation for my older child from pulling out my hair. How a child can look at a sentence, analyze all the words, look it over again and 2 seconds later not remember anything is beyond me.

[Farrar]

In AAS and other programs that I've seen, the dictation helps review old words and helps kids begin to put the word in context and use it.  I feel like with spelling there's three stages - being able to spell the word alone when you're learning about that rule, being able to spell the word in dictation with a controlled set of words, and then finally being able to spell the word on your own in an every day context.  And there's a little leap between all of those for most kids.  So dictation is helping bridge the gap to the end goal, which is just being able to spell the word whenever.

[LindaOz]

Yes, I use dictation for spelling with my kids. I do find it effective and I do find it enough. With my third and fifth graders I choose dictation from our reading. This makes it more interesting for them because they are already familiar with the content. They study the words they are not sure of and, if necessary, we will look at the sound structure of the word and compare it with other words with the same sound or structure. Dd11 is a strong and intuitive speller - ds is not. This method works for both of them.

 

My 7th and 9th graders are using Spelling Wisdom at the moment for dictation. These passages are also good for discussion points as well.

 

Dictation for spelling is also good because the child gets to painlessly revise common words. It's a bit like a Saxon Math lesson - a new concept (words) taught and practiced, then given in the context of material (more words) already known.

 

HTH

[Chrysalis Academy]

I've started doing spelling dictation as part of review with LOE, but kind of camoflouged (a word I apparently can't spell) b/c my dd "hates" LOE.  :glare:   So every 5th lesson is a review lesson, and I am taking that week to review all the spelling words to date via dictation sentences.  I make them up from the review list.  It's been great, it's a kind of subtle way to review spelling rules, phonograms, etc. as well as cement & make the jump with the specific spelling words she's studied.  

 

Now, this dictation is separate from the copywork & dictation I do to work on grammar & writing skills.  Those sentences are chosen to teach grammar and writing - these are just to work on the spelling.  I don't do both kinds of dictation on the same day, but I do make a distinction between dictation sessions focused on spelling and dictation sessions focused on parts of speech or grammatical construction in sentences.  They are both useful, but the sentences are pretty different looking!  My spelling dictation sentences are intentionally goofy and fun.

[FO4UR]

I like Apples & Pears.  Each lesson builds up to 4 dictation sentences.  A previous poster mentioned ways to study the dictation, like copying and analyzing...well, A&P does a great job of doing just that.  Each lesson has lots of copying, building word sums, puzzles, word dictations with partial blanks to fill in, word dictations without any letters filled in, and all the words spiral review rapidly so retention is good. 

 

My 8yo has used this consistently for 2 years, and she spells well the words she has studied.

 

My 10yo is dyslexic and used this for a while, and we took a break to go back to O-G methods, and then we tried A&P again, back to O-G....I recently started him back at the beginning of A&P *again* and it's like something clicked and he's zipping through the lessons.

 

 

The *only* criticism I have of A&P is that it does not pull the dictations from worthy literature. The dictations are all written for the curriculum.

 

One warning:  just b/c a child passes a mastery test, do not assume that's the level to start.  A&P works well, but I learned with my 10yo that some kids need to be placed where the work seems very easy b/c writing sentences from dictation is much harder than memorizing a list of words...even if the words in the sentence are easy.  For a 9yo, I'd start at Level 15 in Book A.  For the 12yo, I'd use the dictation sentences as a placement test.  If they can't write the sentences easily, back up.

[stripe]

I used dictation from Modern Speller alias Dictation Day by Day for early years; I think it helps the kid feel more confident in writing simple words. I also taught with Reading Reflex, which teaches reading through word formation (=spelling). I am currently using How to Teach Spelling, which uses explicit instruction about rules, with dictation. I think it's very sensible. My rules-oriented child seems to get a lot from it but has a pretty good sense of spelling from reading.

[lorisuewho]

I used dictation from Modern Speller alias Dictation Day by Day for early years; I think it helps the kid feel more confident in writing simple words. I also taught with Reading Reflex, which teaches reading through word formation (=spelling). I am currently using How to Teach Spelling, which uses explicit instruction about rules, with dictation. I think it's very sensible. My rules-oriented child seems to get a lot from it but has a pretty good sense of spelling from reading.

Your plan makes a lot of sense. I like it.