Backpedaling with AAS2. Stay or jump ship?

[give_me_a_latte]

We've been camped out at AAS2 Step 4 forEVER. It's the lesson where we move into two syllable words. Suddenly, my son can't apply any of the rules and he's doing tons of madeup spelling. Like doubling i's in the middle of words and other stuff that doesn't even make sense. I've slowed waaaaay down and done tons of review. When I go through the cards, he's got it! He knows the rules. But he doesn't seem to remember how to actually apply them, or he constantly finds words that "break the rule" and he gets all sorts of confused. He also gets super upset when I "pronounce for spelling", but if I pronounce the word the right way he inevitably misspells it. 

 

I'm not sure which way to go at this point. Stay camped out or move on with AAS? Move into another curriculum? This is starting to affect his confidence in spelling and he's feeling very bad about how hard spelling has suddenly become for him. 

[MerryAtHope]

Interesting how he reacts to pronouncing for spelling. I think I'd ask him why that bothers him. It might help him to understand that good spellers actually use a variety of spelling strategies: phonetic, rules-based, visual, and morphemic. Maybe he thinks it sounds dumb and he doesn't realize that this is actually a strategy that smart spellers use. 

 

Some ideas that might help:

 

One, go back to the tiles. Right now, there are no vowel teams yet--so help him to see that one vowel sound needs one phonogram tile--not two. 

 

Two, show him the word visually, with the word card. Ask him which sounds are tricky on this word. (for example, the second syllable in seven can sound like a short i--"sevin" or short u--"sevun" depending on how it's pronounced in your region. So, that E might be tricky. By talking about it and having him note how the sound is spelled, and then reinforcing with tiles and in writing, you can help him remember it.)

 

Three: It sounds like you noticed that there’s a note in a gray text box about the schwa sound and the need to pronounce words for spelling. Here’s how you can take it a step further: First, tell him that when we say words fast in our normal speech, some of the sounds get muffled–we don’t hear them correctly. We need to say them slowly. Then, when you introduce a word, say, “We normally say this word, sevin. I’m going to pronounce this one for spelling. You repeat the pronunciation and then write it. sev-EN.†Make sure he repeats the pronunciation for spelling. When he says the sounds correctly, then have him practice spelling it with the tiles or on paper. When you are done with the lesson, make sure you put all of the cards in the review tab.

 

Once he understands the general concept that there are sounds that get muffled and that we need to say things slowly to hear all the sounds for spelling, then he will be able to get these types of words correct over time.

 

When you get to the point where you are doing the review cards, then tell him, “I’m going to say these words how we normally say them. I want you to pronounce them for spelling, and then write them.†If he struggles with the pronunciation, give that to him, have him repeat it, and then write the spelling. Keep the card in review. When he can both pronounce them AND spell them correctly without hesitation, then move it to mastered.

 

Your goal is for him to reprogram how he thinks about this word. We don’t want him to think “sevin†when he says it fast. We want him to think “seven†even when he says it fast–and by saying it slow and showing that it truly is an /e/ sound, he can make that transition.

 

You may need to spend a lot of review time on these words. I found I needed to keep these word cards in the review section even after my kids got them correct because of their difficulty. Make sure to include them later on when the lesson says to review mastered cards. If your son struggles with any, put them back in the daily review for awhile.

 

Step 6 will also have a number of words that need to be pronounced for spelling, so use this strategy again then. After that, the words in level 2 will be more straight-forward. The schwa sound is used a lot in our language though, so you’ll want to be aware of it and use this strategy whenever you come across it. Hopefully you can help your son understand the need for this strategy and maybe he'll make friends with it!

 

I hope this helps! 

[give_me_a_latte]

Yes, very helpful! Thank you! I think bringing out the "stuff" might help. I generally only use the tiles to introduce the concept, and for the first go round of the word list. Then the rest of the lesson (further rounds of the word list and all the extra words/phrases/sentences) I have him do on paper. I did all of AAS1 using an iPad letter tile app, because he just hates the physical act of writing. But I transitioned him to all paper writing this year. Maybe bringing the tiles out more often will help. Or even having him do more verbal spelling. That's what I do when we review with the box, and he does MUCH better that way. So maybe he's still struggling with combining the act of spelling AND writing at the same time. 

 

I talked with him about it this morning and he says he doesn't want to switch programs. He said he really doesn't even want to go back to the ipad app or verbal spelling, but I think it would probably help to at least use those options more often than I am now. I also explained to him more about pronouncing for spelling, and how important it is for him to get used to that!! :-) He seemed to understand and be willing to try again. 

 

I wonder if it would help to keep the rules posted somewhere he can easily reference?

[ikslo]

My son has gotten hung up on a few lessons, but we just keep pushing through.  There is plenty of built in review for him to get continued exposure to the one or two lessons he doesn't seem to retain.  Staying in the same place isn't going to do anything but create a child who feels they are a poor speller IMO.

[MerryAtHope]

 

I wonder if it would help to keep the rules posted somewhere he can easily reference?

 

Sounds like you and he had a good talk! You could post them as a scaffolding type of approach until he has them committed to memory, but I would also continue to review them until he can say them quickly and easily.

 

Then, when he does a dictation, ask him to re-read his sentence before you look at it. Often kids will forget to apply a rule as they write, but when they take the time to rewrite, they will catch an error due to a rule or due to leaving a sound out or writing the wrong phonogram etc... (Here is another place where auditory skills are important--if he writes "sop" for "stop," have him read exactly what he wrote so he can hear the missing sound. Eventually kids start to catch things like this when they edit.)

 

Even adults make mistakes as they write, just because our thoughts come faster than we can write or type. It's not that we don't know better necessarily--it's just that we need to edit what we write. 

 

Anyway, reviewing the rules can help keep them fresh in his mind until they are more automatic. 

 

HTH! Merry :-)