Teaching Spelling

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TEACHING SPELLING

There is no doubt that reading and writing are linked. So where there are words being used spelling is also important. Students must be equipped with skills that will allow them to be better spellers. This article outlines activities that teachers and parents can use either at home or in the classroom to make their children better spellers.

Children can be given sentences to complete with letters left out. For example: I am ni____ ye____ old.

Activities like these force children to seek out the missing letters and gets them thinking.

You can jumble words and have students figure out the correct spelling. For example: lgir=girl, drbi=bird

This activity gets students to think and assess what they are seeing before coming to a conclusion as to what the word is.

Dictionary skills should be encouraged. Dictionaries provide help with not only spelling but pronunciation, meaning and provide synonyms for words as well so children get a chance to learn multiple spelling.

Do dictate and write activities with students. You call a word and let them write it. Then you in turn tell them how it is spelled and have children check their spelling to see if they got it right or not. I find dictate and write to be a highly effective strategy. My students participate and they like the challenge of seeing how many words they can spell.

Try the write and erase method. During the write and erase method, the teacher writes a word on the whiteboard or chalkboard. The teacher then gives the child a few seconds to look at the word. Then the adult erases the board and asks the child to write what they recall. I have found this to be just as effective as dictate and write. Children enjoy this as it tests, their speed and their ability to recall.

Remember to teach students this five step method:

First they are to look carefully at the word. Second they are to call the word. Thirdly they are to carefully study each letter in the word. Fourthly let them write the word, this can be done several times. Finally let them check what they have written to find out if it is correct or not.

A great strategy to aid with recall of spelling words is to have students write a word several times. Let children call each letter as they write.

Another great strategy that I often use is to give students one big word such as: VOCABULARY and ask them to find smaller words in the big word using only the letters in that big word. This exercise is not only great for spelling. It is also great for vocabulary building.

Help children to start their own dictionaries. Let them get regular notebooks and decorate them and write "MY DICTIONARY" or something related on the cover. Encourage them to write down new words they have learnt and words they have difficulty spelling.

Play "THE NEW WORD HUNTER" game. Every week allow each child to introduce two new word they have learned and to share the meaning and spelling with the class.