SPELLING TIPS FOR STUDENTS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES

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SPELLING TIPS FOR STUDENTS WITH LEARNING
DISABILITIES

• By Megan McShane

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• Spelling counts. Even if youre long out of
  school and think that the torture of Miss
  Cringleys grade 4 spelling tests is over, its
  not. Everything you write as part of your job, or
  in your personal life, is a spelling test,
  because your spelling- along with related issues
  of punctuation, grammar, and style- affects how
  people perceive you.
• - Derek K. Miller
• - penmachine.com

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A Spelling Test for Teachers of Students
with Learning Disabilities( By Gary Greene,
LDonline)
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True or False 1.___ Spelling is an easier
learning task than reading. 2.___ Oral
spelling tests are as effective as written
spelling tests. 3.___ Imitating and modeling
students spelling errors, followed by
writing the word correctly, is an effective
way for teachers to provide feedback to
students with LD.
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• 4.___ Exchanging papers is the best way
• for students to correct spelling tests.
• 5.___ The most efficient way of learning to
• spell new words is to study first, then
• test.
• 6.___ There has been much research on what are
  the most appropriate words
• to learn to spell.
• 7.___ Dividing words into syllables and
  writing the definition of the words helps in
  memorization of ones spelling list.

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• 8.___ A reduced unit size (e.g., number of
• spelling words studied) of three words
• per day is better than studying the
  entire spelling list each day.
• 9.___ Underlining the difficult letter
  combinations in a word helps in
• memorizing correct spelling.
• 10.___ Fifteen minutes per day for spelling
• is adequate to maintain and improve
• spelling in most students.
• 11.___ Mastery of spelling rules greatly
• improves spelling ability.

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Answers To The Test

• False. Spelling is a more difficult task than
  reading. Reading is largely a receptive language
  skill involving decoding, whereas, spelling
  involves expressive language and encoding.
• False. Spelling is primarily a visual skill.
• True. Amazing as it may seem, reproducing in
  writing a childs spelling error, following by
  the presentation of the correct written form of
  the spelling word has been shown in numerous
  studies to be an effective means for improving
  the spelling performance of students with LD.

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• 4. False. Teachers should correct a spelling test
  in the presence of the student, utilizing the
  error imitation and modeling technique previously
  discussed.
• False. A more effective approach is to pre-test
  students on their spelling words and have them
  write the misspelled words in their study list
  for practice during the week. This is
  particularly appropriate for students with LD in
  order to maximize study time it allows for
  increased attention and practice of words they
  havent learned to spell, rather than sharing
  study time with words they have already mastered.
• 6. True. Special educators should utilize
  misspelled words in students writing as well as
  high use words in selecting words for students
  with LD to learn to spell.

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• 7. False. Although many experts feel stressing
  syllabication has merit, research does not show
  an advantage for teaching syllabication in
  spelling. As for writing the definition of
  spelling words, no research exists demonstrating
  the significance of this instructional practice
  with students who are LD.
• 8. True. Studies have shown that modifying the
  number of spelling words studied per day reduces
  overload and interference in spelling instruction
  of students with LD. A reduced unit size of three
  spelling words per day is suggested.
• 9. False. No empirical evidence exists for the
  effectiveness of this practice with students who
  are LD.
• 10. True. Studies have found that 15 20 minutes
  per day is ample time, of course, keeping the
  spelling period purposeful, lively, and
  interesting.
• 11. False. Although phonics and phonetic families
  may have a place in learning to spell, spelling
  rules should not be relied upon as the primary
  approach to teaching spelling to students with LD
  because
• (1) inconsistencies and irregularities of
  phonetic spelling patterns are pervasive in the
  English language, (2) 3 out of 4 words are not
  spelled phonetically, and (3) silent letters are
  a major cause of spelling errors.

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• To Spell You Must
• (taken from The Learning Centre- Tutor Training
  Resources )
• Recognize letters and sounds.
• Remember the correct sequence of letters and
  spell the word in your mind.
• Recall the sequence.

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• Memory
• We remember what we want to remember.
• We tend to remember the most recently learned
  material.
• Practice is essential for memory.
• The easiest material to remember is that which we
  have discovered ourselves.

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• Additional Info. To keep in mind
• Many children with learning disabilities suffer
  from a lack of learning strategies.
• Helpful tips
• First and foremost are techniques aimed at
  helping students improve memory.
• Teaching visual images, rhymes, and jingles are a
  valuable asset and yield consistent improvement
  in recall.

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• The write- say method
• Students rewrite incorrectly spelled words
  several times while simultaneously spelling the
  word aloud.
• This method provides immediate feedback in both
  visual and auditory channels.
• This method has also been effective teaching
  multiplication tables.
• (taken from Attention deficit disorders and
  learning disabilities, barbara ingersoll sam
  goldstein, 1993)

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• Strategies For Teaching Spelling
• (taken from Learning Disabilities, 7th Edition,
  Janet Learner, pg.487)
• Auditory perception and memory of letter sounds.
• Visual perception and memory of letters.
• Multisensory methods in spelling.
• The Fernald Method.
• The test-study-test versus study-test
  methods.
• Listening centers and tapes.
• Programmed spelling.
• Electronic spellers and computer spell-checkers.

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• The Fernald Method
• Students are told that they are going to learn
  words in a new way that has proved to be very
  successful. They are encouraged to select a word
  they wish to learn.
• The teacher writes that word on a piece of
  paper,4x10, as the students watch and as the
  teacher says the word.
• The students trace the word, saying it several
  times, and then write it on a separate piece of
  paper while saying it.
• The students write the word from memory without
  looking at the original copy. If the word is
  incorrect, students repeat the previous step. If
  the word is correct, it is put in a file box. The
  words in the file box are used later in stories.
• At later stages, this painstaking tracing method
  for learning words is not needed. Students learn
  a word by looking as the teacher writes it,
  saying it, and writing it. At a still later
  stage, the students can learn by only looking at
  the word in print and writing it. Finally, they
  learn by merely looking at the word.

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• Fun Spelling Activities
• To Try With Your Class
• By Megan Lee
• Rainbow words.
• Unscramble words.
• Playdoh words.
• Words written in sand.
• Finding words in newspapers or magazines.
• Use colored chalk.
• Bingo.
• Shaving cream words.
• Spelling basketball.
• Hangman.

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Favorite Web Sites

• Edhelper.com
• LDonline
• Webjump.com
• Awesomelibrary.org
• Lessonplanspage.com
• Geocities.com/Athens/Academy/3416/