Spelling Strategies

Spelliing Strategies

Having the words available in the room during the whole week is one strategy. This allows the children to visually see the words all the time. The children will then be exposed to the words on a daily basis and help them to be more familiar with the words. In my current room the teacher has each groups spelling list hanging up in the front of the room for the students to view each day. This is very helpful for the students when they are working on their spelling sheets. It is also helpful for them because if they have a few minutes of down time they can look at the wall and read their words over for themselves or practice writing them. This is something that I will for sure be using in my room in the future.

Children who are deaf or hard of hearing need a hands on approach to learning spelling words. This can be writing the words in different manners, sequencing the letters in the correct order to spell a word, using scooters to race to spell the word to the teacher, etc. Having different tactile activities will help to make learning the spelling words fun, but also help them remember the words. Spelling is not always a fun task so it is important to change up the activities so that the students are excited about learning and want to learn.

An important strategy for teaching spelling is to teach the students the rules for spellings. If the students can learn the rules for long vowels and what letters make what sound they can see the patterns. Knowing the rules will help the students to understanding spelling instead of just memorizing spelling words. This strategy was suggested from the book “All About Spelling” which can be found on http://www.all-about-spelling.com/effective-spelling-strategies.html website. I think this is a very important strategy. It is so important to teach students about the rules and skills of spelling in order for them to learn and to be effective spellers.

According to the scholastic website it is important for students to discover spelling patterns. This strategy states that it is important for students to visualize a spelling word. It is also important to recognize patterns in words to help with spelling more difficult words. The website explains that teachers can select a book or passage and also a spelling pattern for the kids to recognize. Then as the class or individuals read the passage they can underline all the words with the particular spelling pattern. The teacher can then select one word and show how that small word can help students to spell longer words. The example that the website gives it the word great. Then the students can spell the word great, greater, greatest. They can do this building with many different words if they recognize the spelling patterns. Overall I think this is a very useful strategy. I think it is something that can be used with our DHH students to help them see visual patterns. It is always helpful when there is a skill that is taught that will then carry over to other skills. I think it would also be fun to put a word pattern up such as “ir” and make a word wall of different words that follow that pattern. These basic words can then latter be expanded on, but the students will still have the original form of the word available for them to view. http://teacher.scholastic.com/lessonrepro/lessonplans/instructor/spell4.htm

Another strategy that I found is called Word Sort. This strategy says that putting letters in order to create the word helps the brain. Also having to put the words in alphabetical order also makes the students not only be aware of the spelling of the word, but also alphabetically word which is another important skill. If the students have to rearrange letters then they have to think about the spelling of the word more and the rules and patterns of the word. It also helps them to visualize and to use their brain more to think about the spelling of the word. I have seen this strategy used a lot and it seems to be a fun activity for the students as well as helpful for remembering the spelling of words. The strategy of unscrambling letters to create the spelling word and putting them in alphabetical order is something that I will use in the future. I have used this strategy now and have seen other teachers use it and see how it can help the students to learn and understand spelling words. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/684579/effective_spelling_strategies_and_games.htmlA