bzylzy, I take it you don't have an IEP yet since you're still doing testing. Ours is a whopping 4 days old. The ink isn't even dry.
Anyways, getting the spelling list provided by the teacher was the easiest of all the accommodations we got. I'd brought in the previous week's study list with 5 out of 12 words spelled wrong.
Multisensory-wise, we spend a week studying the 12 word list. First we identify the rules covered. (Sometimes this is a guess because the spelling program is just not transparent.) Then DD writes flashcards with the spelling rule in a different color.
The next day she marks the syllable breaks on each flash card, and we review the words with ASL -- we look up the ASL sign for the word, and she finger spells the word.
DD has spelling homework each night that includes sorting and rewriting exercises, so we don't worry too much about practice writing them.
On the walk to school, we run through the words once each spelling out loud and finger spelling them. Any problem words we break down and brainstorm ways to remember the spelling. We often do this by picturing the word with its colors and doing something to the image in her head. She's missed three words on spelling tests all year.
We have discovered that this approach has helped her spelling overall, while the specific 12 words are hit or miss a week later. Go figure. I think a good part of the problem is that the level of the spelling lists has passed her by, such that her need for instruction is actually on simpler spelling patterns than is now being taught in 4th grade.
Anyways, on the nonsense word tests, the point in IDEA is that the tests are nationally normed tests and are evidence based, and as such, the schools should recognize them as meaningful.
