Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments Spelling vs. vocabulary

Ds8 has a new challenge in spelling this year (3rd grade). His teacher doesn't just give them their words to learn - she also gives them a few different excercises to do,as homework, which goes towards their grade (if they do 4, they get A, 2 they get B etc). One of ds8's things is to find the definition and write a sentence. His words this week included illusion/allusion, gambit/gamut, chose/choose, advice/advise, emigrate/immigrate and more (16 in all). The words are easier than last years (for now) - but it's definitely been fun watching him try and come up with sentences ! His sentence for 'allusion" was - "It's very hard to write a sentence using the word allusion" LOL

This is popular now. It makes my DD nuts. "NO, just TELL ME how to spell it because I KNOW this isn't right."

She is a fantastic speller, but she wants the correct spelling so she can learn it. I think this approach works with reluctant writers who are just learning but is really not right for everyone.

I agree that it's probably not right for everyone, but I've found that it works well with DS(now)6. A couple of factors in its favor: it encourages thinking about encoding rules more, as well as the effort to recall spellings for words that have been read before. This is a completely wild guess, but I think that using this technique with DS6 has greatly increased his likelihood of memorizing correct spellings just from his reading, in passing.

Right now, we're coverying 40-50 words per night, which I believe takes roughly 10-20 minutes depending on the list toughness. At the end of a grade, we take two weeks off, then start again. DS6 finds spelling boring, so I try to concentrate it into intense little doses to get past it as fast as possible. I'm looking forward to the day when I can eventually tell him that we're done with spelling lessons.

We bought a "Words on the Vine" book, which looks great from the standpoing of teaching spellings of bases, prefixes and suffixes all at once, with some fairly interesting words and puzzle-based content. We're going to crack it open this weekend. (For some reason I can't fathom, WOTV doesn't seem to have been turned into a series.) I also have a high opinion of some Scott Foresman spelling/vocab materials I've run across, which tries to keep things interesting too, though being a lot more based on rote learning than something like "Words on the Vine".

We're eagerly awaiting the enrichment for this year, which I believe will include some vocab work. I believe his second grade teacher will be initially in charge of getting it together. I was worried, but after meeting her I think she will probably turn out to be fantastic.

i DO have DD8 guess the first time and she gets frustrated but it makes her think about how the word sounds. Sometimes it's a confidence thing. If she is really not coming up with the word I will spell it for her. The only way I have found that works for her to learn her spelling words is writing them. On paper, on a dray erase board, in crayon or marker - whatever. As long as she writes them a number of times during the week. We try to do them once a night. By mid-week if there are a few she is getting wrong I have her write that one 3x. We also come up with ways to remember how to spell like "frustrated" I might say "R U frustrated?" because the "fru" is the part she was missing.

Ok, annoying spelling word of the week for DD8 "foisted" bleh.

Her teachers send home activities like "jump rope as you spell the word", draw a crossword puzzle using the words, etc but for her it's good old repetition.

DS10 just absorbs spelling words since he was little so we often just do a review or I ask him if he knows his words lol

Iucounu, I'm curious why you choose to teach spelling so explicitly outside of school. I guess it's my general belief that a bright child who reads way above level and has no actual deficit in spelling will absorb spelling through the ether, as it were. I know I did, and DD appears to be doing the same. I mean, some review of general principles seems like a good idea.

I guess I just don't think of it as something that requires enrichment, per se.

A few reasons, including: to speed up his writing, and make it easier for him to write whatever he wants; to develop his ability to absorb from the ether; to make sure he learns proper encoding rules; to counteract the probability that this year, his language arts instruction at school will be far below his level; and because he picks it up so quickly that we'll be done before too long, for all time. (His writing slowness was originally indicated as one area of concern prior to his grade skip.)

I would agree that it's not required, like lots of the things we provide for our children aren't required. Spelling is such an important communication skill, I want to make sure he's squared away so that he can easily get his ideas across to adults without them taking him for granted.

I'm also teaching him typing, another communication skill that isn't required. I think it's going to help him in the long run because he'll be able to churn out text faster and with less stress.

Interesting. I would teach DD typing long before I would spelling. I'm not at all opposed to teaching things outside of school, but spelling is not something I'd thought to do anything with because I suppose I have an unexamined belief that teaching spelling to a naturally good speller who reads widely is essentially unnecessary. (Hmm--am I a spelling unschooler? Ha!) I would probably take spelling out of DD's school curriculum if I could. She's doing very well on her own with it, whereas she clearly would benefit from explicit instruction in many other areas.

I don't know how much of this stems from my own experience with the subject of spelling, which was never a good use of my time.

I agree that it's unnecessary in terms of where he will eventually wind up, but that doesn't mean that there will be no benefit in the meantime. He'll attain full proficiency faster, and in the meantime his speed and accuracy will be improved vs. with no instruction. The lessons go quickly. I don't see an important drawback.

With a struggling speller I would take a different approach, probably doing it more consistently but over a much longer period. With DS6 we just blow through it quickly.

ETA: I also didn't find spelling instruction a good use of my time in school. I remember kids at my school being taught by what I believe was called the "Skyline" method at the time, basically memorizing words by the heights of the letters. It seemed silly to me and still does. What I do with DS is different: I give him a word, he quickly spells it, and if he gets it wrong (which is pretty rarely) I ask him to try again. It has made him a lot faster and has filled in chinks in his armor, so to speak.

The increase in accuracy helps because he's loath to do things where he might be less than perfect; for writing I decided that precision was a good thing to be fostered, and he has the capacity to actually be perfect with grammar and spelling, so we might as well go for it. It may have a secondary effect of impressing the teachers more at his school, but the reason we began was just to help him become faster and more self-assured while writing in the classroom.

I found another fun way to review the spelling list. Put all the letters for the spelling words on post-it-notes in a row on one wall. You spell the word. He runs and grabs the letters on at a time and sticks them to the other wall. When he gets it right he spells the word one time looking at it and one time with his eyes closed. I haven't tried it yet because I have to go to town to get post-it notes.

That's a cool method. DS6 has sometimes asked for the ability to write a tough word when I ask him to spell it the first time, and at the time it seemed to increase his accuracy, and at the very least his confidence.