Help with Spelling!!

My dd(10) is in the 4th grade. Each week, she is given 10 spelling words that are unrelated and offer no pattern what so ever for her to latch on to in order to have any hope of passing a spelling test. She is assigned to write the words 5 times each, write a sentence for each word and to make flash cards for each word. Needless to say, all this writing does nothing to get the spelling to stick in her brain. What alternatives can we do that might get her to the point where she can pass these tests. Or, what do I say to the IEP team that gets them to work around spelling and not count those grades? Her other subject grades are very good while spelling is just abysmal.

Thank you in advance for any suggestions.

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Permalink Reply by Nancy Doyle on January 10, 2012 at 3:53am

I've come across a method for teaching spelling visually and spatially (playing to dyslexic strengths). It comes from a special needs teacher with over 30 years experience in education.

http://www.magicalspellinglimited.com/

I've been using the method for 10 years with adult dyslexics and found it very successful.

With my own children (5 year old twin boys) one picked up phonics very quickly and is reading 2 years ahead of his age. My other boy, a very 'lego-orientated' visual thinker was doing okay, but felt bad compared to his brother. As an expert in my field I was trying very hard NOT to annoy the teachers, tell them how to do their jobs or get in the way!

However, when Ollie said to me last June "mummy I'm not as clever as Thom, am I?" I felt I had to intervene. I spent the summer teaching him Magical Spelling (I had to bribe him with candy) and since September he has gone up 5 reading levels! He is now the top of his class in reading and spelling. He's almost caught up to his twin, who has said that he'll "wait for Ollie to get on to orange books before I go up another level." Bless them.

So give it a go, I wholeheartedly vouch for it.

Nancy Doyle MSc Chartered Occupational Psychologist

UK Based

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Permalink Reply by Brittony T. on January 10, 2012 at 6:33am

I am a dyslexic person, when I was finally diagnosed at age 19 my spelling was rated at grade level 3.9. Spelling tests were always challenging for me, although I didn't know why at the time, but I basically had to trick my short term memory into seeing the pattern, it did NOTHING to help with long term memory, but it got me through the spelling tests.

For me, and this is not to say this is the same with everyone, but for me the "tricks" that helped were 1. Doing a spelling pyramid. For those of you who are not familiar with this I will explain. It is forming a triangle like shape out of the letters being spelled, the first letter on the first line, the first 2 letters on the second line and so on until the bottom of the pyramid is the entire word. It helped my mind break down the word...for some reason that I still don't know, but it almost seemed like it told a story to me, and that worked. 2. Being quized out loud, over, and over, and over again. I would pretend it was a spelling test and my mother would say "Spell the word table", then i would write it down and when i was done I would spell it back to her, she would correct me, and I would write the correct spelling next to my incorrect word, and spell back the correct spelling to her again. Sometimes I did 20 or more of these tests until I got them 100% right, and she also made sure to not give them to me in the same order every time....and this was done ONLY the night before the test. It did no good to drill on Monday, it was gone by Wednesday. However, with this type of quizing I usually managed to get 80% or higher, so it was enough to scrape by...although it didn't stick in my long term memory, it was enough to get through school.

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Permalink Reply by Julie on March 23, 2012 at 11:48am

My son had the same problem. His 6th grade teacher and I worked together to build success in him. For about a month or so, she gave him the spelling tests orally. He could remember how to spell, he just couldn't write it down, this gave him the confidence to realize he could learn the words. Then for the next few months, if he missed a word writing them down, she would call him up and ask him to spell the word outloud to see if he knew the word or not. Finally, one week he got 100% on a spelling test, for the first time in his life! The teacher called him up, handed him her cell phone and said "go outside and call your mom, and tell her!"

A little success can go a long way in reducing the frustration. My son is so smart, but when he gets frustrated everything gets jumbled in his head. Keeping it all in perspective is so important for him.