The Keys to Spelling Success: Part 3

(POST PART 3/3)

In Part 1 and Part 2 of this series, I discussed the first six keys to spelling success that I ensure to integrate into my instruction:

This post will be about the ways in which multi-sensory practice, new concept reading, dictation, and mnemonic devices play roles in supporting spelling knowledge and fluency.

MULTI-SENSORY PRACTICE

Multisensory learning doesn’t just mean writing in sand or shaving cream! While these activities can be fun and engaging for certain purposes, there are a wide range of activities that can be multisensory AND low prep for all grade levels and content matter.

Multi-sensory instruction is the delivery of information through different sensory modalities. A multimodal approach is highly beneficial for all learners in order to maximize successful instruction. In fact, it has been confirmed with neuro imaging studies that following instruction that is multisensory, there is increased activity in the brain’s information processing as opposed to receiving input that engages only one modality. (Willis).

These are the three different modalities students can engage in to receive multi-sensory practice.

  • Visual. Visual practice is learning by seeing. Examples of visual instructional practice include using photographs, illustrations, charts & graphs, diagrams & maps, video, cues, and flashcards during instructional practice.

  • Auditory. Auditory practice is learning by hearing. Examples of auditory instructional practice includes conversations, retelling, mnemonic devices, storytelling, singing & rhythms, rhymes, and read alouds.

  • Kinesthetic & Tactile. Kinesthetic and tactile instruction is learning by doing. Instructional practice within this modality incorporates textures, writing, manipulatives, and movement.

NEW CONCEPT READING

When students are introduced to a new concept, it is important to practice reading that new concept at both the word and sentence levels. New concept reading is decodable for them and focuses only on the new spelling pattern(s) and previously taught ones. To free up cognitive desk space, decodable texts are imperative so students are not expending energy trying to figure out other spelling patterns in the sets.

DICTATION

In addition to reading new concepts in words and sentences, dictation at the word and sentence levels must also be an integrated part of acquiring and retaining new spelling patterns.

mnemonic devices

A mnemonic device is a method that helps to recall and retain information. It’s a memory tactic. While spelling should not be taught through rote memorization, sometimes a mnemonic device can prove helpful. Here are a few examples:

  • The words HERE and HEAR are homophones. The second one can be easily remembered because the word EAR is in the word, and we HEAR with our EAR.

  • The word COMFORT can be tricky because of the r-controlled vowel sound that sounds like /er/. What do I tell my students? I ask them to think about the most comfortable piece of furniture in their house besides their bed. They usually guess the couch! Then I ask, “What do lots of little kids like to build using the couch cushions?” Many times, they answer, “A fort!” The word FORT is in COMFORT.

  • When remembering the spellings for could, would, and should, a fun way to remember them is to say the first sound its corresponding letters followed by “o u lucky duck!”

It is usually the silliest mnemonic devices that stick, and it’s a good start to getting students in the habit of thinking about these memory techniques to help them along the way in many academic areas.

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Cursive: Vital or Obsolete?

A little cursive history

Cursive — an art, a skill, a necessary piece of knowledge…or is it obsolete? Once upon a time, it was expected that all students would acquire the skills to write and read cursive. It was the norm. The history of learning cursive dates back to when the quill was the only writing implement available. Quills are fragile, and cursive allowed for steady hand movements that protected the quill by not having to be lifted on and off the paper frequently. Aside from preserving the quill, ink would splatter more readily causing a mess. In 1827 the quill was slowly phased out with the invention and patent of the fountain pen — less fragile than a quill, but still having the potential to cause an inky mess. Later in the 19th century, the first ballpoint pen received its patent. This was a game changer.

The ballpoint pen was a turning point because it allowed people to write quicker and more legibly without having to continuously dip their pens in ink. This was especially important for students taking notes. Cursive remained a speedier and more formal handwriting method. However, while cursive was still a much more efficient way to produce letters, ballpoint pens didn’t require the speed of cursive writing, and it slowly began to fall out of favor.

the present day

At some point, an idea developed that children should start out their formal education by forming letters the way they read them in books. They could learn cursive later on, after block print had been established. We have now turned a corner with the access nearly all students have to word processing devices. Many schools have done away with cursive, moving students to the keyboard. But are these students missing out on an important skill?

In her extensively researched book (affiliate link) The Two-Digit Revolution, Celia Batan explores the ways in which cursive influences brain development and learning. She writes, “It shapes the executive functions of the brain for successful academic performance while enhancing creative and critical thinking practices required for meaningful interpretations of what we see.” She also points out some other problems cursive solve that may persist for students such as letter reversal and improper spacing.

one skill, different impacts

The year I taught in a third grade classroom I worked with a teacher who created cursive licenses for students as they completed a cursive program that culminated in a cursive test. The license was almost like a replica of a drivers license, complete with each student’s picture and signature. After it was laminated, students proudly put their cursive licenses in their wallets, right next to their bus passes and MetroCards. (We lived in New York City.) That license was a third grade rite of passage. For many students, cursive was a confidence builder. It gave them another skill they could feel proud of. But there were several students for whom cursive had an even greater impact.

Student #1: The Student with Illegible Handwriting

One of my students struggled immensely with his fine motor skills. His handwriting was evidence. Poor letter formation, letters too large for the lines, and improper spacing, all of which made his writing look illegible. Worst of all, he was embarrassed because he often struggled to read his own writing, and so did others. Handwriting was physically challenging for him even after years of occupational therapy. He dreaded the idea of learning cursive. Instead, he was in for quite the pleasant surprise. Cursive was not only easier, but his handwriting became more legible. And he enjoyed it. Having a swift and constant flow without having to repeatedly lift up his pencil made things a whole lot easier. This wasn’t the case for every student, but it made a difference for this boy.

Student #2: The Artist

Cursive is not just a means of communication. It’s a form of art. Many may not agree, but one of my very artistic students sure did! She saw this newfound skill as a way to enhance her art work.

Student #3: The Budding Historian

Over a school break, one of my students and his family went to Washington, DC. When he returned, he couldn’t stop raving about his trip and all of the sites and museums he visited. The highlight of it all? When he exclaimed, “I learned cursive just in time to read some old letters in one of the museums, and a little bit of the Constitution!”

STUDENT #4: The Traveler

Cursive is required for something as mundane as singing your name on identification. Sure, you can teach a child how to write and connect only the letters in their name. But it’s a splinter skill. A skill that can only be used when signing one’s name. The student is not actually learning how to write in cursive — how to form and connect letters, and to read what others write. One student was preparing for an international trip, and upon receiving her first passport, was thrilled to share that she was able to sign her name because “I just knew how to write the letters together!”

Student #5: The Pen Pal

Upon receiving her cursive license, a student was beaming from ear to ear. “You know, my grandmother will ONLY write me letters in cursive! Now, not only will I be able to read them, but I can write her back too!” The ability for this child to write and read in cursive, gave her membership to a special club in which she could bond with her grandmother in a way she had never been able to before.

Cursive enriched the lives of these students in important ways. While cursive was essential for practical reasons centuries ago, it is essential in different ways today. Do you teach or plan to teach cursive to a young learner?

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Getting to Know the Voiced and Unvoiced Phonemes

In English, we have voiced and unvoiced sounds. A voiced sound elicits vibration of the vocal cords. Unvoiced sounds do not. Instead, there is only air.

WHY IT MATTERS

Understanding the difference between voiced and unvoiced sounds can be especially helpful in identifying and differentiating between phoneme pairs that share the same mouth position but have different sounds when the voice is either turned on or turned off. For example, the sounds /b/ and /p/ are pairs; however, while /b/ is voiced, /p/ is not.

WHICH PHONEMES ARE VOICED, AND WHICH ARE UNVOICED?

All vowel sounds are voiced.

The consonant phonemes, on the other hand, fall into different categories: stops, affricates, nasals, fricatives, liquids, and glides. Many phonemes are pairs that have the same mouth position but differ in that one is unvoiced while the other is voiced.

The STOPS include these unvoiced/ voiced pairs:

  • /p/ and /b/ as in pig and bus

  • /t/ and /d/ as in top and dog

  • /k/ and /g/ as in cat and gate

The AFFRICATES include this unvoiced/ voiced pair:

  • /ch/ and /j/ as in chair and jam

The FRICATIVES include these unvoiced/ voiced pairs:

  • /f/ and /v/ as in fan and van

  • /th/ and /TH/ as in thumb and feather

  • /sh/ and /zh/ as in share and treasure

  • /s/ and /z/ as in sun and zip

  • /h/ (this phoneme has no pair, and is unvoiced) as in hat

The NASALS include all voiced phonemes:

  • /m/ as in map

  • /n/ as in net

  • /ng/ as in ring

The LIQUIDS include two voiced phonemes:

  • /r/ as in rain

  • /l/ as in lock

The GLIDES include this unvoiced/ voiced pair:

  • /wh/ and /w/ as in whale and /wind/ AND

  • /y/ (an unpaired voiced phoneme) as in yarn

HOW TO TEACH STUDENTS TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE

One of the best ways to teach the differences between unvoiced and voiced phonemes is by doing the “voice box check” trick. Take the phonemes /s/ and /z/ phonemes. /s/ is unvoiced. If you put your hand gently on your throat where the voice box is, and say the voiceless /s/ sound, there will be no vibration, just air. Try this again but with the voiced /z/ sound. There will be a noticeable vibration from the vocal cords. Give it a try and watch the kids get really into discovering the voiced and unvoiced phonemes!

Long O Spelling Patterns

We know that the long o sound says its name. But how many ways are there to spell this long vowel sound? There are FIVE common ways to spell the long o sound. (I include 6 examples in the chart below because of the two different spelling rules — or generalizations — about the o spelling pattern.)

It is worth acknowledging that the long o sound can also be spelled as oo (as in door and floor); ou (as is soul); and ough (as in though and dough). However, these spelling patterns are so far and few between for the long o sound that they are not included in this chart as a main go-to for spelling patterns of this sound.

Knowing these different spelling patterns for this one sound is vital in developing phonemic awareness that will support students on their journey of becoming strong, confident, and fluent independent readers. As students move from picture-heavy readers to more text-heavy books, they need to be equipped to confidently tackle words without guessing or using pictures. Targeted phonics instruction will not only help students decode more fluently, but students who have strong decoding and fluency skills also comprehend what they read more efficiently. In this post, I list each of the five spelling patterns as well as when each spelling pattern is most likely to be used.

O

Can spell the long o sound at the end of a syllable or when followed by two consonants. Ex: robot; gold

O_E

Can spell the long o sound when the silent final e makes the o say its name. Ex: cone

OA

Can spell the long o sound at the beginning or in the middle of a base word. Ex: oat; coat

OE

Can spell the long o sound at the end of a word. Ex: toe

OW

Can spell the long o sound at the end of a base word. Ex: snow

Note: The placement of the ow will sometimes shift to the middle of a single syllable word when that word changes form (such as to past participle), and almost exclusively when it ends in n. Examples: grown, known, flown. The word bowl is also an exception.

For targeted practice with the different spelling patterns of the long o sound, check out this decodable reading resource in my shop.

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