SUGGESTIONS FOR FIRST YEAR
Often the spelling of words is forced upon the child before he has properly mastered the alphabet. This is the cause of much poor spelling, muchguessingin the primary grades. Before a child is allowed to spell orally he should be absolutely sure of the name of every letter, and he should be able to recognize and name it at sight. Before he is allowed to write one word in a dictated spelling lesson, the pupil should be able to write any letter of the alphabet from dictation. This means that the real study of spelling should not be undertaken until the middle of the first year or later.
Be sure that your pupils know their letters before beginning spelling. Following are some suggestions for alphabet drills. Use any that you think helpful.
1. Have pupils read the alphabet in order, pointing to each letter as it is named.
2. Have pupils point to the letters in any order as you call them.
In this drill teach them the approximate place of the letters, that is, to look fora,d,c,f, near the beginning;j,n,k,o, near the middle;t,v,w, near the end.
3. Ask such questions as, “What letter comes afterm?n?d?t?”
4. Consonant Drills.
(a) Call a letter and have pupils give the sound.
(b) Sound a letter and have pupils give the name.
5. Written Work.
(a) Have pupils copy the alphabet in script from print.
(b) Have pupils write the alphabet from memory.
(c) Dictate the letters in any order and require the pupils to write them. Time the children in this exercise, encouraging them to write as rapidly as possible.
6. The Typewriter Game.
Call the alphabet on page 7 of the child’s book the keys of a typewriter. Have the children spell words, touching the letters as the letter keys. Dictate as follows: “Writeaton your typewriter.” The pupils touchaandtas they spell aloud. Then dictatecat,bat,hat. Use phonetic words or words made of letters near together in the alphabet. The object of the exercise is to find quickly the place of each letter in the alphabet, as well as to give the ability to quickly recognize the letters.
Lesson 1, Page 8
Lesson 1, Page 8
Lesson 1, Page 8
As may be seen at a glance, this lesson contains five words using the phonogramun.
The directions and suggestions given below for the study of this particular lesson apply to all similar phonetic lessons in the book.
1. Pronounce each word distinctly, giving its meaning or using it in a sentence, as, “sun—The sun is shining brightly.” You thus give the children the word properly used and leave in no pupil’s mind the idea that you meantson. “Fun—Did you have fun at recess time, Tom?” Tom’s recollection of the recess games will associate the word and its meaning. “Gun—Who has seen a gun? What is its use? Bun—The baker puts currants in the bun.” By the variety of ways in which you give or suggest the meaning of the word, try to arouse the pupil’s interest in the word itself. Never require a pupil to study the spelling of a word until he has heard it properly pronounced and knows the meaning.
2. Have the pupils read the words, pronouncing each correctly. The children may give original sentences, using the new words.
3. Pupils pronounce and spell each word orally.
4. Ask what letters are found in every word. Teach the children to call the common part the “family name” of the word and to spell it as a unit, as, “sun—spell, s-un.”
5. Tell the children to look at the list of words and choose the hardest. They may look at the word for a moment, then spell it without looking at the book. In some such way arouse interest in the spelling of each word in the lesson, as, “Who can find and spell the word that is the name of something that makes a great noise?” “The one we all enjoy at recess?” “The one that opens the flowers?” “The one we like to eat?”
6. Pronounce each word, give the family, and spell the word thus, sun, -un, s-u-n. Have pupils emphasize the firstletter—the part of each word that is not common to the series—as,sun,fun,bun,gun,nun.
7. Children place their books face down on their desks, while the teacher dictates the words. Children spell orally. If a word is missed, do not pass it to another child. The one who missed turns over his book and studies the correct spelling while the teacher continues to dictate words to the other pupils. After all the children have spelled, those who missed have a chance to spell their words correctly. From the beginning every child must feel a responsibility for every word dictated to him. He must spell it correctly before the lesson is ended for him.
In all oral spelling, save time by having the children respond in turn without being called upon by name. Perhaps the best way is to go up and down the rows.
Spell the first word very softly and write it on the blackboard as you pronounce each letter. The children look at the written form on the board, and copy the word, saying to themselves each letter as they write. Do the same with other words.
It is not necessary to copy each word more than once. The common part or family name—the combination of letters that requires special drill—is repeated in each word.
As pupils gain facility in written letter forms, they should copy their lessons once in script from the printed lesson in the book. For the first ten lessons, however, the teachermay well take the time to have the work copied from the board.
The teacher who truly means to make her children realize the importance of accurate spelling and neat writing will see that each child has a notebook in which to keep his spelling lessons. She will show him just how the work should be arranged in his book. (The child’s spelling book shows a good arrangement.) She will insist that he follow the arrangement and that his penmanship be neat. If the teacher cannot provide regular blank books for spelling, the children may make their own of regular writing paper, fastening the requisite number of sheets together with two Magill fasteners, or sewing them with thread or raffia.
In dictating, pronounce each word clearly and distinctly. Have the children repeat, then write the word. This habit of correct pronunciation of the words cannot be overemphasized. It has been said, and the saying is true, “A word correctly pronounced is half spelled.”
When a lesson is perfect, mark it. Mark itperfect. That is the mark primary children like best. Mark it in colored pencil. If the child has made a special effort in writing or in neatness, show your appreciation and observation by affixing a star or some other symbol to his paper. Encourage him, make him proud of his spelling, proud of his writing, proud of his book, proud of himself.
Give no spelling mark but the mark for perfect work.
When a child makes a mistake in spelling, call his attention to it. If it is only a careless mistake, he will spell the word orally. Theteacherthen erases the mistake, and the child corrects it. If, however, the child has not mastered the correct spelling, he should be referred to his book. When he can spell the word, the teacher erases the incorrectly spelled word, and the child writes it correctly.
The correcting of the lesson should follow as soon as possible the writing of the lesson. In order that this may be done in the same period, the lessons are kept very short. In order that there may be few mistakes the lessons are very simple. If the lessons are studied as suggested, there should be very few errors to correct. If the work is corrected as definitely as outlined, the pupils will soon learn what is required of them, and will take pride in having a perfect, attractive book. The arousing of such pride, and the cultivation of habits of correctness and neatness are of incalculable value.
1. By thoughtful, intelligent study, prevent errors.
2. When mistakes are made, have the pupils correct them immediately as an important duty.
Lesson 3, Page 8
Lesson 3, Page 8
Lesson 3, Page 8
The children have had two series or families in past lessons. In the new lesson ask them to look for words that belong to these families. They will findrunin theunfamily, andme,the,tree, in thee(ee) family. These words should be distinctly pronounced and spelled orally.
The remaining word isto. It belongs to no family that the children have studied. Have the children pronounce it, use it in a number of simple sentences, and spell it.
Give each child a small piece of paper. Tell the children to look attoand spell it silently. Then without looking at the book have them write the word on paper. Each word in the lesson may be studied and written in the same way.
No new spelling words occur in this lesson. It is a review, an application of some of the words learned.
The first lesson, and perhaps a few others of the same kind, should be taught from the board, although it is better that each child should have a book before him.
A child reads the first sentence from the book. “Run to me.”
The teacher says, “I will write it on the board if you will spell the words. The children in the first row stand.”
Without waiting to be called upon by name the children spell the words in turn.
The teacher says, “Runbegins with a capital letter because it is the first word in a sentence. Spell it, capital R-u-n.”
When all the words in the sentence have been spelled and written on the board, the teacher places the period at the end, saying, “There is a period at the end of this sentence.”
The second sentence is to be spelled by the children and written on the board by the teacher in the same way.
The children may now copy the sentences from the blackboard.
The two things to be taught in this lesson are the capital to begin the first word, and the period at the end of the sentence.
Phonetic reviews are given frequently throughout the book. Each lesson contains one word of the series taught. These words are numbered.
Have the children open their books to the review lesson, as that on page 12.
Let the children read the words and the families, as,run-un,me-e,play-ay,fly-y. Then have each word spelled orally.
Now dictate other words from the same families,as,sun,see,gay,cry,sand. If a pupil misspells a word, give him the number of the family in which the word occurs. Let him look in his book, study his word, and be ready to spell it when you have finished dictating other words to the rest of the class. Thus you may dictate the wordsay. The child hesitates or misspells the word. Give him number3. He looks in his book, finds3and the well-known wordplayafter the number. He knows the wordsayis in the same family, and he studies out the word while you are hearing the rest of the class spell words in the other families. When you return to him and ask, “What is your word?” he answers, “Say—s-a-y.”
Never pass a word to a second child. Each child must spell, with help if necessary, every word that is dictated to him.
For written review, dictate any words from the seriesrepresented in the review lesson. Return again and again to these review lessons.
Have the children copy the words and under each write one or more words in the same family. Thus:
Use these reviews for oral spelling matches and for written tests. Keep records of these written tests. There are 36 sight words assigned to the first year. Arouse the child’s interest and ambition to master these words by encouragement and all good incentives.
1. Make the words or sentences in each lesson with “word builder” letters. This work should be carefully examined to see that it is correct and that it follows the arrangement given in the book.
2. Copy in script the lesson from the book.