Five Guidelines for Learning to Spell
1. Practice makes permanent. Did somebody tell you practice made perfect? That's only if you're practicing it right. Each time you spell a word wrong, you're 'practicing' the wrong spelling. So, if you're not sure how to spell the word, find out, *then* practice that spelling. Keep an ongoing notebook of words, so you've got your own personal dictionary and you can see your progress. Start small, though!!!
2. Don't try to learn all the words at once. Even if you learn them all in one sitting, practice them a few at a time. Find out what works best for you -- it may be one or two words or as many as three or four. Then, add another word to your list, or start on different ones. Each time you learn another word, go back and practice the ones you learned before it, because, after all, practice makes permanent.
3. Review and review some more!. If you already know some of the words on your list, practice them once or twice each before you start tackling the ones you don't know yet. It's a good confidence booster (and besides, practice makes permanent!).
4. Practice spelling as if you expect to spell those words right when you're writing. There's more to learning to spell than passing a spelling test. There are lots of ways to get from guessing to knowing what to write down on a test, AND spelling words right when you're writing sentences and paragraphs. You want to train your hands to write the correct letters in the right order when you think a certain word. Use the "six ways to practice spelling" listed here.
5. Use the words you've practiced. That's the point to learning them, anyway. Have a list of words you're learning handy, in a notebook, and you can look them up to make sure you're spelling them right. Besides, using them is practicing them, and practice...
Six Ways to Practice Spelling
1. "Trace, Copy and Recall" Make a chart like this with 3 or four spelling words you want to learn: Then fold over the "recall" part so that only the first two columns show: Then Say the word to yourself. Trace it in the first column, saying the letters as you trace,and say the word again. You might put a little rhythm into it. ( "WORD . W - pause - O - pause R-D - WORD!). Go to the second column, say the word, and write it the same way. Then, while the rhythm and the sound and the feeling are fresh in your mind, flip the paper over and say the word and spell it out -- the same way, saying each letter (because, after all, practice makes permanent). If it's a hard word, put it on the list more than once. If you're feeling particularly smart, trace and copy TWO words, and try to remember them both before you flip the page over. However, if your short-term memory isn't big enough to hold all that, do one at a time because you want to practice the words RIGHT, not make guesses! After you've done all the words this way a few times, start doing them two or three at a time, and when you feel like you know them, do the list again -- but skip the tracing, or, when you're feeling VERY confident, skip the tracing and the copying both.
2. Reverse chaining by letter 1. Say the word. Then write it out, saying each letter (see number one about putting rhythm into it). W - O - R - D 2. Skip a line and say it and write it again -- minus the last letter. Say the last letter, but don't write it. W - O - R - ____
3. Skip a line and say it and write it again -- minus the last two letters. Say them, but don't write them. W - O - ___ ____
4. Do that until you're only writing one letter.
5. Go back to the top. Read the word, then spell it out loud.
6. Fold the page over so you can't see the whole word. Say the word, spell it, and add that last letter.
7. Fold the page back again. Say the word, spell it, and add the last two letters.
8. Keep going until you spell the whole word.
9. GO BACK AND CHECK -- make sure you didn't leave out a letter!