2

Copyright © 2012 by Fred Duckworth. All rights reserved. This publication is copyrighted and may only be copied, distributed or displayed for personal use on an individual, one-time basis. Transmitting this work in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical or otherwise, without written permission from the author is expressly prohibited. All copyright notifications must be included and you may not alter them in any way. Moreover, you may not modify, transform, or build upon this work, nor use this work for commercial purposes.

3

About My Program

Chapter 1

At TrinityTutors Virtual Academy, rather than require my participants to memorize individual spelling words twenty at a time, I help them master the rules governing those spellings. I believe this to be a logical, well-structured approach that enables students to become competent spellers, accurately encoding auditory speech into written language by applying common patterns to the 250,000 or so words they must be able to handle when writing in context. In brief, I use a five step process that requires learners to decipher the phonological structure of each word by applying roughly 29 rules and 70 alphabetic codes to the 44 speech sounds on which the English language is built.

4

Consequently, before using this approach your child will need to be fairly familiar with the concepts of syllables, vowels, consonants, and both short- and long-vowel sounds. The strategies I use have all been adapted from a variety of sound, well-established spelling programs like those offered by Romalda Spalding, Zaner-Bloser and Discover Explicit Phonics, resulting in a unique approach to spelling instruction that can be tailored to any educational setting. Each lesson focuses on a particular pattern related to a common spelling rule or principle. The spelling words in the list for that week are chosen to illustrate the spelling strategy, which you can help your child learn by spending time at home examining the words together. Moreover, you will probably want to encourage your child to make a habit of using the following simple

5

study strategy as a method for learning his or her spelling word: 1. Look Look Look Look at the word. 2. Say Say Say Say the letters in the word. Think about how each

sound is spelled. 3. Cover Cover Cover Cover the word with your hand or close your eyes. 4. See See See See the word in your mind. Spell the word to

yourself. 5. Write Write Write Write the word. 6. Check Check Check Check your spelling against the spelling in your

notes or on the spelling handout. Your son or daughter will also grow as a speller by writing stories, diaries, signs, letters, etc. Encourage him or her to write frequently while playing and exploring hobbies, as well as during quiet times. Enjoy writing together! (All the ideas on this page come from Zaner-Bloser.)

6

The Weekly Routine

Chapter 2

The following is a description of how TrinityTutors Virtual Academy goes about conducting rigorous, content-rich, criterion-referenced/mastery-learning spelling program. It is not meant to be an exact prescription that parent-educators using this program must follow. It does however indicate the type of word structure analysis I strongly recommend you have your learner carry out each week. Of greater concern however than the minute details of lesson execution is whether your child success-fully masters the targeted skills and concepts by the end of each week.

7

SSSSample Lessonample Lessonample Lessonample Lesson / Day / Day / Day / Day 1111:::: During the first spelling lesson of the week, your focus will be on having your child use his or her listening skills and draw on his or her preexisting or background knowledge to see if he or she can identify what the words in the new spelling list all have in common. At this point, you do not allow the class to see the list. Instead, you have your learners listen carefully as you read the new words one-by-one, instructing them to listen for some “quality” all the words share in common. You might even ask them to repeat each word after you, saying something like the following… I’m going to read this week’s list of words and I want you to repeat each word after me. Listen carefully and pay close attention so you will be able to tell me what soundsoundsoundsound you hearhearhearhear or fefefefeelelelel in all the words, or what it is you think allallallall the words share in common.

8

If any of your learners are able to identify the spelling rule, principle or pattern on which you are focusing this week—wonderful! If not, show them the list of words (distribute the spelling handout or have them turn to the appropriate page in their spelling or language workbooks) and ask them what letter or letter combination or other common feature they notice or recognize in all the words. If they are still unable to identify the targeted spelling rule, principle or pattern, go ahead and make explicitly clear exactly which rule, principle or pattern you are focusing on this week. (If you’re using a keyword picture, show it at this time. Also, distribute the spelling list if you have not done so already.) If the spelling program you are using does not focus on a particular spelling skill or concept, introduce “closed syllables” and have your learners search the words with the goal of locating all of the closed syllables in the list.

9

Even if the spelling program you are using does have its own focus pattern, rule or principal, make sure you also discuss “close syllables” anyway since, by the end of next week, all FIA students in grades four to seven are to be able to verbally answer the question “What do you know about closed syllables?” if and when asked by the school’s English head of department. (AnswerAnswerAnswerAnswer: A closed syllable is a syllable that ends with a consonant, and the vowel in a closed syllable is usually short.) Unlike many in the education establishment, I do not necessarily frown on rote memorization and in fact, am of the opinion that it can serve as a valuable instructional tool. However, I do agree that rote memorization for its own sake is pointless, so I may go on to check whether students can apply the above “knowledge.”

10

For example, I might write zonzonzonzon blugblugblugblug floflofloflo and prupruprupru on the board and then ask if anyone can come up and circle the closed syllables.

11

SSSSample Lessonample Lessonample Lessonample Lesson / Day 2/ Day 2/ Day 2/ Day 2:::: After reviewing yesterday’s discussion, have the students practice their handwriting by copying each word as you write it on the board. Discuss how this week’s pattern applies to each word as you provide direct instruction with respect to how individual letters are formed/written. If the students are in grade four or above, these lessons should be conducted using cursive handwriting. (By the way, the previous lesson implies that students are familiar with the concepts of syllables, vowels, short vowels and consonants, so if this is not the case, you will need to start there. [Such is the case with child-centered and criterion-referenced/mastery-learning instruction.] It should also be mentioned that unless your students can verbally explain or describe the above concepts [i.e., What is a syllable? What are the vowels? What are the short vowel sounds?] the English head of

12

department will regard this as a lack of evidence that students have indeed mastered this material, so please ensure your learners can verbalize all skills and concepts they supposedly know.) As you work your way through the list, have your students verbalize the corresponding rule, pattern or principle from time to time. Make sure you reinforce the link between the targeted spelling concept and its corresponding letter(s) or letter combination(s). When finished, have your learners continue practicing the verbalization of this week's spelling rule until they can say it without any assistance. Finally, have your learners use the rule to spell words chosen randomly from the list as well as other words (or nonsense words) that they should be able to “encode” by applying the rules, patterns or principals currently under study as well as those learned previously.

13

Sample Sample Sample Sample Lesson / Day 3Lesson / Day 3Lesson / Day 3Lesson / Day 3:::: Review what was learned during the first two lessons. Then have the class read each word twice—the first time at normal speed, but pausing between each uninterrupted phonemic unit the second time around (whenever they come to a multi-syllabic word) to demonstrate how each word should be divided or broken into syllables. You might also want to have your learners tap their fingers (or clap their hands) to emphasize the number of syllables. Another alternative is to have the students copy the list of words on their own, writing the number of syllables next to each word without any assistance. You might even have them write the spelling words phonetically using standard pronunciation symbols, instructing them to be sure they divide the words into syllables and use accent marks. Once they finish, you can have them compare their spellings with

14

those in a standard dictionary of from a dictionary website. After completing the above activities, ask your learners to identify the position of specific sounds by asking questions like: “Which syllable in the word ___________ has the /__ / sound?” And finally, review skills and concepts already mastered or currently being learned by instructing the class to identify spelling patterns from the present and past lessons. Ask questions like: “How do you spell the /__ / sound?”

15

Sample Lesson / Day 4:Sample Lesson / Day 4:Sample Lesson / Day 4:Sample Lesson / Day 4: Have each student choose one of the five spelling activities below, directing your learners to alternate activities from week to week and informing them that each activity will be graded for completeness and neatness. 1. List the spelling words in alphabetical order, using

one of the following alternatives. a. Write each word on graph paper,

placing one letter in each box. Then draw an outline around the entire word to see its overall shape.

b. Study the most difficult words from the list using “triangle spelling.”

16

2. Use each word in a sentence that has at least six other words in it besides the spelling word. a. Watch usage of the word, and make sure it

is in the context of the appropriate definition. b. Underline each spelling word.

3. Write a paragraph or story that uses/includes all of

your spelling words. Underline the spelling words.

4. Using the definitions to create clues, design a crossword puzzle on graph paper. Include the clues and leave the puzzle blank.

5. Write each of your spelling words and next to each

word, define it. Make sure that the definition applies to the way the word was used in class.

17

The following alternative can be used once the students know most or all of the patterns: Have the students “decode” the syllables comprising each word, categorizing them according to the six types of syllables. Follow up on this task by asking questions like:

1. How many vowel sounds are in this word? 2. Are there any digraphs in this word? If so, what

are they? 3. Are there any diphthongs in this word? If so,

what are they? 4. Are there any r-controlled vowels in this word? If

so, what are they? During this activity, make sure you stress all important sound-symbol correspondence. Also, ask questions like:

18

1. What type of syllable is the first syllable? 2. Which syllable is a ____ syllable? 3. Which syllable is accented?

You may choose to introduce the six types of syllables as students encounter them, or you can provide students with the definitions beforehand, possibly even providing a lesson ahead of time along with examples of each type of syllable.

19

Test Day:Test Day:Test Day:Test Day: Administer the final spelling test. When administering the test, read each word one-at-a-time. First, clearly state the word. Then use the word in a sentence. Finally, clearly state the word once more. After that, move on to the next word. After the last word is given, read through the entire list just once more so that your learners can make any last-minute corrections. (By the way, any student in grade four or above must write each word using his or her best cursive handwriting.) Have your learners correct their own tests using a pen or colored pencil and then record any misspelled words in their Spelling Journals.

20

Lesson 1: Closed Syllables

Chapter 3

Regardless of grade level, I always begin the school year by ensuring all students understand the concept of “closed syllables” (syllables that end with one or more consonants) and that they know the vowel in a closed syllable is usually short. Of course, this implies that they also know what a syllable is and are thoroughly familiar with each of the short-vowel sounds. Note also that this will probably be the only spelling principle grade one teachers will address, though I personally include the concept of “open syllables” as well.

21

Students are first introduced to closed syllables when they learn what are known as CVC words (for “consonant-vowel-consonant”) like cat, pot, bed, rug, bit, etc. Such words are also examples of “closed syllables.” The importance of knowing the different types of syllables (there are six of them altogether) lies in the fact that whether a vowel makes its short- or long-vowel sound often depends on the kind of syllable in which it appears. Before I go any further however, I had better make sure we share the same concept regarding exactly what a syllable is. Here is the formal definition:

A syllable is an uninterrupted unit within a word that contains exactly one vowel sound, or one vowel diphthong, or one syllabic consonant.

22

Though accurate, the above definition is nonetheless somewhat difficult to understand. For this reason, I initialy use the following definition: syllable: part of a word in which one or more letters forma single unit containing only one vowel sound It may be easier to think of syllables as the “beats” in a word. It often helps to clap as the word is uttered in a “choppy” fashion, as with…

clap clap clap clap clap clap

en – cy – clo – pe – di – a

As already mentioned, the first type of syllable we will look at is called a closed syllable.

A closed syllable is a syllable that ends with one or more consonants. The vowel sound in a closed syllable is usually short (e.g., cat, it, speck, etc.). We

23

place a breve above the vowel to indicate that it makes its short-vowel sound:

băt hŭt shŏck

Closed syllables are abbreviated with: (V-C) Sometimes when you’re writing, a long word will need to be divided at the end of a line to avoid a long blank space next to the right-hand margin. When this is necessary, you should always divide the word betweenbetweenbetweenbetween syllables, and use a “hyphen” to mark the division. (Note: This means you cannot divide words that have only one syllable.) Also, do not leave only one letter of a divided word on a line. If you have a choice, divide the word more or less in the middle.

24

For your first spelling assignment, divide your weekly spelling words into syllables and label each syllable according to the type of syllable that it is. By the end of the week, your learner should be able to do all of the following.

1. Verbalize two facts about “closed syllables.” (A closed syllable is a syllable that ends with one or more consonants and the vowel in a closed syllable is usually short.)

2. Distinguish (by sight) between a syllable that is closed and one that is not. (Carefully look at the following group of syllables and circle the ones that are “closed.” zet gle fid lim pra nig zet gle fid lim pra nig zet gle fid lim pra nig zet gle fid lim pra nig snusnusnusnu)

3. Apply the above information about closed syllables to correctly sound out unknown and unfamiliar (nonsense) words: ginron naklis fesfil lomtric uzrum

25

Following are lists of words that can be used at each grade level to teach the concepts related to closed syllables. Grade 7 transmit indicate enroll rustic comfort enclose culprit ambition parachute elegant mistake campus property

26

support witness picnic improve extreme dignity wisdom

27

Lesson 2: Open Syllables

Chapter 3

Students in grade 2 and above will now move on to the long vowel sounds, analyzing (1) “open syllables,” (2) the consonant/vowel/silent-e pattern, (3) adjacent vowels (ai, ay, ea, ee, ie, oa, oe, ui and ue), and (4) various other spelling patterns. Information on the remaining patterns will be provided at a later date as you are given more details about the program.