Q&A DEARTEACHERS
BY PEGGY GISLER AND MARGE EBERTS
HOW TO HELP A POOR SPELLER
QUESTION: My second grader just doesn’t do well on spelling tests. He has never been a good speller, and he is only a fair reader. What are some things that can be done to improve his spelling? – Poor Speller
ANSWER: Some people think that the spelling of English words is crazy and unpredictable and use that as an excuse for children’s being poor spellers. They are wrong. The spelling of about 50 percent of all English words is based on sound-letter correspondence, and another close to 40 percent are almost predictable except for one sound. Admittedly, this leaves the spelling of about 10 percent of all words to be memorized (sight words). When children first begin to spell words, they do not yet have down pat the sounds of individual letters. So they use just a few letters to spell a word. This early spelling common with 5- and 6-yearold children is called inventive spelling. However, encouraging students to use this way of spelling beyond the beginning of first grade is not considered a good approach to learning to spell. Children learn to spell first by understanding that words are made up separate speech sounds and that these sounds are represented by letters. Then they move onto noticing patterns in words they spell (cat, bat, mat). The next step is learning about syllables, prefixes, suffixes, word endings and basic spelling rules. Poor spellers are often poor readers, as they
20 march 2022
kcparent.com
have not mastered the connection between letters and sounds. You should be able to help your child become a better speller and at the same time a better reader because the two require many of the same skills. A chat with his teacher is needed to pinpoint exactly what is holding him back from being a better speller. The teacher can give your child a diagnostic spelling test that will let you both see what consonant and vowel sounds and word spellings he needs to know. If the teacher suspects that the problem is dyslexia, more specialized help will be needed. Once you know where your child needs help, begin to teach him a few consonant letters that he cannot yet sound out. The teacher can provide you with worksheets, or you can find worksheets and workbooks online and in stores with these sounds to use with him. Once he has mastered these sounds, work with him on predictably spelled words that use these sounds and other ones he knows. Hopefully, you will be able to use some words on the weekly spelling list. Move slowly, only teaching new consonants when earlier ones have been mastered. Once all the consonants have been mastered, move on to working with syllables and then a few basic spelling rules. At this point he should be a muchimproved speller. While teaching the consonant sounds, introduce a few sight words. He can trace them and then write them to learn these often difficult-to-spell words.
