Helping your child with spelling

Transcription

1 Helping your child with spelling A practical guide for parents and carers

2 We want your child to be a confident writer and speller. Your encouragement and support will be of real benefit to your child. In this booklet we hope to give you some ideas to help you, to help your child to improve their spelling. There are basically five (5) steps to better spelling: 1. Learn the "basic rules" of spelling 2. Read more. 3. Familiarize yourself with words that are difficult to spell. 4. Practice writing using difficult-to-spell words. 5. Keep things in mind. Focus, and spell confidently. Why is spelling valued? Spelling is a key part of becoming a successful writer. Better spelling has numerous benefits: Helps children to write more fluently Gives strategies to attempt to encounter un familiar words, enriching their vocabulary Develops confident readers and writers Supports children with dyslexic tendencies

3 How to learn spellings There are many ways in which you can learn spellings. One of the best ways is the Look Say Cover Write Check method. LOOK carefully at the word, try to spot which part of the word you would find difficult to remember SAY the word so then you can think about the sound of the word COVER the word with your hand, book or paper WRITE the word from memory. If you are not sure have another look and write it again CHECK to see if you have spelt it correctly. If it is not right, repeat the Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check

4 Use of a dictionary Children are often reluctant to use a dictionary, help your child to learn how a dictionary works and the benefits of being able to use one to improve spelling. Children should be able to use a dictionary quickly and confidently to aid them in their writing. What is the point of using a dictionary because if I can t spell it, how will I know if it s spelt right? Read the definition to confirm you have found the correct word, and then learn the word, so you won t have to keep using a dictionary. If I don t know how to spell a word, how will I find it in a dictionary? Ask someone for the start of the word, possibly the first to or three letters then scan through that section in the dictionary to find the correct word.

5 Spelling Lists You will find many spelling lists on the internet and some are included in this booklet. Top tips for spelling lists Always re test words so that they are practised at least three times a week Practise writing newly learnt words by writing them in sentences. Tricks to help you remember things Try to spot which part of the word is causing difficulty. Highlight with a pen, or draw a circle around the letter, or group of letters that need special attention. decide - it is often the c which is hard to remember Find a word within a word, this helps to split a longer word into manageable chunks temperature - temper - rat heard - hear - ear - ard weather - weat - eat sincerely - since - rely

6 Split longer words into individual sounds or syllables Disappointment - dis/ap/point/ment Description - des/crip/tion You can put words into a family of words which share the same letters The skirt and the shirt were dirty. strength and length Note the repeat of letter patterns to help learn words which are easily confused We hear with our ear. Let s go in separate cars. I will be your friend to the end. Make up silly sentences to learn awkward words. Spelling is a piece of pie. Words can be remembered by saying them in an odd way to stress letters Wed/nes/day fat/her is/land diff/e/rant par/li/a/ment bis/cuits k/now k/nife

7 Mnemonics are a useful way to learn spellings, the nest ones are those that children think of themselves necessary - Never Eat Cake Eat Sausage Sandwiches And Remain Youthful because - Big Elephants Can Always Understand Small Elephants rhythm - Rhythm Helps Your Two Hips Move Practising writing words without seeing can help to strengthen the connection between the hand and the brain, it helps children to focus on the exact letters and hand movements they are making as they write A little time understanding how words are built up from root words can ease the memory load friend - friendship - friendly - friendlier scribe - scribble - script - describe

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