![]() ![]() Encouraging students, beyond the beginning of first grade, to invent their spellings or to ignore correct spelling is not constructive. However, inventive spelling is not sufficient for students to learn all of the conventions and patterns of Standard English writing. Inventive spelling or spelling words the way they sound is common in preschool and kindergarten children and is a desirable step in understanding how we use letters to spell. ![]() Memories for whole words are formed much faster and recalled much more easily when children have a sense of language structure and receive ample practice writing the words. As knowledge of that principle increases, children also notice patterns in the way letters are used, and they notice recurring sequences of letters that form syllables, word endings, word roots, prefixes, and suffixes. Spelling of whole words is facilitated when the child understands that words are made up of separate speech sounds and that letters represent those sounds. This process moves ahead much more quickly (and successfully) if instruction in sounds and letters is systematic, explicit, and structured. It is true that some of us were born to be better spellers than others, but it is also true that poor spellers can be helped with good instruction and accommodations.Ĭhildren gradually develop insights into how words are represented with letters in preschool, kindergarten, and first grade. Like other aspects of dyslexia and reading achievement, spelling ability is influenced by inherited traits. These weaknesses may be detected in the use of both spoken language and written language thus, these weaknesses may be detected when someone speaks and writes. Most commonly, poor spellers have weaknesses in underlying language skills including the ability to analyze and remember the individual sounds ( phonemes) in the words, such as the sounds associated with j, ch, or v, the syllables, such as la, mem, pos and the meaningful parts (morphemes) of longer words, such as sub-, -pect, or -able. Poor spellers have trouble remembering the letters in words because they have trouble noticing, remembering, and recalling the features of language that those letters represent. The kind of visual memory necessary for spelling is closely “wired in” to the language processing networks in the brain. Most of us know individuals who have excellent visual memories for pictures, color schemes, design elements, mechanical drawings, maps, and landscape features, for example, but who spell poorly. Therefore, spelling reversals of easily confused letters such as b and d, or sequences of letters, such as wnet for went are manifestations of underlying language learning weaknesses rather than of a visually based problem. Spelling problems, like reading problems, originate with language learning weaknesses. Recent research, however, shows that a general kind of visual memory plays a relatively minor role in learning to spell. One common but mistaken belief is that spelling problems stem from a poor visual memory for the sequences of letters in words. ![]() Many individuals with dyslexia learn to read fairly well, but difficulties with spelling (and handwriting) tend to persist throughout life, requiring instruction, accommodations, task modifications, and understanding from those who teach or work with the individual. The definition of dyslexia notes that individuals with dyslexia have “conspicuous problems” with spelling and writing, in spite of being capable in other areas and having a normal amount of classroom instruction. Less is known about spelling competence in the general population than is known about reading achievement because there is no national test for spelling and many states do not test students’ spelling skills.Īlmost all people with dyslexia, however, struggle with spelling and face serious obstacles in learning to cope with this aspect of their learning disability. Spelling is difficult for many people, but there is much less research on spelling than there is on reading to tell us just how many people spell poorly or believe they spell poorly. ![]()
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