Catherine T. Bryce

“ If I hear the word incorrectly pronounced for the first time, I am afraid I shall find it harder to learn the correct pronunciation. Two reasons why so many words are pronounced incorrectly are: people guess a wrong pronunciation instead of finding the correct one; and people hear the incorrect pronunciation instead of the right one. ”

“ Investigation strongly points to the conclusion that they should be kept apart until the correct spelling has become a fixed habit, and the ability to use them correctly in sentences reasonably sure. In order that no confusion as to the proper use of a homophone may arise in the child’s mind, it should be presented in a phrase, or still better in a complete sentence. In dictating words it should never be taken for granted that the child knows which one of a pair of homophones is meant. ”

“ In the same way the pupils discovered the different sounds of e, i, o, and u. “Those are all the vowel sounds,” said Alice.
“Yes,” added John, “and the dictionary man has arranged them in alphabetical order. Didn’t he stick close to the alphabet though!”
“These little words at the bottom of the page are called key words,” said Miss Merlin. “Can any one tell why?”
The pupils thought for a moment. Then Tom said, “I know. Because they unlock the pronunciation of the new word.”
“Good,” said Miss Merlin, “pronounce the first syllable in our new word on the board, Tom, using the key word.” ”

“ Use of the Dictionary The “dictionary habit” is a most desirable one. Those children are fortunate who have instant access to a dictionary when they begin the work in the fourth grade. However, children must be taught how to use the dictionary. Suggestions for teaching the use of it may be found in the suggestions for each grade. (See pages 37, 42, 46, 55, etc.) Do not deaden the interest by requiring the pupils to look up every word in the lesson, but rather have them look up all words whose spelling or pronunciation is uncertain. ”

“ Review Lists Throughout the book, review lists are common. The time usually allotted to the spelling lesson is short and, therefore, only those words which have been shown by investigation to need reviewing occur in these review lists. Words presenting the most difficulty are often repeated in the same and succeeding grades. The words which are recurring constantly in the written vocabulary of children are the words which they need to be sure that they have mastered. Including only such words for review will enable both teacher and pupil to conserve the time of the school day. ”

“ Written Spelling Ability to spell a word means the carrying out of certain habits which have already been formed. If these habits are right then the word is spelled correctly. If children have not formed the right set of habits, if their pronunciation is wrong, if their mental picture is distorted, if imperfect vision causes them to see the word indistinctly, if their hearing is not normal, or if the coördination of the muscles is poor, any or all of these things will lead to the misspelling of a word. ”

“ Put life and interest into the lesson by variety, and let the children see that the building up of a vocabulary can be an exciting game.
The Teacher’s Opportunity Perhaps with no class has the seventh grade teacher a greater opportunity for a fine and helpful influence than she has with the spelling class. Her pupils will be judged, in later years, by their speech. She may, by careful teaching, expand their vocabularies so that they have a broad range, and she may likewise secure an accuracy in enunciation which will reflect great credit on her teaching. ”

“ Thus all the investigations tend to show that teachers are not able to select words according to their difficulty. The difficulty can only be found by experimenting with thousands of children and by laboriously correcting and tabulating the results. Fortunately we have a number of such investigations, so that the assignment of words to a certain grade need not be wholly dependent upon the judgment of an individual teacher, but upon the results obtained from testing thousands of children by a number of different skilled investigators. ”

“ We do not know how well children could spell fifty, or even twenty-five, years ago. As time goes by there is a glamour thrown over the past and we see only the high lights. We remember that in spelling a match there was a certain boy, or girl, who spelled down the entire school time after time, or possibly had a reputation for being the best speller in the entire county. When a spelling match was announced it was a foregone conclusion that the victory lay between two or three pupils. How many children of the eighth grade could spell the following list of words? ”

“ No lessons on antonyms have been given, but it is an excellent practice to have pupils look up antonyms as well as synonyms. Many additional paragraphs may be dictated by the teacher and the pupils required to look up both synonyms and antonyms.
Nothing more wooden or deadening can be conceived than the practice of requiring the pupils to look up every word in the dictionary and to write a definition for each and every one. ”

“ Words in Lessons 3, 17, 39, and 40 illustrate a third phase with the development of root words and derivatives which will be taught formally in the seventh grade. These lessons bring together words which have a common root. The teacher should be continually on the watch for these common roots and call the attention of the children to them. In undertaking to develop a spelling consciousness there is probably nothing that will help so much as this phase of the work. In agree, agreeable, disagreeable, and agreement, agree is the common part. ”

“ Children place their books face down on their desks, while the teacher dictates the words. Children spell orally. If a word is missed, do not pass it to another child. The one who missed turns over his book and studies the correct spelling while the teacher continues to dictate words to the other pupils. After all the children have spelled, those who missed have a chance to spell their words correctly. From the beginning every child must feel a responsibility for every word dictated to him. He must spell it correctly before the lesson is ended for him. ”

“ A sentence should be given to show which one is required. Spelling there correctly in a column of words does not necessarily mean that the word would be spelled correctly in a sentence. If the child always hears it in its proper setting there will be a tendency always to see it in this setting with the correct spelling naturally following.
Proper Names The proper names that should be taught vary with the community and the school. The teacher should herself select those that need to be taught to her class. In the first grade the child should be taught to spell his own name. ”

“ Teachers have had the mistaken idea that children learn to spell many words because of constant use, and that there is no need of teaching them. Recent studies have shown that this is not true except with respect to occasional children who have already developed what has been called a spelling consciousness. In the vast majority of cases this spelling consciousness needs to be developed. To accomplish this words have to be selected, and carefully and systematically taught, to most children. The selection of words, therefore, is an important work of the author of a spelling book. ”

“ Vocabulary The alphabetical vocabulary may be used for review lessons and for looking up words. Its use helps to encourage the dictionary habit.
68 SUGGESTIONS FOR EIGHTH YEAR Review The eighth grade teacher should read carefully the directions for the seventh grade. She should know what has been done and what has been left undone. In many schools she completes the teaching of spelling. While wasting no time in unnecessary reviews, she may wisely give a careful test at the beginning and learn her problems. The work in word building, by means of synonyms and derivatives, should be continued. ”

“ If the pupil is to acquire a real spelling consciousness, and form a good habit which is real and lasting, these helps must be plentiful, but at the same time arise in such a way that they will be helpful in forming and strengthening the good habits, and tend to break any bad habits which may have been started. ”

“ Children strongly tend to spell as they speak. Slovenly enunciation will give inaccurate spelling.
Root Words and Derived Words There is abundant material throughout the book illustrating the changes in root words when derivatives are formed. This does not mean, however, that there is nothing for the teacher to do. The teacher must keep constantly in mind that it is not necessarily true that because the child can spell “health,” he can spell “healthy.” Below is given a list of twenty-three words and one or more derivatives which were given to approximately 1,000 children in the sixth grade. ”

“ Whenever a pupil mispronounces a word his attention should be directed to the first two rules. Care should be exercised in referring to these three rules that the interest is quickened and not deadened by the constant repetition and reference to the same story. ”

“ On the basis of this testing the Ayres Spelling Scale was organized.
The significant features of the scale are: (1) It contains only the commonest words. (2) It gives approximately what one ought to expect from any given grade when spelling words that are listed as equal in spelling difficulty. (3) The determination of the difficulty of any word was not dependent on the judgment of any one person, or group of persons, but on the ability of a large group of children to spell those words by writing them. ”

“ Of the 4,532 different words the number used by at least 2% of the pupils in the respective grades was as follows:
When Should Spelling Be Taught The scientific teaching of spelling requires that words shall be taught in the grade in which they are first used. When the child first enters school his speaking vocabulary is comparatively large. His reading vocabulary varies from nothing to one fairly large, depending, in part, on the home from which the child comes. His writing vocabulary is very limited, even under the best of conditions. ”

“ In all oral spelling, save time by having the children respond in turn without being called upon by name. Perhaps the best way is to go up and down the rows.
Copying a Spelling Lesson Spell the first word very softly and write it on the blackboard as you pronounce each letter. The children look at the written form on the board, and copy the word, saying to themselves each letter as they write. Do the same with other words.
It is not necessary to copy each word more than once. ”

“ These reviews will tax the ingenuity of the teacher that they may be interesting and not merely a mechanical word drill. Attention may well be called to the fact that the plural of nouns ending in ant and ent have the same pronunciation as the corresponding words ending in ance and ence. If given in a sentence the meaning will clearly show him which one is meant. Care must be used that confusion does not result. Thoughtful teaching is important.
Review of Rules During the work of the preceding grades the important rules for spelling have been developed. ”

“ Since it is important that children should know how to spell such common words as “judges,” “mosquitoes,” etc., as well as the root word, many derived forms must be considered as presenting new spelling problems and taught as such. Since it is impossible to teach all derivatives and the needs of the pupils are varied, careful training in the formation of derivatives must be given. ”

“ However, we know now that, although most children depend largely 16upon vision for what they learn, there are those who learn best by hearing the word spoken, while there are others who learn best by going through the motions of making the letters, either with the throat or the hand, and a large majority learn best by using all four processes. ”

“ The pupils looked at one another with troubled faces. In the third grade they had always gone to their teacher 50with bothersome words, and here was Miss Merlin bringing hard words to them and expecting them to help her to learn the pronunciation and the meaning. Never had they felt so helpless. Suddenly John cried out, “Oh, I know! The dictionary!” and running to the front of the room, he placed his hand on a great, heavy book that lay on the small table near Miss Merlin’s desk. “My father has a dictionary like this,” he continued, “and he often looks up words in it.” ”

“ Have them make an alphabetical list of words from the vocabulary; as, able, beam, cage, daily, etc.
(b) Finding Words Quickly. Teacher says, “Read this list of words until you find the word cane.” After the pupils have complied the teacher says, “Count all the words you 44read before you found the word cane.” Pupils count and answer, “Seventy-one.” Teacher asks, “How could I have saved time in finding this word?” The pupils easily discover the fact that they can save time by looking for the word among the words beginning with the same letter. ”

“ Teaching of Rules In the text of the earlier grades, emphasis has been frequently directed toward the changes in words in forming plurals and adding suffixes and prefixes. Very little has been said when the only change has been the adding of “s.” ”

“ On page 29 is a lesson on arranging by the second letter. Following this have the pupils arrange other lists of words in alphabetical order, (a) considering the first two letters of the word; (b) considering the first three letters.
7. Have the children give all the reasons that they can think of to prove that the alphabetical arrangement of a list of words is a good one.
47 SUGGESTIONS FOR FOURTH YEAR How to Study Spelling When the pupil enters the fourth grade he begins to learn to depend more and more upon himself. He does more of his work by himself. ”

“ There is no greater cause for misspelling than the confusion existing because of these two combinations of letters. Careful teaching at this point means much. Lessons 51 to 54, inclusive, are exceptions to the rule and should be carefully noted.
Individual words are constantly occurring which well illustrate the rules that have been taught. Teachers should not fail to take advantage of these opportunities in the teaching part of the lesson.
Building a Vocabulary Throughout the book every possible opportunity to present root words and derivatives together has been taken. ”

“ This will mean not only a larger spelling vocabulary but a larger speaking vocabulary.
Teaching synonyms also furnishes a chance to greatly increase the speaking vocabulary.
Demon and Review Words On page 65 is given another list of “demons” prepared by the authors. The sixth grade teacher should hold herself responsible for this list. Keep on urging and testing until each child has mastered his particular demons. Remember that they are an individual affair and that no two pupils have the same difficulties. ”