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Kathleen - Tonight's topic is "What do we really mean by developmental spelling instruction?" with Dr. Grace Vyduna-Haskins
Kathleen - Teachers.Net welcomes Grace Vyduna-Haskins, the author of The Spel-Lang Tree. Grace is a veteran of over 30 years in the classroom. She has taught at all elementary levels, but spent most of her career at the first grade level. She earned her Ed.D. and M.Ed. from National-Louis University in Evanston, Illinois, and her B.A. from Elmhurst College, Elmhurst, Illinois. In addition, she has had extensive training in the Orton-Gillingham method of reading instruction which advocates the use of multi-sensory techniques. Her Master's thesis was entitled The Effects of Using a Multi-Sensory Approach to Teach First Grade Reading.
Kathleen - Tonight's topic is "What do we really mean by developmental spelling instruction?"
Kathleen - Discussion will center on how children learn to spell naturally, ways we can help them develop through carefully sequenced instruction, spelling as a process rather than a product, and what we can expect as results of that instruction.
teach/3 - I did the spelling assessment from Words their Way and leveled from there
Grace/IL - teach/3, I think one has to just set a block of time aside. The current recommendation is for 30-40 minutes per day for word study.
teach/3 - I agree but just finding it hard since it's my first year to do this
Grace/IL - I haven't read Words Their Way but have heard Donald Bear speak. I think the developmental issues from the University of Virginia are very sound (he studied there)
Ginn - I have given the Gentry. Do you use that assessment?
Grace/IL - One of the things they discovered at UV is that children master short vowel words first, then begin to look at within-word patterns (long vowels, etc.)
Kathleen - Article by Grace Vyduna-Haskins: The Spelling Reading/Connection: How Do We Achieve It? The Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin, 63 (4), 15-20. 1997
teach/3 - I participated in training this summer in Ca. the Gover. Reading Professional Devel Institute and they are advocating leveling spelling. It was good to hear
Grace/IL - Not familiar with Gentry's assessment either. I like the one's developed by Darrell Morris and I think the WTW is very similar.
Grace/IL - Perhaps we need to brainstorm on what each of us thinks is essential in developing a model primary spelling program.
Kathleen - By Grace Vyduna-Haskins with Lane, J. (1998): Expanding Vocabulary through Spelling Exploration. Illinois Reading Council Journal, 26 (3) , 92-95.
Grace/IL - How do/can spelling programs assist with developing phonemic awareness?
Kathleen - Article by Grace Vyduna-Haskins: The Language Experience Approach: An Historical View. Journal of Language Experience, 7 (2), 2-11. 1986
teach/3 - Well I did the assessment and started with three groups. My high group is gifted mostly and have harder patterns, homophones, Latin and Greek word roots. My middle group is pretty much standard third grade patterns. My lower group is short and long vowels
PegO - Grace, I received my copy of TRUNKS yesterday. The brief look that I've been able looks so usable in comparison to so many programs that are being offered for us to use. I went to a Janeill Wagstaff seminar and was also impressed with her approach to teaching phonics/spelling. Do you agree that the two are mostly compatible?
Grace/IL - teach/3, do you develop word lists for each group?
teach/3 - Each week each group gets the same 5 high frequency words from Month by Month phonics, then the next 15 words are their pattern words. On Friday I run three spelling tests at the same time
teach/3 - I also do phonemic awareness with my low group. Words their way has lists in the back
Ginn - Do you have your reading groups split into these same groups?
Grace/IL - PegO, thanks for the kind words. I haven't heard of the Wagstaff seminars. I think there are a lot of new programs popping us in light of the UV research. Any time we teach phonics through spelling, we are miles ahead of standard phonics instruction
teach/3 - No I usually pull students indiv or in skill specific (comprehension, etc) I don't have set reading groups
Martina in AK - What is TRUNKS?
Kathleen - Grace authored The Spel-Lang Tree: Roots, an innovative developmental word study program for first grade which integrates the teaching of handwriting, phonics in context, spelling, sentence structure, and grammar. Specific areas of instruction include letter names, letter sounds, letter forms, left to right progression, phonemic awareness, concept of word, vocabulary development, alphabetical order, sentence building, and grammatical usage. In addition, math skills of estimating, sorting, and graphing in a meaningful context are included in the child's daily work. The program is also appropriate for remedial reading programs and home school use. Available for $25 at http://user.mc.net/~gsh
Kathleen - Trunks, the second level of the program, released in August, 1998. Lessons in this manual build on knowledge gained from Roots. It places greater responsibility on the child to develop an expanded spelling and reading vocabulary Traditional sight words are included along with more advanced language patterns - word families, affixes, and the study of syllables. The child also learns to use pronouns, prepositions and contractions in the writing process. In addition, the child learns Ghastly Ghostly words (a limited number of words containing gh spellings) via word hunts and categorizing patterns and sounds. Available for $25 at http://user.mc.net/~gsh
Grace/IL - I really believe a key in phonemic awareness is the slow pronunciation of words -- having children stretch them out -- aaa-mmm, am, mmm-aaa-nnn, man.
teach/3 - I agree Grace. I find my lower spellers can't even hear the sounds
Martina in AK - Thank you. Are the programs geared for particular grade levels or ages?
teach/3 - the phonemic awareness activities are helping
Grace/IL - Martina, Trunks is the second level in the Spel-Lang program. It sends students on word hunts, using vowel patterns.
Kathleen - Grace,is it as important that they put the sounds back together after segmenting the words?
Martina in AK - teach/3: do you use specific phonemic awareness activities/program, etc?
gurujeet - what sort of phonemic awareness activities do you do?
Kathleen - Grace was recognized for Outstanding Scholarship as a Distinguished Finalist for the Outstanding Dissertation of the Year Award in 1993 by The International Reading Association for her dissertation, An Historical Investigation of American Reading Spelling Relationships: 1607-1930.
Grace/IL - teach/3, if they stretch out the words and write the most common letters that represent these sounds, their spelling will improve.
Grace/IL - Kathleen, yes. I think I just dealt with that in a post while you were asking the question.
Grace/IL - What kinds of multi-sensory things do each of us do to help with spelling. I have children trace letters and words on texture.
Ginn - I use playdough, stamps, magnetic letters, shaving cream, writing in rainbow colors, etc.
Grace/IL - Martina, I used textured clocks to help the children form letters and numerals correctly. This really helped with reversals. By starting with a finger on the 2 and moving counter-clockwise to 4, we form the letter c -- leads to a, d, g, o, q.
Grace/IL - Ginn, all of these are good, especially with younger children.
Ginn - How do the children react to having different spelling words than their classmates?
Grace/IL - I think it's also important to sequence a spelling program carefully so that all new learning builds upon what has been previously taught.
Ginn - Also how do you explain this to parents?
PegO - Grace, I've been using a word families approach with my seconds this year. But I am not satisfied with they way they're transferring this to their own writing. Would sure like some suggestions on that.
Grace/IL - Ginn, in second grade, I'd have the students hunt for words (in any books) that follow particular vowel patterns, then sort those words to see if they're all using the same vowel sound.
Grace/IL - Ginn, in my programs, the children don't have different lists but they benefit from studying the same types of words. Stronger students will grasp the affixing concepts more quickly so this is a higher level skill for them.
Grace/IL - PegO, we'll never make master spellers of all our students but I'd hope that their inventive spellings are improving. However, at the second grade level, I'd take spelling grades from their writing. They would be allowed to spell NO short vowel word incorrectly and I'd look at the progress they're making with simple long vowel words.
Ginn - So you use the same words for all the children but teach focus on different skills for each level?
Grace/IL - I'd also have a list of high frequency words posted and hold them responsible for writing these correctly in daily work.
Grace/IL - Ginn, I think by extending the lessons with prefixing and suffixing, we're reviewing the base words for the slower students and providing challenges for the stronger ones. Until they have mastered the base words, there is no possible way for them to spell longer words correctly.
PegO - Thanks, Grace. Would you recommend as many words (on a word wall) as Cunningham suggests? Some of mine just don't take the time to look at the wall.
Grace/IL - Each lesson in Trunks includes affixing, particularly -s, -es, -er, -ed, -ing, always with different base words. In this way, even the slower students should pick up the suffix patterns in due time.
Ginn - Do any of you use the four blocks framework?
Grace/IL - PegO, sometimes we get hung up on a concept such as word walls. If the children have the same word walls for first, second, and third grade, they need something new. Perhaps the high frequency words need to be transferred to spelling notebooks and other concepts put on the wall.
Grace/IL - Another thing I've tried to develop are assessments that tell exactly where the child is breaking down. Is it with vowel sounds? consonant blends? digraphs? letter formation?
tatee - Grace I've had some luck with sight words typed on a reference sheet taped on their desks with packing tape and they are responsible for those words in their writing.
Grace/IL - tatee, excellent! I think they'll look at this much more attentively than scanning the room's word wall.
tatee - Yes I just have to keep them changing depended on the level..can't have too many words or they won't refer to them
Grace/IL - How do some of us extend the spelling lessons with sentence writing, etc.?
tatee - In ONtario we are using a progam called first steps and it is very prescriptive with the steps of writing. So I extend mine through interactive writing before our spelling time.
Grace/IL - Have any of you tried sentence building?
tatee - Grace like add ons?
PegO - Could you elaborate on that, Grace?
Grace/IL - Tatee, hmmm -- add ons? I start with having the children give me a naming word (noun) and an action word (verb). Then we add describing words and prepostional phrases.
tatee - yes that's what I meant..we are working on adjectives now and it fits right in with revising as well.
Grace/IL - We put a straight line under the noun and a wavy line under the verb to show action. We put a straight line under and a dome over the adjectives. We draw train engines around the prepositions and put wheels under each phrase. It really helps to define the phrases.
PegO - Yes, we do some of that--I-m anxious to try your idea about the prepositiional phrases.
Grace/IL - PegO, we mark the nouns and adjectives in the phrases too but the wheels really keep them going.
Grace/IL - When introducing adverbs, just put wavy lines under and domes over so students realize they are connected to the verbs.
tatee - Grace , any advise for grade 2 student who has had lots of direct instruction continues to have difficulty with simple word families..eg: ad, it, et, am I missing a connection?? he's a very reluctant learner. Reads at a Reading Recovery level 7
pam/sc/k-5/res - Grace, how best can this be incorporated in a resource room with up to six different levels of children?
Grace/IL - Tatee, have you tried the slow pronunciation tactic with him. Rather than just look at families, he needs to segment those words and think about the letters that represent the sounds. I used to teach via word families and grade the product. I now look at spelling acquisition as a process. and try to discover just where the problems lie.
tatee - I've tried stretching the words out. I seem to be doing it all the time with him.
Grace/IL - Pam, it depends on the levels. If they have very low spelling knowledge, I'd start at the beginning. If they have some knowledge, I'd do word hunts with vowel patterns. Each child will learn something through the cooperative process.
Grace/IL - Tatee, I've had first graders whom I thought would never learn to spell. Along about April, some of them were just catching on. I think it just takes persistence and repetition of basic concepts.
tatee - I think he just doesn't care to learn so I have to find the right motivation...2 months left in Grade 2.
tatee - Grace our school went back to spellers this year..any thoughts
Grace/IL - Tatee, every school needs some kind of structure for a spelling program. I do have trouble with spellers though because perhaps a third of the students already know the words, a third will learn them, and others will memorize them for the tests and promptly forget them. We need to meet students where they are developmentally and go from there.
Katydid/Ca. - Sorry to arrive at the end. Grace are you familiar with a book Spelling K_8. I just bought it recently and it's a great resource.
Katydid/Ca. - Written I think by 2 Australian teachers-Diana Snowball and I can't remember the other name.
Grace/IL - Katydid, I don't know of that book. As I said earlier, there are lots of great new books and programs available.
Grace/IL - Diane Snowball works with spelling from a whole language perspective -- nothing wrong with that if it succeeds.
Grace/IL - Goodnight, all
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