Natural Speller
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9
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For a child who likes to discover the rules
This is a very versatile program that can be used to develop dictionary skills along with spelling. The approach is the systematic use of words which follow the same rules and make the same sounds. For example, one list your child might study would consist of words that made the long "oh" sound by using the "oa" combinations. The list would include words like oat, boat, coat, float, goat.
After a pretest, any words your child misses can become their spelling words. They can use the spelling words for dictionary practice, finding the meaning of unfamiliar words, noting the syllable breaks and learning phonetic notation. The program also suggests activities with compound words, prefixes and suffixes, Latin and Greek roots, grammar and alphabetizing.
Natural Speller is very flexible. We did not do every activity every week. I could pick and choose to what to use for variety and the spelling lessons could be made short. I believe this program helped my child do extremely well on his yearly standardized tests.
October 27, 2010
Yes this is a good book to use it helps you make lesson plans for spelling and it has more than on grade in it. You can use it by itself or add it to another product.
September 26, 2010
I am not sure that this book offers more information or ideas than what I have read in the past. It may however be the only resource that has all the information in one place. Spelling is always hard for me to fit into our daily routine and I don't know what would help me accomplish that. I don't blame this book but it hasn't really changed our problem. We will keep trying to accomplish this task.
September 3, 2010
Although we haven't used this yet, I am excited about implementing it. Everything is provided for teaching spelling through 8th grade. Basically, she provides logically grouped word lists and several ideas for practicing the words each week. What you have to do as the teacher is select the practice activities that are most appropriate for your student, and assign those activities along with 10-20 words a week from the lists. They can do most of the practice activities on their own (I would think) during the week, and you give them a quiz on Friday. Any words that are missed carry over to the following week. This seems like an easy (natural!) way to teach spelling, and one that will not require alot of daily assistance from you as the teacher. Plus, it is non-consumable, and the price is great!
May 28, 2010