If a student is struggling with spelling what can be done?

Answer 1

When a student is struggling with spelling it can be helpful to increase their knowledge of phonics to help them sound out words. Also increasing the sight words they can spell increases their ability to write effectively. Another avenue to explore is word word families which helps the students see the relationship between words. All of these have helped increase students spelling ability. There are many creative techniques when working with memorizing spelling words that can be utilized with various modalities... artistic, kinetic, dramatic, and logical. These cement the word into a student's memory.

Answer 2

I use two techniques in my spelling instruction: phonics and the Orton-Gillingham method.

Phonics is a system that focuses on patterns of letter clusters and groups of words that have the same letter clusters. It's very popular and very effective, but English has a lot of exceptions and it can be a little frustrating to teach them. You need to supplement instruction with another technique because phonics doesn't account for words that don't follow the patterns.

The Orton-Gillingham method is (and has been for a long time) one of the most popular methods of spelling instruction used by instructors, not only for early childhood, but even for ESL! It is a very structured approach that focuses on multi-sensory techniques that stimulate the learner through tactile (tracing the words with their finger), auditory (verbalization), motor/muscle memory (spelling the words in the air/simply writing on paper) senses. Engaging the senses is so important because it stimulates the brain to absorb more information.

Do some research on this method if you or your learner is still struggling. Good luck!

Answer 3

It is important to for the student who is struggling to make sure they have an understanding of phonics. Every letter has a sound. I have used different methods for students who are struggling. I create flash cards for them to practice with. I have made labels and labeled items around the classroom or home. Writing each word is also a good way to increase spelling skills. If the student is younger you can use magnetic letters or white board there are so many different ways. Hope this helps you.

Answer 4

Hi,

You can also try showing and teaching your student(s) [lists of] words that rhyme. The fact that those words sound the same as each other can help your students remember how to spell them phonetically in the process. In doing so, you can play different songs for your students that they enjoy listening to and whose lyrics would subsequently be easy for them to remember and sing along with, while following along with the lyrics to the pre-recorded songs themselves on paper as they are being played in the background.