Monday, January 25, 2010
My thoughts on the article "Developing Spelling Strategies"
I was surprised to find that I enjoyed reading this article. I have never thought so in-depth on the process of spelling words for children. Spelling words has just become an instinct for me now and this article shined a new light on the spelling process. The strategies she proposed are all very important. One strategy, the human resource strategy, is one I've seen numerous times when I've observed a classroom. Many students will just ask me or the teacher how to spell a word, and I never knew how to go about it. I would tell the child to try to sound out the word to the best of their ability and then try to find the word in the dictionary. Many students would have wanted me just give them the correct spelling, but it is important for the students to gain this ability on their own rather than depend on another person. I liked her point on peers helping each other is better than asking an adult. This allows for collaboration among students, which I think is important in the classroom setting, but it also allows for each student to get stronger in their spelling. I agree with the article in that I think it is important for the classroom to have many resources for spelling, such as posters, dictionaries, books, and many more. Students need to learn to turn to these resources when they have trouble spelling. Overall, I felt that this article had many good points on spelling and has made me realize what to expect as a future teacher on this subject.
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Rebekah,
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I like that you commented on many spelling strategies. I agree that students helping each other creates a classroom climate of collaboration. When students ask you how to spell a word, could you use this as an opportunity to teach one of the spelling strategies we talked about in class?
I too found myself interested in this article. Not only could I relate with a lot of the content, but I also took in many aspects of teaching that I will not do with my students. For example, I think you were correct when you stated that you didn't want to simply tell the student how to spell a word. Students who sound words out, talk to their peers, and use dictionaries, in my opinion, are learning spelling in an effective way. We as teachers are there to help them learn and give them resources to find answers they don't know something, not to simply give them answers when they are stuck.
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