RUTH LEBLANC spoke of Spelling...           2/3 to CHARLES BEAMS on 09-
27-96
RL>Of course we are teaching them differently, Charles, we teach them
RL>how to recognize the alphabetic principle - initial consonants,
RL>ending consonants, middle ones, vowel sounds, blends, etc. We just
RL>may not do it the way you were taught in school.
RL>Have you heard of Language Experience writing? Where the teacher
RL>writes what the children say on chart paper? S/He is modelling the
RL>writing process. A good teacher will be asking the children about how
RL>words start, end, etc.
RL>When I am in Kindergarten, I do what is called a Morning Message
RL>(used in other Primary grades, too) You start off with just about
RL>everything written in first and just reading it to the children.
RL>(Also having them read it with you, etc.)
I do what I call "Daily News" which is where I model the writing 
process.  As the year progresses the children help with some spellings. 
I teach them about periods, commas, exclamation points, capital letters,
spaces between words, phonemes, letter shapes, rhyming words, left-to-
right // top-to-bottom, and the list goes on.  As we get into January 
and February, I see more and more writing going on at the writing 
center.  I have children *regularly* ask "How do you spell ...."  They 
are becoming aware of "correct" spellings.  This is an important step.  
Sometimes I spell the word for them.  Other times I ask them to write 
what they think the word looks like.  I help them with sounds.  I want 
to encourage the close approximations because I want children to make 
the attempt.  
RL>So I repeat, children DO get spelling instruction, and they ARE
RL>encouraged to use words they can spell and look up words they can't.
RL>They are also encouraged to try and spell things. The level at which
RL>the children are expected to do these things depends on the grade
RL>that they are in. After all, we wouldn't expect a five year old to
RL>look up words in a dictionary....though some five year olds
RL>(kindergarten that is) can look up words in a picture dictionary just
RL>as their grade one counterparts learn to do.
I don't make a big deal of spelling in kindergarten but we do talk about 
it and I do have dictionaries and word cards for the children to use.  
Of course they can't look up words in the dictionary but I have picture 
dictionaries and the children like to look at the pictures and copy the 
accompanying words.  They are being exposed to the idea of a dictionary 
and their experience is providing them a good foundation for future 
learning and development.
Dan
CMPQwk 1.42 445p
... I still have a full deck; I just shuffle slower now.
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     _   /|    ACK!
     \'o.O'   /
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