Hi Sheila,
  >-> All children do not learn at the same speed etc. but you will
  >-> see the same development - as in anything else anyone learns. If you
  >-> want details I have a paper somewhere that describes this in more
  >-> detail - talking of spelling stages and writing etc.
SK>I don't know about Chuck, but I'd sure be willing to hear more
specifics
  >on this, because...largely I don't believe it. I've not seen that much
  >inventive spelling work done by kids, but I've seen some.
You don't believe it because you haven't seen enough of it. I work with
little kids most of the time. I did a whole year of practice teaching in
kindergarten and grade one and another year in a split 2/3 class. I also
worked in a split 4/5 with inner city low functioning kids - again as a
student teacher. Since graduating in 1992 I have not only worked as a
substitute in many primary classrooms, including special ed, but have
spent my spare time volunteering in a split 1/2 classroom - inner city
school. I work with kids using, what a teacher I know has termed as,
"kidspell" constantly.
 Some, kids
  >used letters that made no sense whatsoever and bore no similarity to the
  >word they were attempting to spell. Other kids seem to have little
  >difficulty from day 1 with spelling.
I hope you have read my other message - it may come after this since the
subject heading of this comes first alphabetically - after you read it
you may understand a little more - I hope so. It took me over 90 minutes
to type out!
SK>-> At the beginning of grade one I usually say to a child something like
  >-> "you really tried to spell these words and I can "read" what you
  >-> wrote - now which ones would you like to know how to spell." Or I
  >-> will suggest a few they might like to know because the words are ones
  >-> they use a lot.
SK>What do you do with a very bright child who is more than capable of
  >learning to spell the word correctly, but feels no need to exert the
  >effort because the teacher has essentially given her permission to
  >misspell the words via the method you cite above? My daughter thought
  >spelling was unimportant in her homework assignments this past year (2nd
  >grade) because of the mixed messages she was getting from her teacher. I
  >would ask her to correct spelling on her homework, and she would tell me
  >that the teacher didn't care! (These were not journal assignments that
  >I'm talking about. I did respect the teachers concept of a "journal" and
  >never commented on my daughter's spelling in her journal.)
Many teachers that I have worked with use inventive spelling with kids
and keep journals correction free. However, all good work has to be
corrected - especially stories that need "publishing" and all good
copies. That means drafts are okay but good copies need to be corrected.
There's a difference here. It means that the creation of the work is
left free. Children do not have to stop as their thoughts flow to think
of the spelling of every single word. After the creative stuff is done
it is done to use one's editing skills - which means to check for
capitals, punctuation, and misspelling. The extent to which it is done
depends on the teacher. I have not yet made up my mind how far I will
take this - it will depend on the grade and the children involved.
You say that your daughter was getting mixed messages from her teacher
but from what you have said there was no mixed message from her teacher
(who did not seem to care) but rather from your idea of spelling and
hers. If I have got this wrong here, please correct me.
I'm not saying that you had no cause for concern. Although you want a
child to take risks you also want them to pride in their work and have
good work habits. They must be attempting to do their best - that means
effort! Sloppy work is not acceptable when one is able to do better. If
your daughter has been capable of better work then IMHO the teacher
should be expecting it from her. Even if she is miles ahead of the other
children. Here we are trying to get away from norm referencing to
looking at the individual child's growth and effort - how well are they
working compared to what they are capable of and to what they did last
week, month, term, etc. What improvement/changes do you see. What
improvements/changes do they see?
We are working towards outcomes based education here. (Outcomes based
education here, so I hear, is not the same as in the U.S.) Coupled with
this is consistent evaluation and assessment which means rubrics and
self evaluation, portfolios, etc. etc. As eclectic as possible.
                Must go, it's almost one a.m. and my alarm goes off at
6:30 tomorrow morning (or should I say this morning!).
                Nighty, night,
                                Ruth
I think at the grade
two level you are looking more into the conventions of spellings than
you are in grade one. Children here are usually into the transitional
(Continued to next message)
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