The spelling errors a VSL typically makes have to do with trying to spell
phonetically and trying to remember silly rules that don't always apply.
The classic one in my family was "species" which my son had to repeat week
after week: "OK, i before e, except after c -- speceis, right, Mom?"
AAHHH! This, then, made a permanent mental image for him. I teach kids a
number of techniques which you'll find in the article below but the most
successful one, by far, is to be able to create such an image that the
student can spell the word forward and backward with the same ease. Only
when you truly have a mental image of the word can you spell it backwards
with ease.
What I really love about this technique is not just that it allows VSL kids
to spell but it does amazing things for one's self-esteem when one goes from
failing spelling tests to being the whiz kid who can spell his/her words
backwards as easily as forwards!
Here's some of chapter 6 from The Visual-Spatial Classroom:
Most visual-spatial learners struggle with spelling. Their gift is in
creating fantastic stories using the vivid imaginations they were born with,
but not necessarily in getting those stories to paper with spelling the rest
of us can recognize. This chapter will help your students stay excited about
creating stories and being able to spell correctly!
Like everything else these students learn, in order to remember
the proper spelling of words, they must be taught to create permanent mental
images of them. Without those pictures to see in their minds' eyes, they'll
be trying to memorize spelling rules and all the times they are broken. And,
they'll likely fail. So, how are you going to help your students create
pictures of their spelling words?
First, have them draw a picture that includes all the letters of
the word. They can make up a story to go with it, if they like. Here's that
illustration for the word, "Mountain," again. (This is in Chapter 3 on
Reading.) You can actually see mountains in the letters "M" and "N."
The characters in this student's tale are climbing and skiing
the mountain and the student made up a story about why the "a" had to come
before the "i" because that was something he kept forgetting to do when he
spelled it. His story went that the character must first slide down the
mountain, and then use a pick (which he turned the I into) to climb back up.
Now, this approach of having a character on each letter may be a bit
excessive and it's unlikely your students would need to follow this precise
example.
Whichever part of a spelling word is giving your students trouble, have them
take a blank, white piece of paper and write the word on it. They should use
a colored marker and write the part that they keep forgetting, (in our word,
the "ai") really large:
Mountain
In order for the right hemisphere of the brain to remember an image, your
students should add color, size or humor to everything they learn. When they
truly have a mental image of the spelling word, they'll be able to see it
well enough to spell the word forward and backward. As you prep your kids
for their next spelling test, try having them spell the words backward to
test whether or not they are ready. Or ask that they prepare for the next
spelling test at home by accurately spelling their words forward and
backward.
Sometimes writing the letters of the word on stairs will help
visual-spatials to see each letter of a word. They can then climb up the
stairs, mentally, to spell the word backward and climb down the stairs to
spell it forward! You'll find some reproducible staircases for spelling
words that are from five to ten letters long at the end of this chapter and
on the CD.
M
O
U
N
T
A
I
N
Another technique that a mum in New Zealand recommended to me is
to have your students type each of their spelling words on a computer using
a different font for each word. They should select a font that matches the
feeling or mood of the word. So, "serendipitous," which sounds like a fun
and interesting word, might look like this: serendipitous. Or, they might
choose these fonts for these types of words: frightening -- Elegance --
they just need to be sure to use a font they can read!
Many students have difficulty remembering how to spell "friend." Here's a
silly story one student made up and he has since never forgotten the correct
spelling:
FRIEND
"These FRIes from FRIday's sure taste good at the day's end!"
"You're right, FRIend!"
By using a rhyme and a double meaning on the letter combination "FRI," he
used a trick that got his right hemisphere involved in remembering how to
spell this word. Metaphors and multiple meanings of words are stored in the
right hemisphere.
One teacher taught her students to actually put "rule-breaking" spelling
words in jail, behind bars. The word was thrown in prison for breaking the
rules and the image of the word behind bars would stick in the students'
memories. Here's one a student did for the word "reign" because the "ei"
combination makes a long "a" sound. It breaks another rule by having a
silent "g" in it.
Here are even more strategies you can try to help your students create
mental pictures of their spelling words:
A Visualization Approach to Spelling*
*Borrowed from Neurolinguistic Programming
1. Have students write each spelling word in large print with
bright-colored ink on a separate white piece of paper with the difficult
part of the word written in a different color.
2. They should hold the card in front of them as far as their arm can
reach, a little bit above the eyes.
3. Ask them to study the word carefully, then close their eyes and see if
they can picture the word in their imaginations.
4. Now, have them do something wild and crazy to the word in their
imaginations-the sillier the better. (They could make the word colorful,
have the letters act as people or animals-anything that will help them
remember how the word is spelled.)
5. They then place the word somewhere in space, in front of or above their
heads. There is an infinite amount of space around a person that can hold an
equally infinite number of words. When your students are later asked to
spell the word, they will likely look to the very place they "put" it.
6. Individually, ask each student to spell their word backward with their
eyes closed. Was there an even rhythm between the letters? Good! That means
they are really looking at a mental picture.
7. Next, have them spell their word forward with their eyes closed.
8. Have all the students open their eyes and write the spelling word
once.
9. They should close their eyes again and see if the word is still
where they placed it in space. It should stay there forever!
Here's part of an e-mail I received from a parent in Australia who tried
this strategy with her teenage son:
So I drew up flash cards of 5 difficult words; inherent in their difficulty
was they were not phonic, contained silent letters, or contained sounds that
were not spelled phonically. I used: Obscene, Schematic, Marmalade, Machine,
Traditional.
I sat with A & told him NOT to sound these out but to just put them straight
into his "TV screen ". He looked at the cards - spelt them
forwards/backwards and closed his eyes and told me it was done.
I asked him to spell the 5 words. My first shock was he spelt the 5 words
correctly. My second shock was when he asked nonchalantly "Do you need me to
spell them backwards to you too?" I hadn't expected that and told him OK -
where he proceeded to spell all 5 words to me correctly... backwards!
From a boy who could barely read and was unable to spell, I started to cry.
He was spelling and spelling correctly forwards and backwards. He could SEE
these words. (J. M., parent from Australia.)
As I mentioned earlier, it is not unusual for visual-spatial learners to
have difficulty with spelling, so I want you to consider this. Read the
following paragraph. Don't try very hard, just quickly read the words:
Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deson't mttaer waht
oredr ltteers in a wrod apepar, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist
and lsat ltter be in the rghit pclae. The oethr ltteers can be a cmolpeet
mses and you can sitll raed the wrod!
Apaprnelty, the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter, but raeds the wrod as
a wlohe. Ins't taht amzanig? So mcuh for the ipmorancte of spleling!
Now, I know that you were able to read this because you already know how to
read and I'm not trying to suggest that an illiterate child would be able to
read this. I just want you to consider that with computers and other tools
available to your students, perhaps we are placing a bit too much emphasis
on a proficiency that is not necessarily a life-skill for their time. The
paragraph above is at least something to consider the next time you
administer a spelling test!