The Traditional Spelling program incorporates reading, writing, and dictation of spelling words. Each lesson has a four-page spread of written activities in the student book, vocabulary definitions, and teacher-directed classroom activities and educational games. Students will enjoy the consistent format of the lessons. Teachers and parents will appreciate the ease of use.
WHAT IS SPECIAL ABOUT TRADITIONAL SPELLING?
- No incorrect words. Students are never given a list of incorrect spelling words and asked to choose the one that is spelled correctly. Incorrect words tend to confuse spellers who are working to master and remember correct spelling, and the visual of an incorrectly spelled word can stick with young readers.
- Color-coded phonograms. The main focus of each lesson is on the phonograms being taught, but all aspects of each word are addressed. In each lesson, students identify consonants and consonant teams/blends with one colored pencil, and vowels and vowel teams with another. This aids in visualization of each word and its phonetic chunks, and makes students better decoders as they begin to see patterns in words.
- Words in context. In addition to workbook activities, each lesson features a short story on the student’s reading level that utilizes that week’s spelling words.
- Sound dictation. Through oral dictation, students practice writing phonograms in isolation, words by themselves, and writing complete sentences containing select list words. These activities auditorily train students to hear phonetic differences and to visually highlight phonetic chunks.
- Vocabulary Building. Students get practice through workbook activities and scheduled skill-building activities with the various meanings of list words