A new approach to the spelling list BY MICHAELA SAUNDERS WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER Caleb Johnson drew a picture of a referee blowing a whistle to help remember the difference between spelling
quit and
quiet.
Because they're look-alike words, it's hard to see the difference, especially when the 11-year-old is working fast.
His sixth-grade teacher at District 66's Swanson Elementary knows that's a problem for many students. But she stressed in a recent lesson that it's no excuse. They have to get it right when they write.
Learning commonly used and often misspelled words - with less rote memorization - has been part of the district's spelling curriculum for about a dozen years.
Now other metro-area districts, including Omaha, Millard and Papillion-La Vista, are joining in the approach.
At Swanson Elementary, spelling lessons emphasize commonly used and often misspelled words, and less rote memorization.
In general, the idea is to move away from asking students to memorize a weekly list of words, especially if they don't yet know what the words mean or use them when they write. (How many times, after all, did you write the word acquiescence last year?)
Students still might get a spelling list. But instead of simply writing each word three times, they're asked to use the words when they journal, to find and correct misspellings or improper usage in a passage, or to work on look-alike words as Caleb's class did. Such activities help to make the words part of the long-term memory.
Teachers also focus on words youngsters use and misspell the most, such as neighbor or through.
"We're expecting kids to perfect words in their vocabulary," said Nancy Oberst, elementary education director for the Omaha district. "As opposed to learning to spell lots of fun and interesting words that we never use when we write."
Some Westside parents find the approach odd, especially if they're new to the district, said Swanson Elementary Principal Laura Croom.
"There are still parents that think we're not teaching spelling because they don't see the weekly lists that come home," said Croom, who also oversees the district's spelling curriculum.
Croom said the shift away from memorizing weekly lists doesn't mean educators don't care about spelling. Learning to spell, she said, is still important.
Yes, computers can spell check. But, Croom pointed out, students need to spell well enough so they know when spell-check won't catch their mistake, as in the case of
quit and
quiet.
The popularity of text-messaging among kids isn't exactly reinforcing the notion of proper spelling. Abbreviated spellings like "l8r" - that's "later" to those who don't text - may have a social place, but educators want students to remember that the work world won't tolerate it.
Denise Shearer explains spelling directions in her sixth-grade classroom at Swanson Elementary in Omaha.
Bottom line - if you spell a common word wrong, people think "this is not a smart person," Croom said.
In OPS and Millard, time spent on a pretest of 10 or so words, then writing each a few times, then taking a test on those words at week's end is now - or will be - spent in a variety of ways.
In some cases, students who know the words at pretest will get new words to challenge them. Or teachers might introduce a few words during writing or reading lessons, then expect students to spell them correctly from then on.
Lists may still go home, but they likely will be individualized with words the student struggles with.
Jamie Gibson's first-grade daughter McKayla attends Millard's Reagan Elementary. The words McKayla is learning to spell regularly pop up in other subjects, Gibson said.
"It's not just a random spelling list like it was when I was a kid," she said. "They'll see it in their math book, in their reading."
Now, when the two read together, Gibson can point out the words - come, said, they, there - to her daughter to reinforce what she's learning.
By the time students reach upper elementary school, several educators said, they will study words and their roots so they understand the spelling behind them. If a student knows the root aqua means water, then half of aquarium and aquifer are in the bag.
"Words are more complex than just memorizing letters," said Kelcy Currin, an instructional facilitator for the Papillion-La Vista district. "We want kids to truly understand how words work."
• Contact the writer: 444-1037,
michaela.saunders@owh.com
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