Janet Giannotti

Presenter Bio:  MA/TESL, MEd Reading Education  Associate Professor of ESL  Northern Virginia Community College  Alexandria, Virginia  I currently teach ESL reading, composition, and spelling & vocabulary in NOVA’s academic college ESL program. My students are generally one to two semesters away from beginning freshman comp.

 He put them in mach box and dinning table.  He trys to figure out...  Everyone tryed to kill all of scopian.  I read about who caches the scorpion.  He took the box insade his home.  He took that instate of taking the right one.  The writter likes the scorpion.  Then he pote them inside the box.

 He caught the mother and her baby’s.  The mother schorpion and its babyes came..  He went to dinning room to joine family.  The scorpion jomped out of the box.  The family members started moveing it.  When he turn on the lump they stoped moving.

 Can you beleive we have classmate all around the world?  Firstable the teacher introduced her self to us.  I hopped to meet you for my first day at NOVA.  We individualy introduced ourselves.  I learned my classmates’s names and their country’s.  I hope you will read my latter.  Let me berief you some of them.

 Memorize lists ?  Write each word 10 times?  Why do these techniques work, if they DO work?  What does it mean if they don’t work?

 Students who spell well probably see patterns and internalize rules.  Some students may treat every new word like a “sight” word.  Some students may know some rules and apply them inconsistently.

In L-1 Reading Education:  A student-centered approach to spelling instruction that actively engages the learner in constructing concepts about the way words work.  Provides students with opportunities to investigate the patterns in words. Knowledge of these patterns means that students needn't learn to spell one word at a time.

 Can accelerate the natural process that successful learners go through in internalizing the rules of English.  Can be a separate class, but combine with vocabulary or pronunciation.  Or set aside 15 to 30 minutes a couple of times a week in another class.

 TWO PRINCIPLES  Link oral and written language  Use kinesthetic activities  A THREE-STEP PLAN  Teach short vowels first  Introduce long vowels with silent –e, then introduce other patterns  Pay attention to syllable junctures

ALWAYS...  link ORAL and WRITTEN language.  use kinesthetic activities.

Apply the principles in this order:  Teach 5 “short vowels” first.  Then introduce 5 “long vowels.”  Pay attention to syllable junctures.

 Listen and repeat.  Listen and respond.  Listen and write.  Dust off your old dictation exercises.

 Use of a variety of muscles aids in memory.  Spelling instruction can be boring; get students moving a little!  Word Study uses MOSTLY kinesthetic activities, but adult learners don’t need so much. Save them for the spice of your class.

 Vowel Cards:  Listen to the word I say. Hold up the card with the vowel that you hear.

 Word Study uses sorts to ask students to notice or discover patterns.  Unless adults are very low literacy, keep sorts to a minimum, but try them to illustrate to students that they can analyze exemplars to see patterns.

 Teach short vowels and the consonant clusters (blends and digraphs)that follow them.  Try a sort to discover consonant patterns.  Caveat: Don’t introduce more than one at a time with your class!

 Get into groups  [always sort in pairs or groups!]  Open your baggie.  Sort the cards into groups BY FINAL CONSONANT(S).  Say each word as you put it down.  WHAT DO YOU NOTICE ABOUT THE ENDS OF THE WORDS?

 In our sort, we noticed that after a short vowel,  the sound [č] is spelled –tch.  the sound [j] is spelled –dge.  the sound [k] is spelled –ck.  and most other consonant sounds are represented with a single consonant.

 Once short vowels patterns are solid.  While they may not actually be LONG, they are in a distinct category.  Long vowels “sound like the name of the letter.”

 Introduce LONG vowels with silent –e first.  What happens when I add just one letter?  can // cane  pet // Pete  sit // site  hop // hope  cut // cute

 Use some reading material to search for long vowel words. This helps students see frequencies.  I use a short novel for vocabulary, idioms, and as a source of words for our spelling.

 Typical ESL spelling practice asks students to add endings:  big + er = biggest  shop + ing = shopping  You should also ask students to HEAR the medial consonant by attending to the vowel before it.

 In a two-syllable word,  a short vowel in the first syllable is followed by TWO consonants or a DOUBLE consonant.  a long vowel in the first syllable is followed by A SINGLE CONSONANT.

 Given what you know about word endings and the changes that occur to the base, write the base forms of these words:  stitches, judges  hopping, hoping  copied, studying  reddish, redness  scarves, heroes

 Don’t assign lists of unrelated words to be memorized.  Don’t explain meanings of unfamiliar words.  Don’t get too stuck in exceptions.  Don’t teach rules to be memorized.  Don’t confuse intelligent nods with acquisition.

 Do mimic real-world tasks as often as possible.  Do point out exceptions.  Do teach sight words separately.  Do use some real text to search for exemplars.

 Deliver spelling instruction in small doses.  Use a variety of activities, including kinesthetic.  Quiz often.