Every experienced teacher knows more than one way to teach most subjects, but spelling is different. However we approach spelling, we still end up having to memorize the correct spelling of every word.
In the days before television and computers, people actually read books and wrote letters on paper with pens and typewriters. They would regularly read and write words, and this constant repetition helped them to remember how to spell the words correctly.
But even in those ancient days, they still had to memorize lists of words. And they did it the way I did, and my father did, and you most probably did. They received twenty words on Monday and had a spelling test on Friday. During the week, the teacher helped the class study the words, but the onus was on the student to memorize them for the Friday test.
There is nothing wrong with this system. I used it myself when I was a teacher. Parents expect it, and it does give students a performance record to show their parents. The main problem is choosing appropriate words for the students. Depending on their ages and abilities, I always preferred to use words that illustrated a spelling rule.
Taking words from lists like “The 50 Most Difficult Words” or “The 100 Hardest Words to Spell” is, of course, a silly waste of time. It promotes short-term memory only. The ideal would be for students to read more books or magazines or even comics. In the meantime, we have to fall back on old-fashioned memorization. It worked for our parents. Why shouldn’t it work for us, too?
In the days before television and computers, people actually read books and wrote letters on paper with pens and typewriters. They would regularly read and write words, and this constant repetition helped them to remember how to spell the words correctly.
But even in those ancient days, they still had to memorize lists of words. And they did it the way I did, and my father did, and you most probably did. They received twenty words on Monday and had a spelling test on Friday. During the week, the teacher helped the class study the words, but the onus was on the student to memorize them for the Friday test.
There is nothing wrong with this system. I used it myself when I was a teacher. Parents expect it, and it does give students a performance record to show their parents. The main problem is choosing appropriate words for the students. Depending on their ages and abilities, I always preferred to use words that illustrated a spelling rule.
Taking words from lists like “The 50 Most Difficult Words” or “The 100 Hardest Words to Spell” is, of course, a silly waste of time. It promotes short-term memory only. The ideal would be for students to read more books or magazines or even comics. In the meantime, we have to fall back on old-fashioned memorization. It worked for our parents. Why shouldn’t it work for us, too?
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