Mechanical spelling. Too often the spelling is a mere "parrot exercise ", in that its results are rapidly lost as soon as the attention is given to something else. Inattention is a fruitful source of ill spelling. Time is wasted upon oral spelling, and bad habits are formed by spelling new words pupils do not understand. I should connect spelling and from the very outset. In connection with reading. reading with writing As soon as the child can pronounce the alphabet on this plan he will be able to write it, and then as he advances he must continue to write all the spelling lessons and as much of the reading lessons as time will admit. It is a rare thing to find children seven years old able to read a word of manuscript,—much less to write well. A little instruction given by the teacher each day upon this special study will aid in making the children good penmen. It is a very valuable help. During a certain year I pronounced the following words to twenty-one Institutes in the State of New York, viz.: The average spelling of the teachers, including public school, union school, academy and normal school teachers, was 63 per cent. One county stood at 85 per cent, and one at 20 per cent. Only three teachers from the twenty-one counties spelled all the words correctly. The following list has been given at institutes, with Spelling is the right formation of words with their proper letters. Oral spelling does not give Value of oral the ability to write words correctly; but it spelling. must not from this fact be deemed a useless exercise. Long used as a basis of learning to read, and still clung to by many, there must be something in it. It makes words that otherwise would have been altogether strange familiar to the ear and sufficiently distinguishable by the eye to enable the learner to recognize them again when met with in his reading lessons. It finds favor with parents as furnishing some school work at home. And it finds favor with the teachers, as giving the only means with the younger children, or with poor scholars, of forming those habits of attention, application, perseverance and retention which are the characteristic features of a system of tasks. Directions 1. Require the pupil to pronounce : (a) The word accurately before spelling; (b) The letters accurately; (c) The syllables accurately; (d) The words accurately after spelling; (e) The words of the succeeding lesson accurately before study. 2. Require the pupil to name everything necessary to the correct writing or printing of the word, as the capital letter, hyphen, apostrophe, etc. 3. Require the pupils to copy the words of the succeeding lesson several times before spelling. 4. Let every fifth exercise be a review. 5. Require misspelled words to be written correctly. 6. Review often and advance slowly. Cautions The teacher should :— (a) Pronounce the word only once. (b) Never repeat a syllable. (c) Not permit the pupil to repeat a syllable. (e) Give no undue emphasis to unaccented syl- (f) Forbid the pupil to try the second time on a word. (g) Explain new words. Results 1. The correct spelling of words. 2. The correct pronunciation of words. Remarks. In teaching Spelling, the instructor should aim to give interest to the exercise by frequently varying the mode of recitation. But whatever course is pursued, the following directions should be strictly adhered to :— a. The word should be pronounced distinctly; just as it would be pronounced by a good reader or a good speaker. In giving out the words to a class, teachers sometimes commit the error of departing from the ordinary pronunciation, for the sake of indicating the orthography. No undue emphasis or prolongation of the utterances of a syllable should be given by the teacher. b. The pupil should spell once only on a word; as all beyond will be merely guessing. For employment between recitations the children. should be permitted and encouraged, and required and compelled, to write all the exercises they read or spell upon their slates. Importance of written spelling. The best way to study a spelling lesson is to require the pupils to write it several times on their slates. The practice of requiring pupils to study the lesson a given number of times only teaches them to hurry over their study, and not to study to any purpose. It is not the number of times a lesson has been studied that should be considered the mark of effort, but the ability to spell every word in the lesson. There is no reason why every child in every school should not be a good penman at a very early age. The advantage of this acquisition to the children cannot be overrated; for, besides the mechanical skill, the child has the means of Importance of teaching writing. constant employment which will keep him from idleness and mischief, and the energetic teacher can make this skill bear upon almost every exercise in other branches of instruction. WRITTEN SPELLING Directions 1. Preparation for the lesson. (a) Pronounce the word accurately. (b) Use it in the construction of a sentence. (d) Write a sentence containing it. 2. Materials-Book, pen and ink. 3. Require the pupils to write the word neatly, as soon as pronounced. 4. At the close of the written exercise, the teacher, or some pupil, should spell the word orally. 5. The pupil should check the misspelled words. 6. Every misspelled word, and word omitted, should be written correctly in the Appendix, with its number and the number of the column. 7. All blanks, letters or words erased, inserted, written over, or written indistinctly, should be considered as errors. 8. The teacher should examine the pupil's work, and keep a record of the scholarship. 9. Begin all words with small letters, except proper names. Cautions 1. The teacher should give sufficient time to the exercise. |