READING TIPS AND NOTES / EXPERT ADVICE
English spelling makes more sense than you may think. Realizing this fact is the first step if you want to help your child learn to spell. Whether children are examining short, simple words or longer, more complex ones, parents can help them look for order rather than chaos. How can you go about this?
Encourage your child to read. Good spellers read a lot. For most students, however, wide reading by itself is not enough. They also need to exercise their developing spelling knowledge through meaningful writing activities, and they need to examine and study words carefully.
Word study should be lively, interesting and have an exploratory feel to it. Talk with your child’s teacher about the types of words the class has been working on in spelling. These should be words that your child can already read. Then, focusing on one or two spelling features, compare and contrast these words.
For example: How is the long “a” sound most often spelled in the middle of words? At the end of words? Talk about words: “That’s an interesting word. Are there other words we know that are spelled similarly?”
Take spelling words and classify them in different ways--those with the same beginning sounds, ending sounds, vowel sounds. Try to come up with new ways to categorize the words--”inside” versus “outside” words, for example, or “action” words versus “naming” words. Go on a “word hunt”: During a 10-minute period, see how many words you can find that you think have the same spelling feature you’ve been focusing on.
As your child moves through the upper elementary grades and beyond, you can help him or her understand that English spelling represents both sound and meaning. Words that are in the same meaning “family” tend to share similar spellings, even though they may differ in sound.
For example, let’s say your fifth-grader is mumbling about why the word “bomb” is spelled with a silent “b” at the end. You can point out that “bomb” is a member of a family of words that is related in meaning and therefore in spelling: The silent “b” in bomb is there because it preserves the meaning connection to the words “bombard” and “bombardier”--and you can hear the “b” in both of those words.
Although not all “silent” letters may be explained this way, you’ll be surprised how many are. For example, the “g” in “sign” makes more sense when we realize it belongs to a spelling/meaning family that includes “signal” and “significant.”
By helping your child think about words in these different ways, you will be helping him or her to spell literally thousands of words. You will also be developing a strategic speller, a student who will be able to draw upon different types of knowledge to spell a word about which he or she is uncertain. Such children are not only better spellers--they’re better writers and readers as well.
BOOK EVENTS
* Tuesday in Los Angeles: Family story hour at Fairfax Branch Library with children’s librarian Laurie Reese, who will read stories about winter and animals who wear clothing. 161 S. Gardner St. 4:15 p.m. (323) 936-6191.
* Tuesday in Pasadena: Tales for Tots at Barnes & Noble bookstore will include a reading of “Charlie the Caterpillar” by Dom DeLuise. 111 W. Colorado Blvd. 10 a.m. (626) 585-0362 .
* Saturday in Rosemead: Jane Hendrickson, children’s librarian at Rosemead Library, will tell felt-board stories, perform finger plays and read stories to children ages 3 to 5. 8800 Valley Blvd. 12:30 p.m. to 1 p.m. (626) 573-5220.
* Saturday in Los Angeles: Storytime and crafts at Storyopolis bookstore will have a “This Little Piggy” theme. Stories will be told in the Pig Pen for Piggy Stories. Crafts are $6 per child. Reservations required. 116 N. Robertson Blvd. 11:30 a.m. (310) 358-2512.