Rules and their Uses
The Aldine Speller aims to develop a few general rules for spelling. These are carefully developed throughout the grades but appear as formal rules only in the later grades. The foundation of some of the rules is laid in Part I, and the development continues throughout the succeeding grades. (See lesson 57, grade III, lesson 74, grade IV, etc.)
Review Lists
Throughout the book, review lists are common. The time usually allotted to the spelling lesson is short and, therefore, only those words which have been shown by investigation to need reviewing occur in these review lists. Words presenting the most difficulty are often repeated in the same and succeeding grades. The words which are recurring constantly in the written vocabulary of children are the words which they need to be sure that they have mastered. Including only such words for review will enable both teacher and pupil to conserve the time of the school day. The lessons are short and it is expected that each word is to be carefully taught the first time. If this is done and the pupil’s list of the misspelled words is kept, the need of long reviews will be minimized.
Other lists in the form of reviews consist of groups of words especially alluded to by other authors. For example, at the close of the work of the third grade will be found the hundred commonest words in the English language. Ayres points out that these words with their repetitions constitute about one-half of all the words we write. There is no question about the need of thoroughly mastering them early. On pages 42 and 43 of the fifth year work and pages 84 and 85 of the sixth year will be found lists of words taken from the 1,000 commonest words of the English language. At the end of other grades will be found lists of known trouble makers which should be carefully reviewed.
Use of Vocabulary
At the end of the work for each grade, the list of the words taught in the grade is given. If the word is taught in any previous grade an asterisk is placed before the word. For example, which appears in the vocabulary of grade VI in this manner: * which. This shows that which has been taught in a previous grade but does not tell in what grades, nor how many times it occurs in each grade. It is given in the vocabulary of grade V in the same manner. In grade III it occurs without the asterisk, showing that this word occurs for the first time in grade III.
These vocabularies should be of great value to both teacher and pupil as they will enable both to determine at once the words which have been taught in the respective grades. If the word has been taught in a previous grade the teacher will know it and govern herself accordingly. If the word has been presented in that grade the pupil has a chance to find out the spelling without consulting the teacher, thus saving the teacher’s time.
Phonetic Words
Many of the words in this book are grouped into phonetic lists. The object of this is strongly to impress the basic part of these words upon the child. The repeated sight, sound, and spelling of this common combination of letters makes it possible to learn the words in a list easily and in a short time.