Oral spelling may begin after the sounds have first been mastered—and as soon as the names of the letters are taught. Spell only the phonetic words at first. The lists of families of words which have been written from dictation may now be spelled orally.
The spelling recitation may be both oral and written, but written spelling should predominate the first year. Unphonetic words should be taught by visualizing—getting the form of the word as a whole. The teacher writes the word on the board in free rapid hand, pupils observe for a moment, getting a mental picture of the form; the word is erased by the teacher, and reproduced on the board by the pupil.
While oral spelling aids the "ear-minded" pupil and gives variety in the recitation, written spelling should predominate for the reasons that (1) in practical life, spelling is used almost wholly in expressing thought in writing; (2) the eye and hand should be trained equally with the ear. It is often true that good oral spellers will fail in writing the same words for want of practice. (3) In the written recitation each pupil can spell a greater number of words and in less time than is possible in oral spelling.
SEAT WORK
1. Distribute pages from magazines or old readers and let pupils underline words beginning with a certain consonant (the one being taught). If different colored pencils are used, the same pages can be used a number of times. When the "m" sound is being taught let all words beginning with that sound be marked with black; at another seat work period, words beginning with "b" are marked with "green;" and again, words beginning with "f" sound are marked with blue pencils, etc.
Underline digraphs, blended consonants, and phonograms.
2. The teacher writes a phonogram on the board and below it all the consonant sounds from which words may be built. Pupils write the entire words.
3. Phonograms are written on the board; pupils supply consonants and write out the words.
4. Have a number of phonograms and three or four sets of consonants in envelopes. Give an envelope to each child and let him build the words on his desk. Duplicate copies can be made on a hectograph, one set for each lesson; then if one envelope from each set is preserved, those miscellaneous lessons can be used in review for a long time, each child using a different set each time.
5. Write on the board lists of words ending in various phonograms and let the children re-write them, arranging in columns according to phonograms.