Tools for teaching spelling
Researchers have proven that phonological awareness is closely linked to reading success. This is the ability to hear and manipulate the sounds in our language that combine to create meaningful words.
English has 44 sounds that are represented by 26 random squiggle marks we call our alphabet. Some children, lack awareness of the position of their lips, tongue, and teeth as they produce words. With modeling and practice students unlock valuable information for spelling simply by tuning into mouth position and movements.
A multi-sensory approach to literacy will improve the alphabetic code for struggling children. Logically, if a child fails to experience all of the sounds in a word they will struggle to spell it correctly. One of my students recently asked for help with her spelling. Her mom was desperately trying to understand why spelling "people" was so confusing. As we examined the mouth shapes she used to vocalize "people" we quickly discovered that she was actually pronouncing "peepo".
A few minutes later, with the help of:
dental mirror,
BIG mouth model,
multi-sensory analysis of the correct mouth positions
fun game of rhyming
The inclusion of the "le" at the end of "people" clicked!
Multi-sensory learning involves tuning into 3 critical learning channels of the brain:
Consider how words look as your mouth moves while speaking
Use a mirror to observe and isolate the mouth shapes associated with the sounds in words
Describe the position of your tongue, teeth and lips
Words and sounds also create feelings in our mouth, and throat
Experiment saying a word with your tongue in a different positon
Words sound different as we listen to them
Try to identify which parts of two similar words sound different, feel different and look different
Listen for the similarities and differences in words that you are speaking
