Review: Spelling You See

Demme Learning, of Math-U-See fame, has a new member in their family:  Spelling You See.  We were given the opportunity to review Spelling You See: American Spirit (Level E).  

There are currently 5 levels available in the Spelling You See program:

• Listen and Write (Level A)
• Jack and Jill (Level B)
• Wild Tales (Level C)
• Americana (Level D)
• American Spirit (Level E)

There are two more levels on the horizon:

• Ancient Achievements (Level F)
• Modern Milestones (Level G)

 

   

There are five developmental stages of spelling, according to Dr. Karen Holinga, who is the creator of Spelling You See.  These stages are (you can read more about each stage on the Spelling You See website):

1. Preliterate
2. Phonetic
3. Skill Development
4. Word Extension
5. Derivational Constancy

The idea behind Spelling You See is that a student must master one stage before moving on to the next.  Because of this, there are no grade levels on the Spelling You See books.  You can read more about each level and download sample lessons to help determine placement by visiting the Spelling You See website.

   

There are 36 lessons in each level of Spelling You See, and each lesson is broken down into 5 parts.  While it is important that you and your child are consistent with spelling lessons, I found it a bit of a relief that the Instructor's Handbook states that it is okay to move along to the next lesson without completing the previous lesson.  I don't know about you, but sometimes I get bogged down in finishing every last bit, even if life has interrupted and thrown us a bit off schedule, so it is reassuring to know that the ideas and concepts and words and patterns being taught will come up again in future lessons. 

 

American Spirit (Level E) is designed for children who are in at least fourth grade, who read well, and who are moving along with spelling.  A student new to Spelling You See should start here, in this level.  The package comes with 2 Student Workbooks and a pack of erasable colored pencils ($30) and there is also an Instructor's Handbook ($14).

How exactly, then, does Spelling You See work?

This program has your student studying the patterns of spelling through the use of chunking, copywork, and dictation.  Chunking is simply using a simple color coding system to mark various patterns in words:  vowel chunks (such as "ou"), consonant chunks (such as "wh"), bossy r chunks  (such as "ir"), tricky y guy (such as "baby"), endings (such as "ing"), and silent letters (such as the "b" in thumb). 

In American Spirit, each lesson is centered around a single passage about people or events in American history.  Because the same passage is used for a week, the student really gets a chance to internalize the words in the passage.  Before any pencil work is completed for the day, you are instructed to read the passage to your student, and then read the passage slowly together, paying close attention to the words.  Finally, you use the color coded chunking method to chunk the passage.

Copywork is used on days 1-3 of each lesson.  The student is asked to copy portions of the same passage over each of these three days.  However, if you have a student who is a slow writer or struggles with penmanship, you might find it comforting to know that you are instructed to have your child stop copying after 10 minutes, even if they're not finished.  After the child finishes the copywork, they then mark their copywork passage with the color coded chunking described above.

Dictation is completed on days 4-5 of each lesson.  The two days of dictation are slightly different from each other, but like the copywork days, you are instructed to stop after 10 minutes.  On day 4, the "First Dictation", you read the passage slowly and watch your student write each word.  You help them with capitalization and punctuation, and you also help them spell any words that they misspell.  You correct these immediately, because you don't want incorrect spellings to stick in their heads.  You want to discuss the different chunks that come up in the dictation as you work through the passage.  On day 5, the "Second Dictation",  the goal is for the student to write the passage as you dictate it, but with minimal help. 

 

 

 

     

I used this program with Micah, my 4th grader.  I found the instructions in the Instructor's Handbook to be very helpful and necessary; it really explained the program methods (in addition to including an answer key).  Without it, I wouldn't have known exactly what to do.  We followed the methods outlined above, so lessons took about 20-30 minutes, depending on how long we took to read the passage and chunk.  For us, this was the only downfall of the program.  With five children, it is difficult to regularly carve out that much time for spelling.

 

We both really liked the color/visual aspect of chunking in this program.  I liked that it incorporated little lessons in American history into our spelling lesson, and I also love that it makes copywork and dictation fairly painless for me, the teacher.  Micah is a decent speller, but he still doesn't enjoy the physical act of writing.  Knowing that he could stop copywork and dictation after 10 minutes was an encouragement to him. 

If you're looking for a sequential, colorful, and fun spelling program for your child, you should check out Spelling You See from Demme Learning.

 

 

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Review: Logic of English Essentials

Logic of English has developed programs to help students learn to read, write, and spell.  I was sent their Essentials program to review.  This program is for students who are 8 years old, but there are suggestions for using it with younger children.

I received:

• Hardcover Teacher's Manual ($95)
• Cursive Workbook ($25)
• Phonogram & Spelling Game book ($25)
• Basic Phonogram Flash Cards ($18)
• Spelling Rule Flash Cards ($15)
• 2 Phonogram Game Card sets (1 in cursive/1 in manuscript) ($10 each)

Logic of English Essentials is an all in one Language Arts program.  While using Essentials, your student will learn 74 phonograms, along with 30 spelling rules.  Grammar, vocabulary, & dictation are also included. 

The heart of the Essentials program is the Teacher's Manual.  I received the hardcover, and it's a nice, sturdy book that will stand up to lots of wear.  There are 40 lessons (every 5th lesson is an Assessment & Review), and each lesson is broken down into three parts.  Part One deals with phonograms, sounds, and spelling rules.  Part Two focuses on spelling dictation and analysis.  Part Three focuses on grammar, dictation, composition, and vocabulary.  Lessons are written for the teacher, and what is supposed to be accomplished in each lesson is very clear.  You can view a sample lesson here.

How long each lesson takes really depends on the age and ability of your student.  There are sample schedules in the beginning of the Teacher's Manual that deal with all different types of students.  This program can be used with struggling readers and spellers (about 75-130 minutes/day) and struggling spellers (about 35-65 minutes/day), and you can complete the program in 8-16 weeks with these students (ages 8 through adult).  If you'd like to use it with younger students, you can plan on spending 30-60 minutes/day (for 6 & 7 year olds) and complete the program in about 40 weeks, or spend 5-60 minutes/day with your 5 or 6 year old and complete the program in 80 weeks.  The suggestion for ESL student is to spend 30-120 minutes/day, and in this instance the time to complete this program can really vary--anywhere from 8 to 80 weeks.

The Cursive Workbook (this is also available in manuscript) contains all of the needed worksheets for every lesson.  It's also available as a PDF, which is a great option if you're teaching more than one child.  It's nice and uncluttered, and it's labelled clearly so it is very easy to find the page for the portion of the lesson you are working on.  You can view a sample here.

The Basic Phonogram and Spelling Rule flashcards are nice and sturdy.  They make it easy to review and quiz your child on what they're learning.  The Spelling Rules are clearly labelled with the spelling rule number, and the rule is written clearly on the front with examples of the rule applied on the back.  The Basic Phonogram cards have the phonogram on the front with examples on the back.

The Phonogram & Spelling Game Book is full of games and drills for learning and practicing phonograms and spelling words.  The Phonogram Game Cards are made of the same sturdy material as the flashcards, and 1-3 packs are needed for the 9 games in Chapter 1 of the book.  There are 9 chapters total; the first 5 focus on phonograms and the last 4 are focused on spelling words.  There is a wide variety of games--everything from Go Fish and Bingo to Phonogram Hop and Spelling Basketball.  There are ideas and suggestions if you have a tactile learner as well.  

I used this with all of the boys (ages 14, 12, 11, 9, & 7).  Since they all can read very well, I was using Essentials mainly for spelling remediation.  I used this one room schoolhouse style, and we did lessons together as a group.  We reviewed the phonograms together by reciting them in unison.  My boys found this to be the most tedious part of the lesson, and they often tried to recite them by using opera voices.  We learned the spelling rules together as well.  All written practice was done in cursive, so it was great practice and review (all of the boys learned/re-learned cursive a few months ago).  The grammar practice also worked well in a group setting.  I had the boys raise their hands when I asked questions since much of this was review for the older boys.  This allowed the younger boys to have time to remember what they were learning, and I called on them any time they raised their hands.  The boys weren't huge fans of the games, but it's not because there is anything wrong with the games.  They've never been huge fans of games during school time--they'd rather just get through the lessons so they can get on with the day.  The biggest downside to doing this together as a group was that it added time onto the lessons (the boys are easily distracted by each other and there are lots of tangents), so it took us 3-4 days to get through 1 lesson.
 

For more reviews of Logic of English, visit the Schoolhouse Review Crew.