Spelling Strategies for Sixth Grade
1. Mnemonics, Memory Aids:
Description: Teach students how to create their own mnemonics and when to use them. Mnemonic devices are used not only to memorize facts for education. They also help when people are learning their surroundings.
Purpose: Mnemonic strategies are unique ways to remember difficult or unusual words. A mnemonic device is a method for enhancing memory
Directions: The most common ways to remember mnemonic devices is through the use of; alliterations, acronyms, rhymes, groups, numbers, pictures, and poems/jingle (tunes).
Below are different examples of how to use mnemonic devices to remember information:
Description: Teach students how to create their own mnemonics and when to use them. Mnemonic devices are used not only to memorize facts for education. They also help when people are learning their surroundings.
Purpose: Mnemonic strategies are unique ways to remember difficult or unusual words. A mnemonic device is a method for enhancing memory
Directions: The most common ways to remember mnemonic devices is through the use of; alliterations, acronyms, rhymes, groups, numbers, pictures, and poems/jingle (tunes).
Below are different examples of how to use mnemonic devices to remember information:
A mnemonic device used as a jingle and phrase.
Order of Operations from first to last: 1. Parentheses (Please) 2. Exponents (Excuse) 3. Multiplication (My) 4. Division (Dear) 5. Addition (Aunt) 6. Subtraction (Sally) |
A mnemonic device used as an acronym.
Order of the Colors of the Spectrum (from first to last): The name Roy G. Biv, a constant comparison to colors. R (Red) O (Orange) Y (Yellow) G (Green) B (Blue) I (Indigo) V (Violet) |
2. Spelling in Parts (SIP):
Description: Some spelling problems for students are;
1. Alternative phonetic patterns (ex: education sounds like edukashun)
2. Spelling patterns that are less common (ex: ch for the /sh/ as in Michigan)
3. Double letters (ex: occur)
4. The "schwa" sound that can be any vowel (ex: lemon, about)
5. Commonly mispronounced words (ex: library)
Purpose: To help students listen for and identify syllables within words.
Helping students listen for syllables and teaching them about troublesome syllables such as tion (ex: vacation, station, addition) will help them with multiple words. Teach struggling spellers to be word-pattern detectives instead of having them memorize each word independently.
Directions: For example, if the student is struggling with the word September, write the word down on a piece of paper and follow these steps. Have the student:
1. Clap out the syllables so they know how many parts there are in the word. Remember: every syllable has at least one vowel.
2. Say the first syllable and circle it.
3. Pronounce the next syllable and draw a line under it
4. Pronounce the last syllable and draw vertical line after it
5. Pronounce the first syllable and write it down
6. Say the second syllable and write it down
7. Say the last syllable and write it down
8. Next, ask the student which syllable might cause a spelling problem and why. For example, the second syllable of September may should like tim, instead of tem.
9. Discuss how the last syllable is found in three more months: October, November, and December.