11th class
meeting, Spring 2005
Class Activities: Chris covered spelling today (frequently misspelled homonyms and easily confused words).
Today’s lesson was greatly enhanced with PowerPoint since Chris was examining sets of words that commonly confused—he gave them words and then showed them, on the screen, clues to remember which words were which by underlining parts of them. This visual reinforcement with the clue is surely going to prove effective for remembering the words. For example, in writing
there their they’re
He then UNDERLINED parts of the words to remind them of which meaning that particular homonym was:
there
their
they’re
they
+ re
(as in HERE and there) (something will belong to an HEIR) (this is two words added together)
That they could SEE this, over and over, and then see the words in sentences, should reinforce the lesson.
The students see all this on the board and then write the correct words for fill-in-the-blank sentences he projects on the screen, connecting what they see, hear, and respond to.
For clues with possessive words (your and their—vs. you’re and they’re/there), he suggested replacing the word with ANOTHER possessive word like “my” or “our.” Again, I believe that seeing this on the screen (the substitution of “your” with “my,” in a sentence like “Your a bright boy”) emphasizes how easy it is, with the clues, to SEE when a word is incorrect.
For some words, the clues for them would be auditory—they’d have to say the word aloud, exaggerating the pronunciation, forcing them (for words like through, thought, and though), to focus on the subtle differences (something they don’t usually tune into, which is why they frequently misspell the words). Again, this connection of what they see in front of them (with a visual distinction made via bright blue arrows), what they hear (guided by the difference they tune into visually on the screen), and what they write is reinforced. The slide show forces the students to slow down and become more deliberate and mindful when they look at these words, which they gloss over every day.
The students, after class, do practice this same information in drills on WebCT. I imagine that this will strengthen their memory of what was on the screen and give them a connection between class work and private work, reminding them of just what to do to ensure they choose the right word.
(I will meet the two students on Wednesday—one couldn’t come, and the other preferred us all to do it together—and I do, too, actually. I look forward to seeing how the students respond to this work.
One question: On discussing taught, through, and though, I wondered if any discussion of “gh” as silent was a distraction and sticking to first and last consonant sounds might be enough.