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You will find most teachers of children with dyslexia are not fans of the weekly spelling test. Words arranged by theme or covering multiple spelling patterns is a recipe for failure for many of our students. Other students may manage to learn the words for the Friday spelling test, but not be able to spell…
GE or DGE? Your student knows more than they think! Whether to use -ge or -dge at the end of a word is the fourth of the short vowel spelling generalizations. Teaching the GE/DGE Spelling Generalization This spelling generalization states: Some words that follow this generalization include: Bridge fudge ledge badge lodge Bulge hinge large …
The spelling generalizations for vowels really are cumulative. Although it may take a lot of practice for your students to internalize them, an understanding of the principles at work is very important. As your students continue to learn less frequent vowel teams, they will need to draw on their knowledge about other vowel teams and…
When you’re thinking about spelling a word with OI or OY, location is everything. In some ways, the /oy/ sound is one of the more straightforward vowel teams and spelling generalizations that your students learn during their Orton-Gillingham lessons. The /oy/ sound really only has 2 spellings: oi and oy and the letters oi and…
Some spelling considerations are less about clear rules to follow than frequency and expectations. Such is the case for spelling the long o sound. O-e is the most common spelling for the long o sound in the middle of a word, but oa isn’t far behind. Ow is the most common way to spell the…
Not all spelling generalizations are as neat and tidy as you might like them to be. Just as the spelling generalizations for the floss rule, ck, and tch build on each other, the same is true for the vowel spelling generalizations. By the time your students are introduced to ou as in ouch and ow…
When Y is a Vowel As part of the spelling generalization blog series, this next post is going to give you the low down on Y as a vowel. Most of us remember learning the vowels as children: A, E, I, O, U and sometimes Y. For a long time before I became trained in…
Does it start with c or k? A simple spelling generalization that students find very empowering regards the spelling of the initial /k/ sound or when the /k/ sound is part of an initial blend. Students are usually aware that ck is not found at the beginning of a syllable, but they often aren’t aware…
Is it ai or ay? Decisions, decisions. As students expand their knowledge of vowel teams, the number of spelling choices increases. Often, students need some tools for determining which spelling to use. In reading, we generally teach the possible sounds that a letter or combination of letters can make and teach students about the frequency…