{"id":910,"date":"2020-07-28T15:06:20","date_gmt":"2020-07-28T15:06:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dyslexiatraininginstitute.org\/blog\/?p=910"},"modified":"2024-12-17T11:28:25","modified_gmt":"2024-12-17T19:28:25","slug":"spelling-goals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dyslexiatraininginstitute.org\/dyslexia\/spelling-goals\/","title":{"rendered":"Dyslexia: Spelling Goals Gone Wild"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Spelling goals in IEPs are usually so poorly written I have to read them more than once to even begin to understand them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Spelling<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Goals are the heart of an IEP. They describe the skills the team has agreed that the student will learn or improve during the year. The quality of the goals are the best evidence you have as to whether or not the person writing the goals (who is usually the person implementing the goal) has a solid understanding of the skill described in the goal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

When it comes to spelling, poorly written goals are the norm which is evidence that those teaching spelling either do not fully understand it or do not fully believe in its importance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bottom line is that poorly written goals waste the precious time of students who are struggling \u2013 and believe me, students know when something isn\u2019t working. Before we look at some real spelling goals, let\u2019s take a moment to understand why spelling is important to teach and to understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why Spelling Matters<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

First, spelling matters in a person\u2019s life. Just ask any adult who has struggled with spelling<\/a><\/strong> during their lifetime. It leads to embarrassing situations, holds them back from spelling words they can use in their spoken vocabulary which masks their intellect and spelling difficulty is incredibly frustrating. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, teaching a student why words are spelled the way they are simultaneously teaches them why a word is pronounced the way it is which also leads to improved reading and vocabulary, but more importantly, shows them they can learn which improves self-confidence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ubiquitous message that English is crazy and we just have to memorize all the \u2018sight\u2019 words only sends the message that it isn\u2019t even worth trying.  And trust me, that is the message they receive and then they are told to \u2018try harder\u2019  \u2013 do you see the vicious cycle?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Dyslexia<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Spelling Goals for Students<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Third Grade Goal<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s take a look at a goal for a third grader:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When given visual spelling supports (such as phonics cards or a personal spelling dictionary), Jack will spell words containing long vowel patterns and other vowel patterns correctly, or will correct misspelled words with one teacher reminder\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ok, this is one loooong sentence, so let\u2019s take it piece by piece. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, the \u2018visual spelling supports\u2019 listed in this goal are actually accommodations. Accommodations are entirely necessary, but goals are the skills the student is supposed to learn while the student is receiving an intervention. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, which long vowel patterns is this goal referring to? There are several like the vowel-consonant-e (ex. take), vowel combinations like ee (feet) and ai (bait) and ay (bay), and ea (beat) and on and on. Then it goes on to state he will spell \u201cother vowel patterns\u201d, well that just leaves it up to the universe to decide which of the many vowel patterns Jack will \u2018learn\u2019 or learn to look up based on use of \u2018supports.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s the kicker, if a student misspells a word, they almost always know they have misspelled it, if they could spell it correctly or correct it on their own, they would\u2026a \u2018teacher reminder\u2019 will not help and that is not teaching. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most adults with dyslexia will tell you that they cannot spot their own spelling mistakes and looking them up is not a productive activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Dyslexia<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Second Grade Goal<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s one more for a second grade student:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With fading adult support and the use of a personalized student dictionary, Kristen will revise a piece of classroom writing to edit sight word spelling and CVC spelling\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again, \u2018adult support\u2019, which I am assuming is the support of a teacher, and a student dictionary are accommodations not instruction. So, this goal suggests that spelling will be learned by editing something written during class time, which is fine. But then it goes on put all the onus on the child, the struggling and frustrated child, to find the misspelled words in the first place and probably in a limited amount of time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, it requires the student to find the \u2018sight words\u2019 and only words misspelled that are \u2018CVC\u2019 words\u2026if the student is only going to learn the CVC words in second grade then this goal is setting the bar pretty low.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Are Good Spelling Goals?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I know there are only two goals here, but trust me, there are 100s of spelling goals written just like this. A good spelling goal will emphasize what exactly it is about spelling that the student will learn<\/em>, not what they will identify or correct with the use of accommodations. For example, a spelling goal might state:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When presented with a list of complex grade-level words Jasmine will identify and spell the bases and affixes that build the words (and related words) with 90% accuracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spelling goals are instructional goals, and not accommodations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The accommodations are so important they have their own page on an IEP or 504 or other official school document. Do not blow off the spelling goal or the teaching of spelling. Learning to spell can mean that when a dyslexic child becomes a dyslexic adult (which they invariably do), they will be less likely to fear being \u2018found out\u2019 or humiliated or hold themselves back from opportunities that might reveal their spelling problems. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, take care of your goals. Water them. Nourish them. They are the seeds of the IEP.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Spelling goals in IEPs are usually so poorly written I have to read them more than once to even begin…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1496,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-910","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dyslexia"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dyslexiatraininginstitute.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dyslexiatraininginstitute.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dyslexiatraininginstitute.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dyslexiatraininginstitute.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dyslexiatraininginstitute.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=910"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.dyslexiatraininginstitute.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/910\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1512,"href":"https:\/\/www.dyslexiatraininginstitute.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/910\/revisions\/1512"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dyslexiatraininginstitute.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dyslexiatraininginstitute.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dyslexiatraininginstitute.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dyslexiatraininginstitute.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}