Monday, May 12, 2008

Invented Spelling

It's the new shtik in the schools. You can "Google" the topic for more information.
from www.greatschools.net:
" Invented spelling allows children to communicate in writing long before they are ready to spell each word correctly. Another benefit is that children can express their ideas quickly and smoothly in a first draft, without being bogged down by trying to spell each word correctly. Invented spelling also helps children progress toward standard spelling. Sounding out words and predicting how they will be spelled reinforces students' understanding of the connection between letters and sounds, and lets them experiment with the spelling patterns they are learning. As they edit their writing and make a final draft, students get additional practice with the correct forms of words."
an example from the site:
Your first-grader proudly shows you the story she wrote in class and it looks something like this:
"Ther ouns was two flawrs. Oun was pink and the othr was prpul. Thae did not like ech athr becuse thae whr difrint culrs. Oun day thae had a fite."

Oh my! What are we doing? We are raising a future group of forum posters destined to be banned at TWoP! Or a swarm of chatroom participants who type "your" for "you're" and incorrectly reply "I could care less" for "I couldn't care less."

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This revives the argument that the system in the sixties called "ITA" was going to ruin our spelling- not sure if that has been the case...it was 66 , i was in first grade--i know many of my friends had problems transitioning...do you recall this system? what is your opinion?

Marjorie said...

Patio, thank-you for the comment. I am not familiar with "ITA" because in '66 I was in college and out of the educational loop. However, I will say this. I do not think there is a great correlation between spelling and intelligence. Some of our greatest thinkers and contributors were poor spellers. However, it irks me when I see simple errors like "your" for "you're." Even after the correction is pointed out, the mistake is consistently made. I also get annoyed at the incorrect formulation of the possessive for a proper name ending in 's.' For example, it is not Gladys' it is Gladys's. These are simple rules to apply, and it displays a lack of caring about presentation. It could be that shortcut texting has resulted in the lost skill of spelling and grammar.