- If we look at the letter "h" for example, we can turn it backward and end up with, of course, a backward h. If we turn the letter 'b" backward, we DON'T end up with a backward b: we end up with a FORWARD letter d. The names of the letters sound almost identical, as do the sounds for the letters. What distinguishes that? Spatial orientation. Write a big letter "b" on a piece of acetate. Tell the student it is a b and ask the student to tell you the name of the letter. Now start to rotate the piece of acetate along the vertical center axis. (The result will be the student looking at a "d" now.) As you are rotating slowly, however, tell the student it's still a b, it's still a b, it's still a b, but when the opposite side starts to appear, say now it's a d, not it's a d, now it's a d. You are dynamically showing the student that spatial orientation is the big difference between b and d. Initially, exaggerate the pronunciation of the letters to make them sound less similar. Do this a few minutes a day for a few days (if necessary). Rotate the acetate and ask the student, "What letter?" Correct by telling answer, then rotating acetate and again asking, "What letter." Start with b sometimes and with d sometimes. Continue to exaggerate the differences in the sounds of the letters until the student responds perfectly several times in a row. You can start with sounds instead of letter names, but under no circumstances should you work on sounds and letter names at the same time. Tell us how this works for you. Stick to details.
- November 22, 2009 4:41 AM
Monday, November 23, 2009
Bob
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I'm rarely dealing with beginners for whom the strategy above would be most appropriate, but I am perplexed by what to do for students in middle school who still routinely confuse b and d (some even do it in cursive --go figure). They seem to randomly mix the two up, and can often correct the errors if their feedback is specific enough, as in "You have two b's written as d in this paragraph."
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of systematic practice or remediation would be most likely to succeed when a student has had so many years of making this type of substitution error? In the cases I am thinking of, the students do not confuse the letters in reading, only in written work. I am guessing it would take systematic, distributed practice to overcome this mislearning, but I don't know where to begin.
Two specific students making this error regularly are currently in my sixth grade Spelling Mastery C group. This group (general ed students) did not meet criteria for Spelling Through Morphographs.They meet criteria and are making good progress in other aspects of learning the spelling skills in C and are at about lesson 50 now.