Oral spelling may begin _after_ the sounds have first been mastered--and
as soon as the names of the letters are taught. Spell only the phonetic
words at first. The lists of families of words which have been written
from dictation may now be spelled orally.

The spelling recitation may be both oral and written, but written
spelling should predominate the first year. Unphonetic words should be
taught by visualizing--getting the form of the word as a whole. The
teacher writes the word on the board in free rapid hand, pupils observe
for a moment, getting a mental picture of the form; the word is erased
by the teacher, and reproduced on the board by the pupil.

While oral spelling aids the "ear-minded" pupil and gives variety in the
recitation, written spelling should predominate for the reasons that (1)
in practical life, spelling is used almost wholly in expressing thought
in writing; (2) the eye and hand should be trained equally with the ear.
It is often true that good oral spellers will fail in writing the same
words for want of practice. (3) In the written recitation each pupil can
spell a greater number of words and in less time than is possible in
oral spelling.



SEAT WORK

1. Distribute pages from magazines or old readers and let pupils
underline words beginning with a certain consonant (the one being
taught). If different colored pencils are used, the same pages can be
used a number of times. When the "m" sound is being taught let all words