How do teachers help students learn to spell words they "can't sound out"?

Question

Why are some words so difficult to spell?

Answer 1

They use all kinds of strategies, including writing words in sand, making word lists, etc. One of the best ways is through lots of reading and examining the language of good children's books and pointing out differences and similarities in words.

English is a very difficult language. We have many words that sound the same but are spelled differently such as "hare and hair". We have words that are spelled the same, but pronounced differently in different contexts - such as "I will read the book" and "I read the book yesterday". We have words that look like they should rhyme, but they don't, such as "dough and tough". If a child finds spelling difficult to begin with, spelling our language can be a huge challenge.

Here is a poem that points it out well.

When the English tongue we speak
Why is break not rhymed with freak?
Will you tell me why it’s true
We say sew, but likewise few?
And the maker of a verse,
Cannot rhyme his horse with worse?
Beard is not the same as heard,
Cord is different from word,
Cow is cow, but low is low,
Shoe is never rhymed with foe.
Think of hose and dose and lose,
And think of goose and yet of choose,
Think of comb and tomb and bomb,
Doll and roll and home and some.
And since pay is rhymed with say,
Why not paid with said I pray?
Think of blood and food and good;
Mould is not pronounced like could.
Wherefore done, but gone and lone -
Is there any reason known?
To sum up all, it seems to me
Sounds and letters don’t agree.

Answer 2

I teach children using a mix of learned rules and memorized "unfair" or "sight" words. My students learn a rule for the final e, what the letter c does to an e/i/y, what a g often does to e/i/y, igh, and memorized endings (ious, tion, ly, le, al) that are difficult to sound out. They also learn that a syllable ending in a vowel will give that vowel a long sound, if it ends in a consonant the vowel has a short sound. Learning these rules helps them feel comfortable with spelling. The only way I have found to teach words that can't be sounded out like: of, health, could, and love for example, is through memorization. Have them copy the word, then cover the word and have them write it. Then quiz them on the word every day until they get it right 5 times in a row. Then graduate it. When they get the word wrong, show it to them and then cover it, and ask them to picture the letters in the words and say them aloud, then have them write it again correctly. They need to use this picturing technique to memorize words they can't remember through phonics, and writing/speaking in tandem are key aspects of memorization. Occasionally quiz them on their graduated words, and if they forget how to spell it, start the process over. English spelling is often nonsensical, and all English speaking people have to learn to spell things through repetition and repeated exposure. Trust me, this works!

Answer 3

Write common ones on strips of paper and tape them all over the walls. The more they see them, the easier it will be for them to remember how to spell them.
Encourage them to read and look up words. Keep the dictionaries handy. (books or computer ones)
English evolved from several sources, so the rules aren't consistent. In Shakespeare's time, there weren't as many rules, and confusion was common. People from Bristol didn't have a clue what people from Manchester were saying or writing. Then in the 1800s, the pronunciation and spelling were purposely changed in the States to distinguish American English from British English. There may be more rules, but it is easier to comprehend.

Answer 4

A very obvious answer is to consider using a dictionary. A search engine will often correct the spelling of a word if it is incorrect.

Answer 5

No computers do, and if all else fails go into the dictionary in Encarta, it is complete and has a list of sounds like. So it is easy to find the right spelling. Teachers don't do that anymore.

Answer 6

you'll just have to tell them how to spell the word, and hopefully they will memorize it. there aren't too many words like that in the english language so it shouldn't be a big problem.

Answer 7

Words are difficult because thats how they are...

Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
The longest word in the dictionary.
One name of a protein is over 200,000 Letters. Its shortend down to 1,213 letters though... :'(

Answer 8

I call them "trick words" . There are many words like this. It really just comes down to memorization, which there are many fun ways to do.

Answer 9

To answer your first question, memorization. The answer to your second question is that that is just the way it is. Whoever made the word, or the rules made them that way.

Answer 10

The old Nun's used a ruler ..it worked!