How is spelling to be made intelligible and interesting? For if we fail here we must fail utterly, whatever our methods. Our aim must be not to get into our pupils' heads, nolens volens, the spelling of a certain number of words. Here, as everywhere, the secret is to stimulate the pupils' own activities, to make him his own best teacher. The most natural way to secure an interest in the form of words is through the reading lesson. The child reads long before he expresses his own thoughts in writing. He must be lead to take an interest in the thought and to aim to express it. Though the maxim that the good reader is the good speller requires more than its epigrammatic character to establish its truth, there is no doubt that the thoughtful reader is generally a careful observer of the form of words. The meaning of words should be associated with their spelling. We must recognize a word in order to be able to spell it, and we cannot fully recognize a word if we have no idea of its meaning or use. The dictionary, then, should be the constant companion of the reading and spelling lesson, and careful instruction should be given in its use. I am led to ask here, should we attempt to make the pupil understand the meaning of every word, phrase or passage he reads? I am inclined to think that the modern pedagogical maxims that a child must not be left with vague ideas, and that he must be trained to give back in words all the ideas we attempt to make clear to him as practice in expression and as the surest test that the ideas are grasped, is apt to cover a fallacy. Can we not recall, in looking back upon our own childhood, that some of the most profound impressions were made by words into whose meaning we merely had a glimmer? Were not some of our deepest feelings, feelings which we could not analyze? If the seed has been sown, can we not be satisfied to let it alone and wait for the harvest? Must we, like children, dig it up every day to make sure it is growing? In connection with the meaning of words I think we should teach derivation a great deal more than we do. Derivations may be made very interesting to pupils who know nothing of Latin, Greek or Anglo-Saxon. Do we not remember what a revelation and a delight it was to us when we saw the precise meaning of such words as subjucate, satisfaction, sincere, &c. By grouping words containing the same root the meaning of the root may be indelibly stamped on the mind. The caution to be observed here is that the root be accurately learned. We must be careful to give the correct word; otherwise we shall be laying broad and deep a foundation of inaccurate scholarship. A very useful exercise in derivation is to have pupils find words containing a given root. Then the difference of meaning expressed by the prefixes or suffixes may be brought out. A knowledge of prefixes is also a distinct aid to spelling. A pupil who knows the meaning of im and e will not be troubled to know whether immigrate or emigrate, e.g., is spelled with one m or two. Derivation gives synthetic power; as was said of phonics, it teaches not only to perceive but to apperceive. When a pupil has learned the pronunciation, orthography and derivation of a word he should be required to frame a sentence employing it. There is, however, a caution to be observed in this exercise. There are many words whose meaning children can only imperfectly understand at best. I often find it very difficult to frame a sentence to bring out the meaning of a word, whereas if I required the word to express a thought it would immediately present itself. Do not strain after sentences in the hope of illustrating the meaning of words. Take care that you do not fix in the minds of your pupils wrong associations. This brings me to the principle of association as an aid to spelling. From careful observation of the effects of association both in myself and others, I have come to the conclusion that it needs to be employed with great care. There are helpful associations and there are harmful ones. It goes without saying that the association of a word with the expression of thought is a great aid. The association of synonyms is not only a valuable aid in spelling, but also in the exact use of words. There is no more pleasant or profitable exercise than comparing and contrasting words that have fine shades of difference in meaning. I have some doubt, however, about the advantage of associating homonyms. Should we bring to, too, two; their, there, &c., together, or rather should we not keep them as far apart as possible. Are we not in danger of making the one image overlap the other and producing a blurred image or at best a composite photograph. Should we not aim to associate these words with their use only? In the sentence "There are four of us," the possibility of using their should not be allowed to occur to the child if it can be prevented. This is a subject, I think, for careful observation. There are many other helpful associations. A friend told me a few days ago that he was so mortified at misspelling parliament without the silent a that he never forgot it. If we could impress upon our pupils that misspelling is a disgrace, we could establish the most effective kind of association. If one has trouble with oblige, he may, if he is quite sure of knowledge, remember by contrast, that oblige has no d. Brooks gives the case of a lady who was enabled to remember that agreeable had two ee's by thinking of two agreeable gentlemen. Whether the time spent in acquiring facility in making such associations as this is well spent, I shall leave each one to decide for himself. There are some associations, which, I am convinced, should never be made. We are all agreed, I think, that the wrong form should not be associated with the correct one and that for this reason pupils should be trained not to attempt to spell a word of which they are doubtful. Just as surely as that there is not a pin let fall upon the floor but the deepest base of the Rockies feels the shock, so there is not a picture presented to the mind that does not leave its impress. If we write a word incorrectly, the wrong form is apt to fix itself so firmly that it will constantly present itself, and we shall hesitate between it and the correct form. The same is true of associating such words as receive, believe; exceed, concede. After seeing them together we are apt to find ourselves in the position of the poor centipede depicted in the following rhyme : The centipede was happy quite, Until the toad, for fun, Said, bray, which leg comes after which? In spelling, as in other school matters, there are things about which the wise teacher will be silent. It is well for her to know where the difficulties lie, but she will not tell her pupils all she knows. Another association which is both harmful and deceptive is that of words of the same combination. On this point, Dr. W. T. Harris, U.S. Commissioner of Education, says that words should be arranged "so as not to bring together a num ber of words of the same combination, and thereby paralyze the memory, as is too frequently the case in the lists given in spelling books, which, for example, collect in one lesson the words ending in tion or tain or ture or cious, etc., thus giving the pupil by the first word that is spelled a key to all that follow." This criticism applies, I think, to a great deal of the so-called word building. The repetition of a-t at, c-a-t cat, m-a-t mat, &c., may be useful to teach sound, but if carried to any length, becomes a great farce. At the same time, there are, no doubt, many useful exercises in word building. Time does not permit me to discuss the methods of conducting the spelling lesson. They are fully given in Brooks' "Methods of Teaching," a book which, I think, is in the hands of most of our teachers. I shall emphasize only a few points: (1.) What time should be devoted to the spelling lesson? Dr. Rice found that there was what might be called a point of diminishing returns in spelling, i.e., a point beyond which tîme devoted to the subject does not yield a corresponding progress. The time that may be profitably devoted to the subject he estimates at fifteen minutes daily. Whether the point of fatigue can be determined with such mathematical precision I do not know, but it is my experience that with such a subject as spelling, it is better to take a few words daily rather than several columns once or twice a week. A few difficulties mastered each day will work wonders. (2.) Do not let a pupil attempt to spell a word he knows he cannot spell. Our aim is to prevent mistakes, not to correct them. (3.) Do not give a second chance. A child either knows a word or he does not know it; do not permit guessing. (4.) If you cannot correct each pupil's exercise yourself, I think it is best that he should correct his own. It is bad enough for him to see his own mistakes without those of others. A good plan is to take yourself for correction one pupil's exercise, and a different one's, each day. This will enable you to keep in touch with all the class. (5.) Have the pupils keep a list of misspelled words. But instead of dulling, drilling upon them, let the pupil's motto be, "Never make a mistake without correcting it in such a way that you never make it again." What is learned today should be known to-morrow. Take for granted that it is, and give good-natured tests from time to time and quick reproof to those who have failed to live up to the motto. This, I am persuaded, is much more effective than endless repetition. The pupil ceases to pay any attention to what is continually dinned into his ears. CONSTITUTIONAL BAD SPELLERS OR THE PATHOLOGY OF SPELLING. The majority of constitutional bad spellers are probably dull. Dr. Rice, who noted in connection with his spelling tests the age, nationality, heredity and environment of the pupils, finds that intellect is of much more importance than age. Dr. Shaw found "that the poor spellers, in their power to learn to spell new words, were from a year to a year and a half behind the good spellers, taking, of course, children of the same age.' ."* All constitutional bad spellers, however, are not dull. Many are of average, some of exceptional ability as students and thinkers. While every dull pupil should be an object of solicitude to the teacher, from the point of view of spelling it is this class that demands his special stuty. Miss Wyckoff made observations upon five young women who were able and faithful students but "incorrigible bad spellers, whose early training and experience seemed to offer no adequate explanation of the difficulty." For the sake of comparison she made tests at the same time of two good spellers. She found that these seven students possessed three modes of attention corresponding with three types of mind. The bad spellers of the first type were two students who always sought out the general principle and remembered by means of it. "Conspicuous as thinkers they were comparatively slow readers, having the habit of reading one word at a time." They had "good powers of visualization and sound imaging and fair retention, but were gifted with a natural mode of attention unsuited to purposes of spelling. The second mode of attention was represented by one young woman whose powers of mind were analytic. She could perceive relations, but could not visualize and retain. She could notice quickly points of relation in "words and irregular geometric figures, variously marked," but "could not write fast enough to get the points on paper *Teachers' Institute. |