Spellings
I saw this great image the other day on Facebook and it reminded me of some of the mnemonics we share with students to help them remember correct spellings, facts and more.
I have taught many students who struggle to remember spellings due to learning differences and/or as they embark on their journey of acquiring English in addition to home language(s).
I had always had the trick of helping kids know that the words there and where contain here and all three relate to place. I love the simplicity of the image above.
To help remember the “-ould” spelling in could, would, and should, the phrase “Oh, you lucky duck!” is a useful mnemonic.
As evidenced by a multitude of plausible spellings (eg. becos, becus, beacus, becoz), because is one of the hardest words for students to internalize and recall. The correct spelling can be easily remember with the nonsense sentence, “Bats eat cats and ugly snake eggs.”
Said is another one frequently rendered as ‘siad’. I have always reminded students that (regardless of how it may sound) the two vowels are in alphabetical order.
The correct spelling of together is easier to remember when broken down to the three high frequency words of to + get + her.
Likewise, bewilder (admittedly not the most often used word, but a great word nevertheless) can be broken down to be + wild + er
These fun mnemonics remind us that what is good practice for students with learning differences is generally good practice for all students.