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Spelling Detectives: Learn to Crack the Spelling Code! Private 1-On-1 Tutoring

Ongoing private lessons in how to spell by applying the ‘Morphemic approach’ and a set of spelling rules.
Caroline
Average rating:
5.0
Number of reviews:
(5)
Class

What's included

Meets on Demand
schedule meetings as needed
30 mins
per session
Teacher support
Assessment
In every fifth lesson there will be a short assessment to measure student progress. The results will only be known to the learner, the parent and myself.

Class Experience

US Grade 3 - 10
Beginner - Advanced Level
The morphemic spelling approach is particularly effective for students in upper primary and secondary school for whom the traditional teaching methods have not resulted in the expected learning success.

This course aims to build a strong spelling foundation and to deal with spelling concepts that students often find difficult to master. This course uses two underlying strategies for learning to spell: the application of spelling rules and conventions, and the morphemic approach.

The course is based on the principle that when students become familiar with spelling rules and conventions and when they have been taught the morphemic approach to spelling, their spelling confidence is boosted and the act of writing becomes less intimidating.

The morphemic approach to learning to spell is an instructional method that emphasizes the role of word morphology (i.e., the study of word structure and formation) in spelling. It focuses on teaching students how to identify and use morphemes, which are the smallest units of meaning in language, such as prefixes, suffixes, and bases.

In this approach, students are taught to break down words into their morphemic components and to analyse their meanings, which can help them to spell words more accurately and efficiently. For example, if a student knows that the suffix "-ful" means "full of," they can use that knowledge to correctly spell words like "hopeful" or "wonderful."

The morphemic approach also emphasises the importance of context and meaning in spelling. By understanding the meaning of a word, students can make more informed guesses about how to spell it correctly, even if they are unsure about the exact spelling.

Overall, the morphemic approach can be an effective way to help students improve their spelling skills and develop a deeper understanding of the structure and meaning of words. The course will be tailored to the capabilities of the students in the class, and will teach both common and less-used spelling rules and conventions in an engaging and interactive manner.

Presentation of Learning Materials: Every learner has different learning strengths. Some students respond better to a visual approach, some to an audible approach, and some to an approach in which they actively read and write. The course therefore presents learning opportunities for all of these types. To ensure learners receive and retain information, learning materials are presented visually and verbally, are practiced by writing them down either as dictation or in their own words, and are read out loud.

Sight words (words that do not follow normal spelling patterns): Each lesson will introduce new sight words to increase the learner's vocabulary. Sight words will be revisited over a few lessons using verbal, written and visual techniques, and will be integrated into sentences and phrases.

Morphemes: Every lesson will aim to add to the student’s understanding of the morphemic spelling approach. New morphemes will be introduced, their meaning will be discussed, and previously used morphemes will be revisited by introducing them into sentence practice and mini stories. Using and applying the learner’s spelling knowledge in multiple ways helps them to embed their newly gained knowledge.

Course Content: The course will cover the topics below, however there will be room for additional areas of practice where appropriate, and continuous assessments will aim to ensure that knowledge is retained.

- Sight word learning and practice.
- Prefixes, suffixes and base morphemes.
- How to add suffixes to base words, including when to drop the silent e at the end of a base word.
- When to change the y to an i when adding a suffix to a base word.
- When to double the final consonant in the base word before adding the suffix, and the difference between a vowel suffix and a consonant suffix.
- When to use the spelling patterns ‘ge’ (sage) or ‘dge’ (fudge).
- When to use the spelling patterns ‘ch’ (church) or ‘tch’ (switch).
- When to use the spelling patterns ‘oi’ (soil) or ‘oy’ (toy)
- When to apply the ‘au’ (autumn), ‘aw’ (claw), ‘augh’ (caught) or ‘ough’ (thought) spelling patterns.
- When to use the spelling patterns ‘ou’ (sound) or ‘ow’ (town).
- When to change the y at the end of a base word when adding a suffix.
Learning Goals
After spending sufficient time in this course, students should be able to:
- Spell a multitude of sight words. 
- Understand the principles of the morphemic spelling approach.
- Understand that adding prefixes and suffixes to a base word changes its meaning.
- Understand the meaning of common prefixes and suffixes.
- Understand how adding a suffix can change the spelling of a base word.
- Choose the correct spelling patterns when spelling words containing sounds that can be spelled in different ways.
learning goal

Other Details

Supply List
Students will need paper or a notebook for taking notes, practising some of the skills and spellings we study in the class, and for doing some of the assignments. It would be helpful to have a printer to print some of the homework assignments and class worksheets. Alternatively, students may prefer to use a tablet or iPad with an interactive pencil to complete their tasks (please do NOT allow students to type in their answers as spellcheck will be activated / or ensure spellcheck is turned off).
Language of Instruction
English
External Resources
Learners will not need to use any apps or websites beyond the standard Outschool tools.
Joined March, 2023
5.0
5reviews
Profile
Teacher expertise and credentials
In my 12 years of teaching English Literacy (Reading, Writing, Spelling, Grammar and Comprehension) at High School, most students joined my classes because they were below the expected spelling and writing levels for their ages. They often felt less confident about their learning and this sometimes impacted other areas of their lives. Having witnessed at first hand what a difference my classes had on my students has made me passionate about giving each student the best opportunity to gain confidence and succeed in their learning. I am very excited to share my passion for learning with your learner.

Reviews

Live 1-on-1 Lessons
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$30

per session
Meets on demand
30 min

Completed by 29 learners
Live video meetings
Ages: 8-16

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